McALLEN - A Rio Grande Valley woman soon may receive much-needed medical treatment after a managed care organization approved a crucial procedure.

Lisa Luna said she had not been able to receive the treatment because the MCO would not approve a diagnostic test.

Luna's case is just an example of some of the hardships some patients have endured since the state implemented managed care in the Valley.

Under the new system, private insurance companies coordinate healthcare coverage for more than 400,000 people in South Texas. State officials said the change is helping taxpayers save hundreds of millions of dollars. Doctors and patients said those savings are coming at the expense of the Valley's healthcare system.

In Luna's case, some questions from CHANNEL 5 NEWS led to the answers she needed.

Luna suffered an injury several years ago. It left her with lingering, long-term effects.

"I get so emotional because it's very stressful, very stressful," Luna said.

"I want them to help, and they don't want to help me," Luna said of the MCO.

Luna said she could not get the therapy she needs. Before the therapy, she needed an MRI, but the MCO, HealthSpring, would not approve the procedure.

"They won't approve the MRI, and we don't know why," Luna said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS called the insurance company in Tennessee for a comment on Luna's situation.

A spokesperson said the company turned down Luna's first request for an MRI because, based on the information they received, the procedure did not meet national standards.

Luna's doctor appealed, but the insurance company said they were still waiting to receive the signed appeal.

After the CHANNEL 5 NEWS call, the company said that "based on the new information submitted by the provider they were able to do a reconsideration of the original decision and approve the requested MRI studies."

Luna will get the MRI, which will allow her to get the physical therapy she needs.

Dr. Victor Gonzalez, president of the Hidalgo-Starr County Medical Society, said situations like Luna's are common.

"Because of the way the process works, I think treatment is being delayed," Gonzalez said.

"I can tell you it's very important that the physicians continue to push for that. If not, the managed care companies, they don't really have the mechanism to really pursue whether or not that patient had the treatment or not," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said red tape and bureaucracy from multiple insurance companies, and reduced payments for some medical procedures, are keeping doctors away from the region. He also said many doctors are retiring early or moving out of the Valley.

 

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HIDALGO COUNTY - A Mission neurologist is struggling to keep his practice afloat as he waits to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies.

Dr. Miguel Gutierrez said the companies owe him for services he already provided to patients.

Since the rollout of managed care, several insurance companies now coordinate coverage for those patients on Medicaid or Medicare. He said the change brought a whole new world of paperwork and past-due bills.

Gutierrez said he works at least 70 hours a week. He has to see at least 55 patients just to break even.

Lisa Luna is one of those patients.

"He's the one that's been helping me. The other doctor didn't help me at all," Luna said.

"One after another, one after another ... all day long. If I go slow, I'm in trouble in the afternoon," he said.

The rush to see so many patients increases possibility of making a mistake.

"You need to be more careful. You need to watch everything," Gutierrez said.

Insurance companies now handle the government's money, and they owe Gutierrez $700,000.

"I tell them that if I get half of that I'm fine, because I will have money to pay things ... to pay bills, to pay the salaries," Gutierrez said.

In March of 2012 Texas set up private insurance companies to coordinate health care coverage. The companies were dubbed Managed Care Organizations and were tasked with coordinating health care coverage for more than 400,000 in South Texas.

Gutierrez had to hire several new employees just to handle the new billing practices. Gloria Lozano is one of those employees.

Lozano said insurance companies will often deny payment. She said they will claim there were errors made on the payment form, but they won't tell the doctor's office what the error is so they can fix it.

"All they tell you is that it's your responsibility to submit a clean claim," Lozano said.

"If the claim is being rejected, it's your responsibility as a provider to go through that claim and figure out what's wrong," Lozano said.

She said it is a way for insurance companies to keep the money in their bank accounts.

One of the insurance companies is called Superior Healthplan. On January 1, the government changed the billing codes for several procedures. More than four months later, Superior has not uploaded the new codes into the system. Still, they reject claims for those procedures.

Superior owes Dr. Gutierrez $25,667.34.

"Here we are, April 25, and you're still not paying?" Lozano said during a recent call to Superior.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS asked Superior officials for a response. A spokesperson said she was looking into the issue.

Dr. Gutierrez and his wife recently had to take out a loan so they could pay their employees.

His expenses include payments for equipment, like a spinal decompression machine. It cost Gutierrez more than $100,000.

Gutierrez said he wishes he could spend more time being a doctor and less time worrying about the business side of his practice.

"They don't see the patients. They don't come with me and see all these patients telling me they're in trouble, they have a lot of pain, they need help. They don't know that. All they see is the numbers. If they don't approve this treatment, they don't have to pay that treatment. So that's it," Gutierrez said.

If neurologists like Gutierrez have to close their practice, stroke patients like Andrea Jaramillo will have fewer options for treatment.

"My arm just started numbing up, my face numbing up ... my eyes starting to twitch," Jaramillo said,

"Thank God and thanks to Dr. Gutierrez I've gotten up," Jaramillo said.

Gutierrez said he will continue to grind out the 70-hour work weeks. He said the success of his practice is not measured in dollars and cents. He sees it in the eyes of the patients he treats and heals.

One of the reasons doctors like Gutierrez have more problems with managed care is the high number of Medicaid patients in the region. Gutierrez estimates that 75 percent of his patients are on Medicaid.

 

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HIDALGO COUNTY - A Mission doctor says he never though his version of the American dream would crumble.

Dr. Miguel Gutierrez began his studies in Reynosa, but Mexico's slumping economy forced him and his wife, Diana, to venture north in the early 1990s. He lost his job as a neurologist when Mexico's economy collapsed.

"We sold everything, and I came to the United States. I started again," Gutierrez said.

The choice meant a lot of studying

"I studied for seven months ... for like 10 hours daily," Gutierrez said.

He passed all the necessary exams to practice medicine in the United States.

"We were dancing ... because that's a difficult test," Gutierrez said.

The dancing didn't last long. Gutierrez took four more years of residency in Arkansas.

"We did six years in Mexico, then four years residency, then four years here ... and then we thought we finally made it. She's from the Valley, so we thought let's go to the Valley," Gutierrez said.

The couple paid off their loans and sent their children to college. They felt that their American dream had come true.

Everything changed last year when managed care made its way to the Valley. Gutierrez said he had to take out a loan in early 2013 to keep his practice afloat.

Gutierrez said he wrote a letter to President Obama asking for help. He said it is ultimately the patients who suffer the consequences of managed care.

Gutierrez said many doctors are closing their practices and moving out of the Valley.

Gutierrez said most of his patients are on Medicare or Medicaid.

"You should see the stacks of paper in billing. They send it back if there is a little mistake ... and they don't tell you what the mistake is. You have to do everything," Gutierrez said.

He said the paperwork is just the beginning.

"It's a business. They want you to use less-expensive medications. All the patients complain. If they were using a medication, than it's not going to be approved. They have to find something cheaper," he said.

Diana Gutierrez said she shares her husband's frustration. She runs the business side of his practice. She deals with the bureaucracy of managed care.

Dr. Gutierrez is one of eight neurologists in Hidalgo County. The ratio of patients to doctor is 99,000 for every neurologist.

"My mom is a patient at the office. She has Medicare. I can see that part as a family member. I see the patients, I seem them helpless. They need the health care. They're worried about the future and if we have to close," Diana Gutierrez said.

Dr. Gutierrez said he has turned down salaried jobs at hospitals because he cares about the patients who rely on him.

He said it is that love of caring for patients that keeps him from giving up the fight.

 

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RIO GRANDE CITY - An investigation has been launched into the theft of money from the Starr County Tax Assessor's Office.

Starr County District Attorney Omar Escobar said the stolen amount may exceed $700,000.

DA investigators, Rio Grande City police and Texas Department of Public Safety Rangers raided the tax assessor's office on Thursday.

Escobar said several county employees may be behind the theft. No arrests have been made.

The investigation started more than a year ago, Escobar said. He said the allegations of theft started surfacing in late 2011 and early 2012.

 

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CAMERON COUNTY - Thousands of illegal immigrants are waiting to see a judge. It is part of the process before they are expelled from the country.

