A former Edinburg city councilmember pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in a “pay-to-play” bribery scheme.

As part of a plea agreement, 47-year-old Jorge “Coach” Salinas pleaded guilty to one count of bribery involving federal programs, court records show.

Between June 2019 and March 2020, Salinas was part of a scheme involving businesses seeking city contracts.

The then-councilman would attend meetings where one business owner sought to reinstate long-term contracts that had expired and was attempting to secure new work agreements and maintain existing ones, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

That owner spoke with Edinburg resident Miguel Garza who said the owner would need to persuade the council in order to have the de

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