A former Hidalgo County commissioner handed a 20-year sentence in the bribery scandal surrounding the city of Weslaco’s water and wastewater infrastructure rehabilitation project wants a new trial.

Arturo “A.C.” Cuellar Jr., 71, a former Hidalgo County Precinct 1 commissioner, filed a motion Wednesday to vacate his conviction and sentence in McAllen federal court for defrauding the city of Weslaco.

He was convicted along with Ricardo “Rick” Quintanilla, 59, a Weslaco businessman, in October 2022 by a federal jury on a combined 70 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and bribery.

Arturo “A.C.” Cuellar Jr. was sentenced to 20 years in prison while Quintanilla was sentenced to nearly 17 years in federal prison. They were also ordered to pay millions of dollars in res

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