The courts are full, and the cases are stacking up, experts said.

One of those immigrants said she is caught in a legal limbo - she wants to leave but the government will not let her.

Diana Grant said she feels like time stopped for her at Valley International Airport in 2011. She was detained after trying to board an airplane to return to the Caribbean. Her visa had expired.

"I told them, 'I'm going to my home.' I didn't think there'd be a problem with me leaving the country ... going to my home, but they said no," Grant said.

Authorities booked her into the Department of Homeland Security court system in Harlingen. She was later released into a world of uncertainty.

"I can't leave here and I can't work here," she said.

Grant, a single mother, gets help from taxpayers to cover her reduced rent in public housing. She wants to work, but the government will not let her get a work visa. Taxpayers also have to pay to feed her and her daughter.

"I don't want to be dependent on the system," Grant said.

She doesn't have a choice.

Grant can't resume her life until she sees an immigration judge.

A Department of Justice report from 2012 shows cases like Grant's can take up to five years. The reason is frequent and lengthy continuances.

"My first court appearance was in March 26, 2012," Grant said. That court appearance was delayed four months until July 2012.

"It was delayed again until January of 2013," Grant said.

In January, she was told to wait another ten months. Her next hearing is scheduled for October - two years after she was detained at the airport.

"Does this really work? They keep saying, ‘do the paperwork, go through the process.' I'm doing that, and I still have no results," Grant said.

The question remains as to why it takes so long for cases to go through Homeland Security courtrooms.

"It may take more than a year," immigration Attorney Jose Martinez said.

Martinez is Grant's immigration attorney. He is frustrated with the delays in the case. Still, Martinez defends the court system.

"The immigration judges that I go in front of are experts," Martinez said.

Martinez said the government is focusing on illegal immigrants with criminal records.

"Targeting the worst of the worst," Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office Director Enrique Lucero said.

The criminals' day in court will come much sooner than Grant's.

"The average length of stay for a criminal alien in the San Antonio region is about 27 days - from start to finish," Lucero said.

Judges used to push cases like Grant's through the system in less than eight months, but that is no longer the case.

"They're saying they want to get rid of the criminals first. But I have no criminal record. I'm not doing harm to anyone," Grant said.

Grant is trapped while the government delays her case.

Immigration judges are not allowed to speak with the media. A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Virginia issued a statement about the delays.

"In a world of limited resources, the focus on placing a high priority on the adjudication of detained cases has implications for the non-detained side of the docket," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Grant remains trapped in a legal limbo, living off taxpayer funds.

 

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WESLACO - The number of United States residents missing in Mexico keeps climbing, federal investigators said.

Law enforcement officials said the chances of finding them are slim.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has at least 272 cases on file. Each case may include more than one victim.

FBI stats show that 254 of the missing were from McAllen and Brownsville. The records show that 109 others were from Laredo.

FBI officials said 125 of the 272 cases are still active.

Siblings Claudia Benavides and Daniel Rodriguez are two of the Rio Grande Valley residents waiting for news from their loved one.

"It's hard to know that there is nobody that can help us in any kind of way," Benavides said. Her mother, Carmen Maria Gonzalez, disappeared six months ago after she boarded a bus in Miguel Aleman.

"We always thought that was never going to happen to us," Rodriguez said.

"She was going to see my grandma, she was going to visit her and my aunts," Benavides said.

Gonzalez left from her home in Roma and walked across the border to the bus station on Aug. 1, 2012. That was the last time the siblings saw their mother.

A relative later called them to say their mother never arrived.

Gonzalez walked into a city where firefights, carjackings and bombings have become a part of life. The American consulate often warns Americans to stay away from Mexico, particularly the border cities in the state of Tamaulipas.

Still, the siblings said their mother frequented Mexico, even when she could hear the violence from her doorstep.

"We used to hear gunshots and even grenades," Benavides said.

Living so close to the danger gave them a false sense of security, Benavides said.

Benavides said the incident has changed her family's perspective.

"It's a different point of view, and it's really hard to think about it," she said.

The family launched an aggressive search for their mother. They filed reports with police on both sides of the border, but got no results.

The response from Mexican officials is especially frustrating for families.

"It's hard not to be angry and resentful, but you can't hold onto those feelings because it will hinder you," Lizanne Sanchez said. Her brother, Zane Alejandro Plemmons, disappeared in Nuevo Laredo.

Sanchez said she has little faith in authorities to find her brother.

Plemmons was a freelance journalist when he disappeared. The Mazatlan-native spent years working for newspapers reporting on the drug wars.

"It was important for him ... he was so driven. He had a passion," Plemmons' brother-in-law Michael Sanchez said.

Plemmons received threats in 2010. He returned to San Antonio after the threats. Still, his family said his heart was in Mexico.

Two years later he decided a trip back would be safe.

His mother drove him to a hotel in Nuevo Laredo on May 21, 2012. He was scheduled to take a bus to Mazatlan the next day. He disappeared after he ran out of the hotel, camera-in-hand, during a shooting.

"I have yet to hear of a person who has turned up after they have been missing for a while," Laredo Police Investigator Joe Baez said.

Baez said the cases have become increasingly common.

"It is extremely frustrating. They will come with pictures of their loved ones ... they are desperate for any help. We are here to help them, but it's rather limited in terms of our reach and authority," Baez said.

Local police agencies send the cases to federal authorities.

"We know how stressful, sad and serious this is for families," FBI Special Agent Eric Vasys said.

"The FBI, especially in the Valley and our border offices, we receive numerous complaints for kidnapping and missing Americans," Vasys said.

The FBI is the primary agency that investigates the cases.

"We have to have a crime as the reason for the person's disappearance. ... It's a jurisdiction issue," Vasys said.

There is little the agency can do if there is no evidence of a crime, he said.

"We've been cataloging the missing Americans who don't fit in the crime category as missing-Americans-in-Mexico initiative," Vasys said.

He said there are many cases that are never reported.

"We know that there is a large portion of crimes, of kidnapping crimes that go unreported, where the families are handling this themselves," Vasys said.

When it comes to kidnapping, fear may force families to keep quiet, he said.

Many of the kidnapping victims had a connection to organized crime, officials said. Still many are cases of mistaken identity.

The FBI relies heavily on cooperation from Mexican authorities, Vasys said.

"We ask them. ‘Here's what we've found, here's what we are looking for, and we request these leads to be covered,'" he said.

"The quick response to law enforcement we are accustomed to here slows down quite a bit when we are asking our counterparts in Mexico to cover our leads for us," Vasys said.

Baez said it is a fact of life along the border.

"There are recourses of law enforcement agencies you can go to ... the consulate office. (But) it's rather limited. There are piles and piles of people ... lives yet to be accounted for," Baez said.

The law enforcement roadblocks are a product of the chaos created by the cartels, Vasys said.

"The cartels helped create this instability, where they are (fighting) for control of the border cities. We have to reinforce our partnerships on the other side," he said.

The situation leaves many families in limbo. Many of those families share their stories through social media and blogs.

"We unfortunately know there's little to no chance they will ever be found again," Baez said.

"These are some very dangerous times," Vasys said.

"It's really sad not to know what's going on, if she's alive, what she's going through," Benavides said.

 

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COTULLA - One of the biggest economic booms in the history of Texas is unfolding just a few hours north of the Rio Grande Valley.

A gigantic geological formation called the Eagle Ford Shale is filled with oil and natural gas. It is creating countless new jobs in several south Texas counties.

The formation covers 23 counties - from College Station to an area near Laredo. The Eagle Ford Shale generated $25 billion in revenue last year. It has created 47,000 full-time jobs.

Oil and gas drilling and production have boomed so fast that companies can't find enough people to fill the jobs available. Most of those jobs require only a high school diploma. Free training is available for many positions.

The companies perform hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Companies inject water at high pressure into the rock formation to open it up so they can extract the oil and gas inside. The method allows companies to access deposits that were not accessible just a few years ago.

The jobs are not far away.

A CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew drove just four hours north to the town of Cotulla.

The area has become a magnet for workers from around Texas. The oil and gas boom has transformed the sleepy little town north of Laredo.

