GOP Targets Vicente Gonzalez’ Record in Drug Trafficking, Human Smuggling Cases
Gonzalez’ past legal work is emerging as a campaign issue in the South Texas congressional race against Republican Eric Flores.
Republicans are highlighting U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’ legal record in South Texas as they seek to draw a contrast with GOP challenger Eric Flores in the race for Texas’ 34th Congressional District.
Before serving in Congress, Gonzalez represented defendants in multiple drug-trafficking and alien-smuggling cases during his years in private practice, according to court records and case filings cited by Republicans. The cases include federal alien-smuggling prosecutions, large-scale marijuana-trafficking matters, and an MDMA distribution case.
Among the cases reviewed by Texas Scorecard is a 2000 federal case involving Guisela Janeth Pensado-Callejas, who was charged with conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and harboring illegal aliens in the United States. Pensado-Callejas later pleaded guilty to one count after prosecutors dismissed two others as part of …