Sal Mena, the former EPISD board member indicted on public corruption charges, has until Dec. 22 to make a plea deal with the government. If no agreement is reached, Judge Frank Montalvo will set a trial date, the judge said at a hearing this morning.
The hearing, which Mena did not attend, lasted only a few minutes.
Debra Kanof, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the public corruption cases, opened the hearing by stating that the parties had started negotiating and "we need a little time to see if that's going to work out."
Kanof asked to approach the bench, where she, Montalvo and Mena's lawyer, Mike Torres, huddled for a minute or two.
After the huddle, Montalvo then said that he would give the parties until Dec. 22 to reach a deal. If the parties are not able to work it out, he said, "I will set it for trial that day."
Kanof declined comment. Torres would only say that Dec. 22 was a "drop dead" date.
Mena, who is free on bond on the eight-count indictment that was re-issued by a grand jury two months ago, did not appear in court today.
If convicted of all the public corruption charges against him, he could be sentenced to a combined 55 years in prison and fines of $1.5 million.
Mena, who served 14 years in two stints on the El Paso school board, is accused of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, making and conspiring to make false statements to obtain credit and of depriving the public of the right to honest services.