Cotulla officials said there is a continuous investment by the oil and gas companies in the region.

Randy Ramirez, 22, of Edinburg, landed a job. He had no experience in the oil industry.

"We're drilling here. EP Energy is drilling wells left and right," Ramirez said.

He is a field operator.

"We maintain production of oil and gas," Ramirez said.

New technologies are helping create a jackpot for companies like Chesapeake Energy.

"Before hydraulic fracturing was coupled with horizontal drilling, you had to drill about 16 wells on each property," Haley Curry said. She is with Chesapeake Energy.

"As you see here, we only have to drill one well. We'll get at the same amount, if not more, oil and natural gas," Curry said.

The oil boom is also benefiting other businesses.

The Gardendale Railroad yard had only 1,600 feet of track two years ago. The yard now has about 25 miles of track in roughly one square mile.

Materials and equipment constantly roll in, destined for oil and gas fields. Petroleum and gas roll north to the refineries.

"Two years ago, nobody worked out here," Gardendale Railroad General Manager Dal Randle said.

"The car will come in here ... unload it, and we'll send it out of here and it'll go straight back and get loaded and come right back," Randle said.

Cotulla's population has more than doubled in the past couple of years. The boom is putting a strain on the roads. About 14,000 vehicles pass through the tiny downtown intersection every day.

The town's city hall is overflowing with plans waiting approval for new subdivisions and hotels.

"These are maps that have been approved for construction. There are some that have been completed. Each day we get new sets of maps," Cotulla City Manager Larry Dovalina said.

At least three hotels are under construction. Ten were built in the past three years.

"I worked in Laredo for 29 years and I was city manager there when we had some of the most explosive growth. We didn't have this kind of growth," Dovalina said.

"The restaurants are full. The hotels are full. The gas stations are full. Right down to the hardware stores ... everybody across the board," Randle said.

RV parks can be found throughout the town. The cost to rent one space for a small RV starts at about $550 per month.

A furnished one-room studio apartment runs about $325 per week, or $1,300 per month.

In Cotulla, and across the Eagle Ford Shale, oilfield housing is everywhere.

One location in Cotulla has 54, four-man cabins. Two teams of two guys rotate through shifts on a 24-hour basis. The cleaning is done by the landlords.

"Anything that you need, you just need to go talk to them and they'll get you what you need," Bobby Mata said. He is from Orange Grove, near Alice.

"It's a great place. They take care of us. They feed us breakfast, dinner," Mata said.

Mata has been working in Cotulla for about eight months.

He started in the oil industry seven years ago as a laborer and now holds an engineering position.

"Being away from home is just the main thing, but you've got to do what you've got to do to provide for your family," Mata said.

Another fact of life in Cotulla is a workforce shortage.

"It's hard to find enough people to work for all the jobs that are available. A lot of them have grabbed the oilfield jobs, which are good for them and they pay well," Maryanne Hall said. She is with the Cotulla Chamber of Commerce.

"We need everything from pumpers to drivers with valid commercial driver's license to field engineers," Curry said.

Recruiters are turning to the Valley for workers.

"They're looking for folks ... from roughnecks to rustabouts to technicians right away ... supervisors, foremen," Victor de Leon said. He is with Texas Workforce Solutions.

College degrees are not necessary to find a good-paying job.

Rigo Gonzalez and his 18-year-old son found work in Cotulla. They are from Rio Grande City.

The father and son maintain trucks.

For workers like Ramirez, the boom is a solid shot at a secure future.

"It's a good chance to make some good money," Ramirez said.

Some of that money is flowing south to the Valley.

The Eagle Ford Shale boom is expected to last at least another 10 years. The number of full-time jobs is expected to hit 117,000 by 2021.

People interested in finding a job in the Eagle Ford Shale should call Texas Workforce Solutions at 1-877-687-1121.

 

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WESLACO - Thirty years have passed since a woman and her companion were murdered and dumped in a ditch in Weslaco.

The woman's family said they never got answers on the crime.

"It feels like it just happened yesterday," Maria Elena Lopez said.

It was 32 years ago when Carol Bautista left her home. Lopez remembers the last time she saw her sister.

"She was the baby of the girls," Lopez said.

"She wasn't there but a few minutes, and that was it," Lopez said. It was the night of April 7, 1981. The 20-year-old had stopped at the family home to change clothes.

Carol Bautista rushed out the door. It was the last time her family saw her alive.

"We want the truth to come out," Lopez said.

The Bautista family had never granted an interview on the case, until now.

"It's just wrong. We need justice for everyone's sake ... especially for Carol," Lopez said.

Lopez and her sister Toni Bautista said they didn't have any idea where their younger sister was going.

"We didn't find out until the following day that she had picked up a friend, Pete Flores Jr.," Toni Bautista said.

Lopez said she panicked when Carol Bautista didn't call that night.

"That's just the way we were brought up. You call home," Lopez said.

The next day they got a call from her boss at a Brownsville shipbuilding company.

"She didn't show up, so I knew something was wrong because she loved her job," Lopez said.

The two elder Bautista sisters started making phone calls.

"We tried to file a report the next day, because for her not to come ... not to call was not right. It didn't feel right," Lopez said.

"I believe we called the police department, and they said you have to wait so many hours because she is an adult," Lopez said.

Carol Bautista's car was found a few hours later abandoned along FM 1015 south of Weslaco, near the levee. The front windshield was smashed and the radio was missing. There was no sign of Carol Bautista or her friend.

The family never found out where the two had gone that night.

"People saw them stopping here and there at different convenience stores, but that was it," Toni Bautista said.

A missing persons report was finally filed two days after the couple's disappearance. The car was the only clue in the case.

"We weren't going to wait. We had a missing sister out there, and she needed our help," Lopez said.

The family started searching on their own.

"There were irrigation ditches everywhere, canals. We were out there. My mom was with us. We were searching. We'd find a piece of clothing - a shirt, a girl's blouse. We'd say, ‘I know this wasn't what she was wearing,' and there was water out there," Lopez said.

They suspected something bad had happened.

"We knew it was bad. In our hearts we knew something was wrong, so we were looking for a body. We went out looking for a body. We turned over rocks, we would dig into the ground," Lopez said.

Two bodies were found in a ditch off South Airport Drive in Weslaco 10 days later.

"In the drainage ditch by 18th Street," Toni Bautista said.

Both bodies were in the water.

"One was face up. One was face down," Lopez said.

Both bodies were nude.

Dental records were used to identify Carol Bautista's body. She had been stabbed multiple times.

"It was unjustifiable the way that she was killed. Nobody deserves to die that way," Lopez said.

The family could not think of anyone who may have wanted to harm Carol Bautista.

"No motive, none at all. That's what bothers me the most. All we have are suspicions, theories. And that's not good," Lopez said.

Military and dental records eventually led to Flores' identity. An autopsy showed he drowned.

The Bautista sisters are convinced someone in Weslaco knows what happened.

The Bautista family said the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department isn't working the case has hard as they should.

"We've been through more than half a dozen investigators. They all seem to just drop the ball. They get going and then they just stop," Toni Bautista said.

"Old cases are not forgotten," Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said.

He said detectives regularly review the case.

"My philosophy on cold cases ... somewhere in that old file the answer exists," Trevino said.

"We just have to undo the puzzle and put it back together again, and that's what takes time," he said.

Records show deputies questioned several people through the years. Investigators never had enough evidence to make an arrest.

"The family can't go out there, find the suspect and bring him in. Vigilante groups can't do that either. By law, we are the only ones, and we don't forget them," Trevino said.

Investigators never recovered the murder weapon.

"The key is to review all the affidavits because those are the witnesses ... those are the ones that can put those pieces together," Trevino said.

"Maybe way back when in 1981 somebody missed something somewhere," he said.

Lopez said they have found solace in their religious beliefs.

"We have to forgive. (But) it's very hard," Toni Bautista said.

She said it's hard to forgive when you don't know who to forgive.

"That's the problem. I don't want to have anger anymore. I don't want to accuse somebody wrongfully," Lopez said.

"We want to be able to free ourselves. You know ... the anger, the pain. It's painful to remember. I want to do this for my mom, too. This was her wish," Lopez said.

