Two political operatives struck plea deals in Rep. Henry Cuellar's bribery case

A pair of political operatives tied to Rep. Henry Cuellar have agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the Justice Department’s bribery case against the Texas Democrat, according to court documents unsealed this week.

Mina Colin Strother, the congressman's former campaign manager and chief of staff, and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon, a Texas businessman described as a “close associate” of Cuellar in court documents, both signed plea deals in March.

The Justice Department last week released an indictment accusing Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda, of accepting $598,000 in bribes from foreign entities, including a Mexican bank and an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan.

Strother and Rendon were both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the scheme.

Cuellar and Rendon allegedly came up with the scheme in 2015, after learning that the bank was struggling to conduct business in the United States. They devised a “sham consulting contract” with the bank, and a plan for Rendon to funnel a majority of its proceeds to Cuellar’s wife, according to court documents.

Rendon approached Strother about a project to test and certify a fuel additive made by a Mexican company for it be sold in the United States, telling Strother that he would pay him $11,000 monthly on the condition that Strother send $10,000 each month to Cuellar’s wife, according to court documents.

Rendon made $242,000 in monthly installments to Strother between March 2016 and December 2017, according to court documents. Strother used those funds to make $10,000 payments each month to Cuellar’s wife, totaling $214,890.

Eventually realizing the fuel company project “was a sham,” Strother figured out that the payments were