Lawyers for McAllen City Commissioner Rodolfo “Rudy” Castillo filed a motion to dismiss three of his federal charges accusing him of money laundering and smuggling goods through a ropa usada business he owns. 

His wife, Bertha Castillo, a co-owner of the store, is also charged in the alleged scheme. A similar motion was filed for her, federal court records show.

As previously reported, the couple was arrested in October 2025 during an ICE raid at multiple locations in South McAllen that led to dozens of arrests. 

According to the indictment, a shipment that originated from the business — Oro Ropa Usada — attempted to cross into Mexico through the Pharr port of entry without proper exporting documentation in September 2025.

The shipment contained over 174,000 pounds of used clothing, nearly 469 gallons of motor oil, and 302 bags of food.

“The only documentation the driver had was a form that was intended to be presented to Mexican customs. This form contained no date and a blank commodity description,” the indictment states.

Rudy Castillo allegedly told a confidential informant that he “avoids reporting merchandise entry into Mexico to evade detection by authorities." 

A criminal complaint said Rudy Castillo told that same informant that he makes payments to “various parties, including corrupt Mexican law enforcement officials,” to facilitate uninterrupted transport.

Rudy Castillo specifically mentioned paying $20,000 pesos to a police department, and that he manages the shipping process while his wife handles sales.

The April 29 motion seeking to dismiss the charges says the charges failed to state a valid offense, and did not provide Rudy Castillo with proper notice of what he was accused of doing.

The motion also says the indictment fails to show that the funds involved in the alleged money laundering scheme came from a qualifying criminal source and did not allege the transfers were made to hide anything, as required under federal law.

“The indictment is constitutionally defective in multiple and compounding respects,” the motion reads. “An indictment that leaves a defendant searching for a crime is inadequate and unconstitutional. No defendant should be required to go to trial when the government has not sufficiently and adequately laid out its case in plain language, using concrete alleged overt acts, to suggest that a defendant violated United States law.”

Rudy Castillo and his wife pleaded not guilty to the charges and are currently out on bond.

A response from prosecutors must be filed by May 20. Federal court records show a response has not been filed as of Wednesday.