They keep that wish alive everyday when they look at the pages of a notebook.

"We have everybody's notes. Notes from back then, while they were fresh in our memories ... the newspaper clippings," Lopez said.

Toni Bautista said she keeps the notebook close to her.

"In my room ... where I have easy access. Right there in my closet," Toni Bautista said.

Toni Bautista said she looks at the notebook everyday. It is a constant reminder of the sister she lost.

"We got to live our lives. We've had families, kids and careers. My sister had none of that. She was just starting out," Toni Bautista said. "She will be in our hearts until we die."

The sisters said they will keep their sister's notebook near. They are holding on to hope that one day the sheriff's department will be able to close the book on her case.

 

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MISSION - A plush home in a gated community is a far cry from the shantytown-like dwellings many welfare recipients inhabit in the Rio Grande Valley.

The $315,000 abode with lush landscaping nonetheless is the home of a food stamp recipient. The woman is one of many Valley residents caught defrauding the government.

State records show that 385,000 Valley residents receive food benefits. Statewide the count is 3.5 million. The program pays out more than $420 million every month in food benefits.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS obtained a list of violators from the state of Texas. The list includes hundreds of names.

Normally, food stamp recipients' names are private. The names become public once they are prosecuted for theft.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS tried to track down some of the violators. A news crew knocked on doors from Brownsville to Starr County to speak with them.

Many of the violators in Starr County refused to open their doors when they saw the CHANNEL 5 NEWS cameras.

One of those violators was Rebecca Hernandez. Records show she failed to report her employment and received $12,000 in food money. CHANNEL 5 NEWS did not find Hernandez to get her side of the story.

Nelida Perez of McAllen fraudulently received $21,000 in food benefits.

"It was my mistake," Perez said.

Perez said she failed to report her husband's earnings. She was indicted on a third-degree felony theft charge.

"I'm embarrassed. I made the mistake. ... I was filling out the application without reporting changes," Perez said.

Perez received deferred adjudication, like many defendants convicted of food stamp fraud. She also has to pay back the $21,000.

"I'm planning to pay payments ... because it was my mistake. I should have said the truth," she said.

Perez said she doesn't know how authorities found out about her case.

It was time to visit the $315,000 house in south McAllen. Tax records show that Claudia Salinas is one of the owners.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS visited the house in December. No one answered the door, so the news crew began to take some photos from the street. Moments later a woman pulled up in a recent-model Land Rover SUV.

The news crew told the woman they were looking for Salinas. The woman hesitantly shook her head and asked if there was a problem. CHANNEL 5 NEWS told her Salinas had been indicted for failing to report her household resources to the state. She received more than $20,000 in food benefits.

The woman denied living at the house and sped away. Records show the Land Rover is registered to a man who also owns the house.

The woman drove back through a different street but kept going after she saw the news crew was still at the house.

Salinas also was convicted and sentence to deferred adjudication and community supervision.

Authorities said it takes months and even years to prosecute the cases.

"They're fined and they're put on probation," an investigator with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission said.

"The friend, neighbor or relative normally will report them. ... They admit to their friends and they get jealous, and they're the ones that report them," the investigator said.

Caseworkers have to access Texas employment records, federal databases and county property tax records.

"We'll get a report a client is receiving benefits and no income was counted. We'll check and we'll find out you're employed ... so then we have to collect all those benefits that you were not entitled to receive," the investigator said.

Investigators said people can report food stamp fraud by calling 800-436-6184.

 

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WESLACO - A small group of federal agents are battling a growing epidemic in the Rio Grande Valley.

Federal authorities said the Valley has become a hotbed for health care fraud. Criminals bilk millions of dollars from Medicaid and Medicare.

Valley doctors concur with the authorities about the seriousness of the problem.

"You still have Miami and Houston way ahead of anywhere in the United States, but there is certainly a large amount of it down here," Dr. Noel Oliveira said.

"Health care fraud is off the chart down here," assistant Special Agent in Charge Jason Meadows said.

Meadows heads the Valley's top fraud investigative agency - the Office of the Inspector General, or OIG.

The agents make sure home health care and durable medical equipment companies bill the government properly.

Meadows thinks he knows why the Valley is such a hotbed for fraud. He calls it a perfect storm.

"Large Medicare population, large Medicaid population, large provider population and it's just off the beaten path. People have not been getting caught for Medicare fraud down here," Meadows said.

The real story is in the numbers, he said.

Large cities, like Austin and San Antonio, have an average of 25 durable medical equipment companies. Hidalgo County alone has more than 300 of those companies. Add to that 250 home health care agencies and the potential for fraud skyrockets, Meadows said.

"There should be 10 to 20 DME companies in a town this size, and there are over 300 ... so it just doesn't add up," Meadows said.

Meadows pointed out the RGV DME case as an example. CHANNEL 5 NEWS in 2008 uncovered potential irregularities with the way the McAllen company billed the government. The company owners, Marcelo and Clara Herrera, have since been indicted.

The husband and wife are accused of submitting 25,000 claims totaling $11 million. The case is still pending in federal court.

Meadows said the region offers a new set of challenges for agents.

"We see drug money infiltrate health care fraud. People trafficking drugs attempting to somewhat legitimize health care businesses here in the Valley," Meadows said.

Still, he said violators are caught.

"Look over your shoulder. You're going to get caught. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but you're going to get caught. And you're going to go to prison. It's not payback money, it's not a fine, it's go to prison," he said.

Doctors are relieved to see the government take action to solve the problem.

"We do appreciate the law enforcement out there trying to stop this to keep the system safe and to allow patients access to care," Oliveira said.

 

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RIO GRANDE VALLEY - The Lone Star Card is a way of life for thousands of Rio Grande Valley residents.

One in every four residents relies on the government for food assistance. That's 385,000 Valley residents who receive Lone Star Card benefits, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

"It really helps a lot," Sonia Garcia said as she used the card for her mother in Roma.

The precious piece of plastic provides food for some who might otherwise go hungry.

"My mom gets food stamps, that Lone Star Card," Garcia said. Her mother is 90.

Garcia said her mother's resources are limited.

"She gets very little money," Garcia said.

Her mother receives approximately $300 a month.

"I buy her eggs, coffee, bread, a little bit of vegetables, a little bit of fruits," Garcia said.

A swipe of the card and a personal identification number gives the holder access to food. It also means big business for store owners like Juan Saenz.

"Well, it's just a swipe, and that's about it. Three days later, you've got a deposit in your bank account," Saenz said. He owns Saenz Mini-Mart in Roma.

He said the card is crucial for his bottom line.

"I'd say about a third to a fourth of our customers have it," Saenz said. His specialty meat market is a popular stop for shoppers in Roma.

"I don't really see any store not wanting to participate with Lone Star," he said.

Records CHANNEL 5 NEWS obtained from the state show that 40 Roma stores accept the Lone Star Card. That is one store for every 244 people living in the town. It is one of the highest concentrations of Lone Star Card holders in the Valley.

"Somebody can just get the card and swipe it from their neighbor," Saenz said.

He said there is no state law that requires storekeepers to check a cardholder's identification. The cards don't have a name on them. They only have a number.

"They need to have their own PIN, so I guess that would be their personal security. Like a debit card, I guess," Saenz said.

The card covers most food purchases. One of the few things it doesn't cover is beer, users said.

State records show that 1,500 Valley stores accept the Lone Star Card. Many of those stores are drive-ins, like Super Danny's south of Alamo.

People use the card to buy milk, beans and Cokes at the drive-in, employees said. It was the same story, store after store.

Some store employees said most of their customers use the Lone Star Card, especially at the beginning of the month.

The law states that the card can't be used to buy beer or hot foods.

Some people often try to pay for tacos with the card.

"There's a lot of people who ask ... ‘can I pay with the Lone Star?'" said an employee at a store. She said people get upset when they find out they can't buy tacos with the card.

The owner of Cecy's Drive-thru in Alamo keeps a close eye on what people buy with the Lone Star Card.

"There's a lot of customers with Lone Star," Cecy Salinas said.

