Juan Manuel Medina was a candidate for mayor of San Antonio, Texas in 2017. He raised $408,206 in contributions, which was the second highest among all contenders. Despite this, he lost with only 15% of the vote.

During Medina’s campaign, I interviewed him at a Jim’s Restaurant on Fredericksburg Rd. near Loop 410, arranged by (now deceased) attorney Luis Roberto Vera, Jr., and found him to be likeable.

I did write a fair article about Medina. However, Vera was just too open about the inner goings on of Democrats, and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) political machine. Vera even discussed billionaire George Soros, which made it difficult to trust the South Texas political machines.

On November 8, 2016, Vera had called me from the Javitz Center in New York City.

“I just wanted to tell you I just saw Cher,” he declared.

“Cher,” I was surprised he was calling me. “Are you in Vegas?”

“No, I’m in New York about to watch Hillary Clinton give her acceptance speech tonight.”

“Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Lady GaGa are here too.”

Vera was the chief counsel in Texas for Hillary Clinton and was obviously thrilled to be there.

As I watched Florida results come in favor of Donald Trump, I wondered how Luis was doing.

After Wisconsin unexpectedly went for Trump, Luis called me from the bus on his ride back to the hotel. He sounded sick.

We never talked about that night again.

Now, nine years later, we learned that Medina, since then a former Bexar County Democratic Party Chair and San Antonio mayoral candidate, was indicted on two counts of vote harvesting as part of a Texas Attorney General investigation led by Ken Paxton.

The probe targeted election fraud in South Texas. It resulted in nine indictments. These included Medina and former Texas House candidate Cecilia Castellano.

Texas authorities who seized Medina’s cellphone also searched the home of a legislative aide while investigating allegations that a longtime Frio County political operator had illegally harvested votes for multiple local races in recent years.

Those races include the 2024 Democratic primary campaign of Cecilia Castellano, the candidate whose phone was seized, the records show. An investigator with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office sworn in an affidavit that Medina and chief of staff to state Rep. Liz Campos, D-San Antonio, was recorded discussing a scheme to collect votes for Castellano with the Frio County operator.

A meeting was reportedly held on January 18, 2024. Castillo explained to Medina that ready-completed mail-in ballot forms would make the process “more efficient.” Castillo told Medina she received her compensation via CashApp.

Investigators discovered a box of pre-filled ABBMs with voters’ information during a March 6, 2024, search of Castillo’s residence.

A search of Medina’s residence in the elite Dominion secured neighborhood in August 2024 revealed he was in possession of pre-filled ABBMs.

Investigators indicated they do not believe Medina verified any of the voters were qualified to vote by mail. They also do not believe he ensured the criteria he had selected were met for each individual. The documents showed Medina used the voters’ unique identification numbers. He combined these numbers with their dates of birth to complete the forms.

The grand jury handed down two third-degree felony charges against Medina for providing compensation to Leal and Rodriguez for vote harvesting services.

The charges come from a 2021 Texas law. This law makes it a third-degree felony to knowingly provide or offer “vote harvesting services” for compensation. The exception is for caregivers assisting eligible mail-in voters.

Medina is accused of acting as a third party to facilitate payments for vote harvesting services to support Castellano’s 2024 campaign for Texas House District 80, which she lost to Republican Don McLaughlin.

The investigation alleges that Medina offered compensation to individuals, including Rachel Leal and former Dilley council member Inelda Rodriguez, in February 2024 for these services.

Other indicted individuals include former Pearsall Mayor Petra Davina Trevino (one count), former Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon (two counts), and former Dilley council member Inelda Rodriguez (three counts), among others.

The probe started in 2022 following a complaint from a Frio County Democratic primary runoff loser, leading to search warrants executed in August 2024, during which Medina’s home was raided and Castellano’s phone was seized.

Seven suspects turned themselves in to Frio County Jail after indictments were handed down.

• Inelda Rodriguez, former Dilley council member — three counts of vote harvesting.

• Mary Ann Obregon, former Dilley Mayor — two counts of vote harvesting.

• Rachel Leal — one count of vote harvesting.

• Cecilia Castellano, former Texas House candidate — two counts of vote harvesting.

• Susanna Flores Carrizales — one count of vote harvesting

• Raul Carrizales III, Frio County Precinct 3 Commissioner — one count of vote harvesting.

• Maricela Garcia Benavides, Pearsall ISD Board Secretary — one count of vote harvesting.

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