An 86-year-old Brownsville woman said she’s been depressed ever since a man swindled her out of more than $61,000.

Minerva Rodriguez said she thought the man, identified as Alejandro Diaz Hernandez, was a contractor who was hired to repair her sewer system.

Hernandez is now behind bars on theft charges.

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“Now I feel sad, I feel like I don't know if that money will come or not,” Rodriguez said. “Only God knows."

Rodriguez said she thought Hernandez was a Cameron County contractor. She hired him after a friend referred her to him in 2023.

“The man was going to do some work for her,” Rodriguez said. “I wanted to install a drain too, and he said, 'well, if you want, I’ll do it for you.' That's how it started."

Rodriguez said paperwork was drawn up. It even had what at first glance looked like the Cameron County seal printed on the document.

A closer look at the document shows the seal is backwards.

Rodriguez said she paid Hernandez more than $61,000 in monthly installments made from July 2023 through September 2025. She said her family and friends also pitched in, but Hernandez never started work on the project.

“Nothing was ever fixed with the drainage, nothing,” Rodriguez said. “It's just lying there like nothing. Not even a shovel, it was all lies."

Rodriguez contacted Cameron County to raise her concerns, and learned that Hernandez didn’t work for the county. That’s when she filed a report with the Cameron County Sheriff's Office.

Hernandez was arrested in November on theft charges and remains jailed. Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino said he has a message for the public.

“They need to be very careful who they do business with,” Trevino said. “Get references and don't give out any cash. Give out money orders, checks, something that can be traceable, and take a picture of their ID."

Rodriguez said she doesn't know if she'll ever be able to repay the people who helped her.

“I owe a lot of people, and I can't repay many of those who trusted me,” Rodriguez said, adding that the financial loss has become an emotional burden she carries every day.

“I'm very depressed, too depressed,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes I can't sleep. I'm very depressed because of everything they've done to me."

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