"You can basically (buy) all the food ... Fritos, chips, Cokes. No beer and food to go ... nothing like that," Salinas said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS took hidden cameras into stores throughout the Valley and discovered they don't have a way to verify the people using the cards are the actual cardholders.

Some said they wonder if the people using the cards really need them.

"You see a lady driving a brand new Expedition ... those things spend a lot of gas. So do they really need the card? I guess not, right," Ernest Lugo said. He runs Lugo's Mini Mart in San Benito.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is in charge of the Lone Star Cards.

"The system is here to help people in need, and there are people in need and who deserve to be on benefits. But there are people who shouldn't be on benefits at all. They're making more money than you and I put together," a state investigator said.

Allegations of card fraud are taken seriously, officials said.

"You can't just give your card to anybody. ... You're committing a crime, and the individual that has the card is committing a crime," an undercover investigator said.

Finding the fraud can take months. People like Sonia Garcia, the Roma resident, want the state crack down on fraud.

"You do have to be very careful with those things, you know. You don't mess around with them. It's government you know," Garcia said.

State numbers show that 3.5 million Texans receive food assistance. It costs the state more than $420 million a month to pay for those benefits.

 

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RIO GRANDE VALLEY - Food benefits are an important part of life for 25 percent of Rio Grande Valley residents, state records show.

Texas hands out $420 million a month statewide in food benefits. State investigators claim that only 1 percent of those benefits are claimed through fraud. Still, that translates to $4.2 million being spent illegally every month.

Files full of fraud allegations pile up in Edinburg where state investigators dig into those cases.

"Honestly, it makes us sick to our stomach when we really start looking at these cases," an investigator said.

The investigators work for the Office of the Inspector General. They check into every claim.

"They don't have any shame in doing this. These people that are committing the fraud that are not eligible to receive ... they think we owe them, the state owes them," the investigator said.

The investigator said she has heard every excuse possible.

"Right now, 99 percent of our cases are man-in-the-home cases. A Mrs. goes in to apply for benefits ... she has four or five kids ... and she fails to include Mr. who is working in the oil fields or is a federal employee," the investigator said.

She said women tend to hide husbands and jobs.

"Right there, when they do that, they're committing fraud. It's illegal to lie," she said.

"They provide a false document, then they have committed a crime," the investigator said.

Investigators often end up at the border.

"If you live in Mexico, you can't come over here and receive benefits," she said.

She said Customs and Border Protection officers catch people almost every day sneaking groceries across.

"The officers from the bridge will usually call. They'll say, 'I stopped this individual. They're taking hundreds of dollars worth of groceries that were purchased with the Lone Star. Can you tell us if they're receiving benefits? They're telling us they live in Mexico,'" she said.

That's enough to lose benefits, she said.

"They'll ask to see the receipt, and if they show it was paid with Lone Star, then they'll ask for their documents. If they have a passport and they're residents of Mexico ... they'll cut their passport and then they're not going to be eligible to cross the bridge," she said.

"The norm is they come over and they use relatives' or friends' addresses ... or they were here for a short period of time and they just moved back," she said.

Customs officers have a special number they call to log complaints. Investigators also take calls from the public.

"I just interviewed a couple of ladies. The husband is earning between $6,000 and $10,000 a month ... and they still have the audacity to go and apply for benefits," she said.

So how easy is it apply for food benefits? The applications are available online.

The investigator admitted that someone could get benefits without ever meeting face to face with an investigator.

Applications are also done in person. People are asked to hand over bank and job information, the investigator said. State screeners review the applications.

"If they come across something that they feel is kind of questionable ... and they question the client, they have to take the client's statement," she said.

She said they get tips about people buying things that are not eligible for purchase.

"But that's very hard for us to prove, unless we're following that individual," she said.

Store owners said they have no way to identify fraud because the cards don't have names on them.

"My investigators and I were talking about that yesterday. I personally think they should put the name or some kind of fingerprint on the card ... or a photo," she said.

"The system is here to help people in need, and there are people in need and who deserve to be on benefits but there are people who shouldn't be on benefits at all. They're making more money than you and I put together," she said.

The state estimates that less than 1 percent of all food benefit transactions are fraudulent.

"It doesn't belong to them ... so it's fraud," the investigator said.

A person found committing food benefit fraud loses benefits for one year in the first offense. On the second offence benefits are cut for 24 months. A third offense means the permanent loss of benefits. The sanctions affect just the person, not the entire family.

The only time when their cases are closed completely is when the family lives in another state or Mexico.

 

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BROOKS COUNTY - The sun struggles to shine through the fog during a recent morning as deputies converge on a ranch west of Falfurrias.

The Brooks County Sheriff's deputies board their all-terrain vehicles as they prepare to head beyond the brush. They invited CHANNEL 5 NEWS to get a closer look at smuggling routes in the dense South Texas brush.

More than 100 illegal immigrants have died on Brooks County ranches this year, officials said. Here, ranchers fight for their land and deputies fight for control.

"We're able to get to places a lot quicker," Deputy Danny Avila said of his ATV.

This day, Brooks County Chief Deputy Benny Martinez leads the search.

"They're charging ... $4,000 to $5,000 ... maybe more per head," Martinez said.

Human smuggling yields large profits.

"Just one load they get through, you're looking at maybe $500,000, easy," Martinez said.

Smugglers risk life and limb just to get around the Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 281.

Martinez said the smugglers are getting bolder. He has seen more immigrants carrying drugs in backpacks.

"They'll carry up to 500 pounds ... it all depends on how many of those walking are willing to carry," Martinez said.

"There's lots of cases where they say, ‘hey, you carry this ... you carry 50 pounds ... you don't have to pay to get across,'" Avila said.

"You don't have much money, now you have to backpack 20 to 30 pounds of dope," Avila said.

Martinez said the smugglers have ties to Mexican drug cartels.

A distance from ranch roads, Martinez points out places where immigrants and smugglers hide.

"That's a camp," he said of a cluster of trees and underbrush.

"They have such good cover out here ... you know they can actually just lower themselves down," Martinez said.

He said the dense South Texas brush provides perfect hiding places.

Martinez pointed out a couple of backpacks. Upon closer inspection, a CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew noticed water bottles were covered in paint.

"That's just because of the reflection," Martinez said.

He said immigrants often fill their water jugs with water from cattle troughs.

"This group got through. They changed and got through, and got moved on," he said of the people who left the backpacks behind.

"They're on their way to Houston," Martinez said.

Two other deputies on ATVs searched the southern area of the ranch.

"Hopefully the guys that went down south will be able to pick up some tracks for us," Martinez said.

The deputies were looking for other groups of immigrants.

"They'll let us know which direction they'll be walking," Martinez said.

Martinez decided to check another hiding spot.

He pointed out the trash immigrants leave behind.

"There's some stuff over there I need to go look at. Let's go see if we can find something," Martinez said.

Deputies searched areas of the ranch looking for clues.

"They're just kind of like campsites," Martinez said.

Martinez packed up the backpacks in case they contained any evidence.

"Maybe we'll find something here before it's all over," he said.

A few minutes later, Martinez uncovered another hiding spot.

The hiding spot looked more like a campsite. The place was littered with trash, water bottles, backpacks and jackets.

Martinez seemed stunned.

"I've seen cans, but look at this. ... Look at this! All through underneath the tree line," he said.

The hiding spot was a few yards from Highway 281.

"They wait for that honk ... wait for that vehicle color and just go after it," Martinez said.

The call Martinez was expecting came soon. The other deputies had spotted tracks.

The CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew jumped into Avila's truck.

"We also have 4x4s ... they're the back-up to the ATVs. (If the) ATVs get into trouble, or if the group runs on them, that's when the trucks come in," Avila said.

Avila was in a rush to stop the group before they reached the highway. He got there minutes too late.

"You can tell where the tracks came in right here. They've been tracking this group for probably 3 to 3.5 miles. ... All the footprints ... they came up through here and cross the fence," Avila said.

It was a frustrating moment for Avila.

"You can even see the tire tracks ... where whatever vehicle picked them up drove right up next to the fence line. I can guarantee you it didn't take more than 10 seconds to load the group, and they're gone," he said.

