The Department of Justice indicted U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife Imelda on Friday with multiple charges for alleged conspiracy and bribery uncovered through a federal investigation into American businessmen with ties to Azerbaijan.
According to the indictment unsealed Friday in the Southern District of Texas, Cuellar and his wife accepted close to $600,000 in bribes from a state-owned oil and gas company in Azerbaijan and a bank headquartered in Mexico City between 2014 and 2021. In return, Cuellar advocated for the interests of Azerbaijan and the Mexican bank in the United States.
Rep. Cuellar and his wife were each charged with the following (listed with maximum penalties for each count if convicted):
- two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal (five years in prison each)
- two counts of bribery of a federal official (15 years in prison each)
- two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud (20 years in prison each)
- two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal (two years in prison each)
- one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering (20 years in prison)
- five counts of money laundering (20 years in prison each)