The group escaped, but Avila knows another one is on the way.

Avila said it's very important to be out in the brush on their four-wheelers.

"This year we were able to obtain these four-wheelers that we're using now. A lot of people think we're just out here (going after) illegal aliens. We have a lot of backpackers. ... They're trafficking narcotics," Avila said.

Martinez said local law enforcement is outnumbered.

"We can't cover too much," Martinez said.

He said Border Patrol agents are just as busy.

Martinez said there is a need for more manpower.

 

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WESLACO - A Rio Grande Valley charter school has become the focus of a state investigation.

State officials said IRRA Charter School got nearly $900,000 more than it should have received.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS learned IRRA changed attendance reports. They marked students present even when they didn't show up for class. And they got the money for it.

Just like public schools, charter schools get funding based on attendance. Every student represents thousands of dollars.

A student from IRRA's Mission center spoke with CHANNEL 5 NEWS before her graduation.

"I was just trying to make it easier for myself," Sabrina Deckard said.

Deckard said she needed just two classes in her last semester to graduate. She said that wasn't good enough for her principal.

"When I asked him why, he said the school wouldn't be making money off me ... wouldn't be benefiting off of me," she said.

IRRA receives an average of $9,000 for every student who attends a full day of classes. Part-time students, like Deckard, mean half that amount.

Deckard said the principal wanted the full amount. So they made a deal.

"It's like if I attend the whole day, but I really didn't," she said.

A review of Deckard's schedule and attendance records shows she was marked present for class periods not listed in her final schedule.

State records show that Deckard was a full-time student for the entire school year. But as mentioned before, she wasn't.

"So he's getting money off of me, because supposedly I'm attending those classes," she said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS went to her principal for answers.

"I've been told to not comment on anything ... only if it's authorized by central," he said.

IRRA officials would not allow the principal to speak with CHANNEL 5 NEWS.

"The right thing to do is to bring it to the people that can address it. You can't address it," IRRA Assistant Superintendent Noe Sauceda said.

A Texas Education Agency investigation found that IRRA inflated attendance numbers in 2009 and 2010. Students were marked present even when they were absent.

"I would say that data quality was probably one of the significant issues," Sauceda said.

Sauceda is part of a new administration that took over during the state investigation.

"Things are changing," he said.

The school's superintendent, Beto Gonzalez, applauded the school's reputation at this year's graduation.

"We are the number one charter school," he said.

Sauceda said the problems have been fixed.

"We don't have an option. We must comply with state regulations and so we've given them an assurance that this new administration is doing exactly that," he said.

"That was a lie. There was no change at all," Eleazar Saenz said. He taught science at IRRA for three years. He taught Deckard.

Saenz said Deckard was one of several students marked present but didn't show up to class.

"That's just what happened at IRRA," he said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS found dozens of discrepancies.

"This is fraud," Saenz said. He started asking questions.

"It was just too much. You add them all up and that's a lot of money the school is getting for false information," he said.

IRRA fired Saenz on May 24 for refusing to receive letters of concern regarding his performance, inappropriate discipline and interaction with students and failure to meet IRRA's standards for teachers.

He was fired just two weeks after his annual teacher evaluation.

"This tells me I was, basically, doing my job," he said of the evaluation.

The evaluation shows Saenz exceeded expectations.

"I think I was fired for refusing to mark students present who were actually absent," he said.

"There are staff that are no longer with us or may not be with us ... they're going to want someone to blame," Sauceda said.

Sauceda said administrators never heard Saenz's or Deckard's allegations.

"Out of fairness we need to know what the complaint is ... and there hasn't been a complaint regarding what you're saying ... nothing," he said.

Gonzalez, the school's superintendent, resigned a month after graduation for what IRRA called personal reasons.

IRRA this year changed its name to Ignite Public Schools. State investigators are looking at the school campuses to make sure attendance records are not being changed. The most recent TEA report states school administrators are cooperating.

 

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HIDALGO COUNTY - Seven ambulance companies respond to emergency calls in Hidalgo County. All the companies have contracts with the cities and emergency districts they serve, officials said.

The companies are supposed to respond to calls within their designated areas. But that is not always happening.

"This is how many calls are routed from Promedic, and right now, year-to-date, we have 90 calls," Star EMS Director Richard Torres said.

"Maybe they don't have an ambulance in the area? I don't know. But these are all the calls that we are responding to," he said.

Star EMS has a contract to cover the city of Mercedes and one mile north of the city limits. The company is not supposed to answer calls in the surrounding parts of Hidalgo County.

"We've been trying to pursue it, but we haven't gotten any feedback," he said.

Cities negotiate their own ambulance contracts. At the county level, it's handled by emergency services districts.

"I know there was talk about zoning the area and dividing that county area," Torres said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS is working to find out which district is responsible for the district covered by Promedic.

"Our biggest concern is that ... people are getting used to us doing it," Torres said. "So what if we say, ‘I don't want to deal with the pressure of going through these types of calls,' or ‘this because they're blaming us for somebody else's mess?'"

Promedic refused to answer any of CHANNEL 5 NEWS questions. They kicked a CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew out of their office and called police.

John Pemelton lives between Weslaco and Mercedes. In July, he passed out and needed an ambulance. Promedic answered the 911 call, but the call was forwarded to Star EMS.

"Evidently, Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office doesn't know where I live. Doesn't know what 911 area I'm in ... and neither does Mercedes. I wonder if Weslaco does," Pemelton said.

Star EMS responded to Pemelton's call 20 minutes later. Directors with 911 services said Promedic told them the confusion involved blurry maps.

"Promedic utilized a map that might show them a different street name than what the actual 911 street name is," said Sergio Castro, 911 with the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council.

"They don't have the same system compatible to our system," he said.

Castro said private EMS companies don't have access to 911 equipment used by government entities.

"We do share our maps with them. If they utilize them or not, that's a different issue," Castro said.

The LRGVDC decided to print new maps to avoid confusion among EMS companies. But maps will not keep companies from forwarding calls.

For now, Torres is left tracking the trouble.

"Hopefully, one day, our log will mean something to the county ... when we pursue the contract for that area," he said.

CLICK HERE to view the Texas Department of Health ambulance registry.

 

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WESLACO - Confusion on the part of emergency medical service workers may have put a man's life at risk.

John Pemelton's wife called 911 on July 8 after she found him unconscious.

"I've got migraines. I've got diabetes," John Pemelton said. He also is battling cancer.

"My wife found me. I was out of it. Like I was knocked out," he said. "I had a sugar low and was unconscious."

His wife knew he needed help fast. She called 911 and that's when the problems started.

Pemelton's wife told the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office 911 dispatcher her husband needed an ambulance. She told the dispatcher they were in Mercedes.

The dispatcher knew Mrs. Pemelton's exact location because she was on a mobile phone. Within seconds, he transferred her call to Promedic EMS.

A man named Frank answered the call at Promedic. He asked her for the address of the emergency.

The county's emergency phone system recorded the call up to that point. Mrs. Pemelton remembers the rest.

"Well, at first they said, what's your location? I said, 'I'm at 2 ¼ West and 8 North," she said.

The place is just west of Mercedes and east of Weslaco. But the Promedic dispatcher decided the Pemelton's house wasn't in their response area.

Three minutes later, he transferred the call to Star EMS.

Sara answered Frank's call.

"I have a call in your area," he said.

"Give me a second ... go ahead," Sara said.

"It's going to be 4445 Mile 8 North Mercedes. ... You have an unresponsive male ... diabetic problems," Frank said.

"I'll go ahead and send a unit. Thank you," Sara said and hung up.

Richard Torres, Star EMS director, said they got the call at 7:08 a.m.

"The way we looked at it, the map, we were like, ‘It's a simple call,'" he said.

"Our system ... we run out of Google maps, so we type in an address to that call. It specifically takes us to east Mercedes," Torres said.

The ambulance was sent to a place between FM 491 and Mile 1/2 East.

"Well, they went out there, they determined the (numbers) didn't match up," Torres said.

Paramedics ended up in the middle of a field, miles away from Pemelton's home.

The dispatcher called Mrs. Pemelton back.

"Is he conscious and breathing at this time," the dispatcher asked.

"Yeah, he's breathing ... but I can't wake him up," Mrs. Pemelton replied.

"How long is it going to take," Mrs. Pemelton asked the dispatcher.

"Not long. I already sent them," the dispatcher said.

Mrs. Pemelton asked the dispatcher if the ambulance crew had their address. The dispatcher repeated the address back to her. She told the dispatcher they were behind a Dollar General store.

"We were like, ‘Wait a minute. There's no Dollar General in that area," Torres said.

The confused dispatcher had to call back to verify the address.

"You said those directions were Mile 8 North and ...?" the dispatcher asked.

"Mile 2 ¼ West and 8 North, where you see all the trees," she said.

"Hold on, give me a second, ma'am," the dispatcher said.

"People are so ridiculous. They don't know the address," Mrs. Pemelton said.

Torres doesn't blame his dispatcher or his paramedics for the confusion.

"That was Promedic's area, and we still decided to proceed to that call," Torres said.

It took a third call from Star EMS to the Pemeltons' house before help arrived.

The dispatcher called Mrs. Pemelton and she told her she could hear the sirens. Twenty minutes lapsed between the time the initial call was placed and the time help arrived.

"When we got there, they were very upset," Torres said.

Paramedics gave Pemelton some sugar to stabilize him and took him to the hospital.

He now wants some answers.

Pemelton said they've lived in their home for 35 years. He doesn't mind giving out his physical address - 4445 E. Mile 8 North Weslaco.

His 911 address, or physical address, is in Weslaco. But the U.S. Post Office lumps him with Mercedes.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS interviewed Pemelton more than 3 years ago for a different story about the address confusion.

Pemelton said in 2009 that he was worried the address confusions could delay emergency services' response times.

"I've seen real bad wrecks out here," he said. "This guy flipped his (car) three times and landed in the ditch upside down."

Now he is worried about what will happen if he needs an ambulance again.

"Can't depend on calling 911 ... too confusing for them. Hell, even the Hidalgo County elections commission can't find me," he said.

Sergio Castro helps run Hidalgo County's 911 system. The system is based out of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in Weslaco.

"Everything in that yellow area, it's Promedic's jurisdiction," Castro said. "From our side, there's really not much else that could have been done."

Castro said the system itself worked.

"Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office identifies that Promedic is responsible EMS for that region and transfers the call over to Promedic," he said.

He said Promedic should never have transferred the call.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS visited Promedic to get answers, but no managers were available to speak about the case. A worker said a manager eventually would be available to speak about the incident.

A CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew returned a week later to Promedic, hoping to speak with management. A person said the manager would not talk and slammed the door. Minutes later, police showed up.

"We got a call that you guys aren't wanted here," an officer told the news crew.

A CHANNEL 5 NEWS reporter told the officer he was never asked to leave. Still, he escorted the news crew out of the building.

Castro, the regional 911 director, did meet with Promedic management. They told him their dispatcher was using an outdated map with blurred boundary lines.

"You see everything else that's not in this area, that's not yellow ... it's county area," Castro said.

Castro said state law keeps EMS companies from having access to the same equipment as government emergency dispatchers.

"They are private companies ... we are not allowed to provide them 911 equipment," he said.

That may complicate an already confusing situation. Nine EMS providers answer 911 calls in Hidalgo County. All are under contract.

"The patients are the ones who suffer ... because there's a great delay in response determining who is who, boundary and boundary, and who is gonna take the call," Torres said.

"Over 100 calls have come out of Promedic diverting calls to us to respond in that area in the last eight months," Torres said.

"Maybe they don't have an ambulance in that area, I don't know," he said.

"Our biggest concern is that Promedic is being paid by the county to serve that area, and we're the ones responding," Torres said.

Torres said their job would be easier if they were allowed full 911 access - the same access the state prohibits.

"Our best advice is to make sure that they understand what their physical address is and utilize it every time they call 911," Castro said.

Pemelton said he isn't giving up.

"There are thousands and thousands north of here," he said. "They have a Mercedes postal address and a Weslaco 911 address."

He said 911 dispatchers should at least give EMS companies GPS coordinates for the calls.

"It's time somebody took charge in the county," he said.

Hidalgo County 911 administrators said they can't keep ambulance companies from passing calls to other providers.

 

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WILLACY COUNTY - Smugglers and traffickers are becoming aware of part of the Rio Grande Valley where they can pass without much trouble from the law.

A law enforcement official in Willacy County said it's an open secret.

The miles of solitude and open range mask the fact that this area is a major corridor for traffickers, said Willacy County Precinct 4 Constable David Garcia. It's the area where Hidalgo, Willacy and Cameron counties meet.

Garcia said the roads in this region get few police patrols and that's what makes them so attractive to illegal immigrants smugglers or drug runners.

"I rarely ever see DPS out here," Garcia said. "Day ... night ... mornings I change my schedule because I can't allow people to know what I'm doing - If I do, I could get hurt."

Garcia often is the only patrolman in this desolate area.

"This is lonely ... especially at night. You don't know what is out there," he said.

Garcia covers an expansive area and often doesn't have access to all of the land.

"This berm will take me to the bay, but I cant get to it because you can see there's a gate across it I don't have key to get through," he said, adding that some property owners will stop him from entering their land.

"In Willacy County there are islands, there could be marijuana out there, could be a safe house out there, who knows," he said alluding to the areas he can't access.

He said it's easy for criminals to hide illegal immigrants and drugs in the area.

"They'll cross them and bring them to a derelict or abandoned home," he said.

He also said the city of Sebastian is a hub for criminal activity.

"We don't have the resources to work drug trafficking," Garcia said. "I've had a very hard time getting the drug task force to come into Sebastian and do some work."

His work, however, is not limited to stopping drugs and criminals.

"I do traffic enforcement, evictions, repossessions, divorces, warrants, citations ... I have to do all of that," Garcia said.

Law enforcement in this region isn't black and white, said Garcia, an elected official.

"When you enforce the penal code you give people tickets, you arrest them for things they do and take them to jail ... and there goes the vote. That's the way it is for all elected officials - this county in particular," he said.

"Over the years, the constables have looked the other way, (but) I don't. I don't owe anybody anything. I do my job," he said.

Garcia said he doesn't do the job for the money.

"I make $14,300 a year ... yup, big money," he said.

Garcia has worked in law enforcement for 30 years. He worked as a police officer in 1973 in Houston. Later he joined the Border Patrol in Starr County where he worked his way up the command chain. His expertise was weapons, narcotics and deportation.

"As a deportation officer I removed aliens all over the world. I was in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Jakarta, Bosnia Herzegovina, South America ... I've been all over, I had a good life," he said.

Garcia said he has tried to make a difference during six-year tenure as a constable. He has battled cancer and kept working to serve and protect his citizens. But he will end his run at the end of the year if people don't reelect him.

"I am now in the place ... that I was born trying to help my community and my community is unwilling ... those are my memories," he said.

The memories of the good, the bad and ugly on these lonely roads will not fade soon.

 

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GRANJENO - A man wanted for murder in California was arrested Sunday at a home near the Anzalduas International Bridge. Ricardo Criado, 22, was captured just south of Mission in the small town Granjeno.

Numerous agencies worked together to make the arrest including the US Marshal's, Mission police and the Hidalgo County Sheriff's department.

Officials said Criado was captured without incident. They said he is the prime suspect in three murders in Greenfield, California, all thought to be drug and gang related.

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HARLINGEN - Some bank customers' personal information may not be as secure as they believe.

"I think (Bank of America) customers think of their information being inside of a bank... but their information is also inside of that call center," said a man who has worked at the ACT call center in Harlingen.

Workers there answer calls for Bank of America. One former employee explained the type of customer information available to call center workers.

"Where you're from. Where your account was opened. When it was opened... All your balances. All your transfers. All your activity... Everything. Everything is there," explained the employee who didn't want to be identified. She's afraid of retaliation. We'll call her "Julie."

Minimum wage workers have access to millions of Bank of America accounts.

"Basically, we can do whatever we want," said another woman who has worked at the call center. "I can go in there and steal somebody's information... quit and then have that information for the rest of my life."

The only thing workers need to get the information is a customer's name.

You'd assume the call center is secure.

"You can't have cell phones - of course. We deal with like credit cards, so we can't have cell phones... can't have any writing utensils," explained Rogelio Montes, an ACT customer service representative.

Workers must sign a clean desk policy, which states, "Cell phones... are not permitted in the building at any time."

Montes said, "They're serious about it... but at the same time, you have those people who don't care about the rules, and they'll sneak it in in their back pocket."

"Cell phones, they're pretty much all over the place," said a man who's worked at the call center.

Another worker told us supervisors have access to their phones. CHANNEL 5 NEWS spotted worker after worker coming out of the call center building on their phone.

"I know the department where I work, if they catch you on the phone, it's an automatic write-up," said Montes.

Internal ACT emails obtained by CHANNEL 5 NEWS revealed management knows about all the cell phones. Company emails show more than 20 employees got caught this spring. Emails also show workers got in trouble for downloading data and putting it on flash drives.

"It made me very uncomfortable to see, you know, these associates doing what they were doing," said "Julie."

She suspects workers were stealing information. She told us, "They're looking at the screen, and they're texting over here."

She said she saw coworkers texting in the restroom and reported it to the human resources department. She was later transferred to another department.

"Everyone who works there knows that that information in front of them can turn into money for them," said another person who has worked at the center.

Insiders claim workers were being paid up to $500 a week to steal accounts.

"Julie" told us during breaks, workers would talk about being paid extra to collect information. She said the workers didn't say who was paying, but it was someone inside the company.

An email regarding fraud solicitation was sent to ACT upper management last August. In it, an associate claimed a man asked her to write account numbers down for him, and he would pay her $500 per week.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS obtained one worker's handwritten note about the payouts for private information. It states:

He called me back and asked me, "Do you wanna make extra cash?" I replied, "Are you selling drugs?" He replied, "No you work in credit cards right?" I said, "Yes, in the fraud department." Then he goes, "I can pay you $500 a week if you write down credit card numbers for me." I said, "Oh no are you crazy!"

A woman who's worked at the call center told us, "You would only get caught if you made a mistake. I know someone who charged somebody's account with some cell phones and put the wrong address."

"Everything that I saw... just made me sick," said "Julie." "It just made me sick."

Questions Taken to ACT Management

A CHANNEL 5 NEWS team drove to Johnson City, Tennessee to speak with company officials about the allegations at the Harlingen call center. ACT is one of the largest private employers in eastern Tennessee. The company centers there employs twice as many people as Harlingen.

The CHANNEL 5 NEWS team went to the company's human resources department and asked to speak with a representative about the security procedures in Harlingen. The person at the office asked CHANNEL 5 NEWS to stop recording and to wait for the human resources manager.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS was told Marc Keller, the company's corporate compliance officer, handles such inquiries. Keller arrived later but refused to answer questions on camera. Keller told CHANNEL 5 NEWS he would pass any inquiry to the appropriate channels, but he would not comment.

"I have no comment. Like I said, please pass on your inquiry," Keller said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS put the questions in writing and drove to the opposite side of town to ACT's other call center to look for Hunter Croft, the company's senior vice president.

Once at the second center, CHANNEL 5 NEWS discovered Kevin Green protesting in front of the building. He told us he was fired from the company about a year ago.

"The majority of the people... they are fine agents," said Green.

Green said cell phones were common in the center and the texting was rampant.

"If I had it (cell phone) on me, it had to be in my pocket... allegedly turned off," Green said.

In the end, no one from ACT agreed to answer questions on camera. Instead, they sent this statement:

We pride ourselves on the integrity of our people and our company and are vigilant about our quality and compliance standards. ACT adheres to rigorous industry standards, including International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27002 and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS 2.0). The company also undergoes an annual Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 16 Type 2 audit. We hold our employees accountable to these standards, and in fact, our employees execute multiple confidentiality and code of conduct agreements at the time of hire, agreeing to uphold all of these industry standards. There is a zero tolerance policy for any deviation from these procedures...

We are proud of our employees who represent our company and our customers in a professional and ethical manner day in and day out, and we thank them for their commitment daily to our high standards.

Hours before the investigation was set to air, ACT contacted CHANNEL 5 NEWS to address claims that workers were being paid to obtain personal information. They sent the following statement:

You should know that ACT learned of that situation on Friday, Aug. 12, 2011 when the individual's coworkers reported him to management. The employee was immediately suspended and an internal investigation was conducted. The employee in question was terminated on Monday, Aug. 15. This is in accordance with ACT's quality policies and procedures. The company has zero tolerance for unethical behavior of any kind and for any deviance from its industry-standard procedures.

Many of the employees interviewed by CHANNEL 5 NEWS questioned whether Bank of America knows about any of the issues with ACT.

"You know, to get on the bank as a teller at Bank of America, you got to do all kinds of stuff, because, you know, you're handling (money)," Green said. "This way you still handling money because you still have access to a way to obtain money fraudulently."

Bank of America's Response to Investigation

CHANNEL 5 NEWS headed to North Carolina to Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte. We wanted to show the documents relating to ACT to a representative of the bank. But security guards would not let CHANNEL 5 NEWS enter the building.

The bank eventually released this statement:

We can't comment on any specific vendor relationship, but in general, I can tell you that we have strong policies in place to protect customer information and our vendors are required to comply with those policies. In compliance with FDIC requirements, we require background checks on all vendor employees who work on Bank of America business. We also ensure compliance with these policies by monitoring vendor activities on a regular basis, including oversight of operations, audits and monthly customer satisfaction surveys.

The workers CHANNEL 5 NEWS interviewed told us ACT hasn't fully revealed the extent of the problems to Bank of America.

"Bank of America knows that ACT pays minimum wage. That's good for ACT. It's actually good for Bank of America. It means more money (for) them," said one of the workers we spoke to.

"Julie" doesn't believe it's the bank's fault. She told us the problem is with ACT. She has advice to customers.

"I would tell you to keep an eye on your account - very close," she said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS will keep watching the company and its employees to make sure your money and privacy are better protected.

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AUSTIN - Guns, laptop computers, video cameras and other equipment totaling more than $60 million is missing. The Texas government lost hundreds of costly, confidential and potentially dangerous items.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS obtained two years of data from the state comptroller. It shows all missing items from state agencies, from fax machines to firearms. Nine different agencies lost firearms. State employees also lost things like an iPad, a computer and a wheelchair.

The list of agencies responsible includes the governor's office, the Department of Public Safety, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Attorney General's Office. In all, the losses total more than $60,000,000.

State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. from Brownsville says the numbers are troubling.

"Even though it represents .01 percent of the budget, it's still a considerable amount of money, and we should be better stewards of state property and making sure that the taxpayer is protected," says Lucio.

The lost money is nearly twice the entire city budget for Harlingen and Mission, about six times that of Donna, Mercedes, San Juan or San Benito and nearly 10 years worth of budgets for Alamo or La Feria. But the money isn't the only troubling thing about the loses.

"The thing that concerns me, and it should concern everyone, is that some of these computers, for example, have a lot of information in them. It could have your name, address, telephone number," explains Lucio.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS took our concerns about public safety and financial responsibility to Austin. Tom Smith is the Texas Director of Public Citizen, a watchdog group in the state capitol. Our information surprised him.

"I was shocked. Look at all these missing items. There's 314 pages of missing items that the state had to scrape and tax people to buy," he says.

State Comptroller Susan Combs is in charge of state finances. CHANNEL 5 NEWS went to her office, but she was out of town. The director of communications told us no one was available to talk with us and issued this statement:

State agencies report information about missing or stolen property to the State Property Accounting (SPA) system which is administered by the Comptroller's Office. The Comptroller's Office maintains the database for record-keeping and reporting purposes. Each individual state agency is responsible for the custody and care of property in the agency's possession. Questions about lost property should be directed to the appropriate state agency.

Smith says the state comptroller shares the blame with the heads of all the agencies who lost state property. Lucio says he plans to look into the lost or stolen property and discuss it during the next legislative session.

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