Carlos Uresti
Carlos Uresti, known as Charlie" Uresti (born September 18, 1963), is an American attorney and a [[Democratic Party|Democratic politician from his native San Antonio, Texas. Since 2006, he has represented the geographically large District 19 in the Texas State Senate, which encompasses nearly a third of the United States border with Mexico. From 1997 to 2006, he represented District 118 in the Texas House of Representatives. On five occasions, he was named "Legislator of the Year."
| Carlos Uresti | |
Texas State Senator for District 19 in San Antonio
| |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Lloyd Madla, Jr. |
|---|---|
Texas State Representative for District 118
| |
| In office January 1997 â November 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Ciro Rodriguez |
| Succeeded by | Joe Farias |
| Born | September 12, 1963 San Antonio, Texas |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Not first marriage: Margaret Lleanna Elizondo Uresti (married 2012, divorced pending) |
| Children | Two sons, Michael and Carlos, Jr., from previous marriage Two step-children from latest marriage |
| Residence | San Antonio, Texas |
| Alma mater | St. Mary's University St. Mary's University School of Law |
| Occupation | Attorney Captain, United States Marine Corps |
However, his fortunes sunk with eleven federal felony convictions in February 2018. He was found guilty of involvement in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors in an oilfield company, FourWinds Logistics.[1] Under state law, he is not required to resign as senator upon those convictions, but the Senate could expel him with a two-thirds vote.
In 2012, Uresti married the former Margaret Lleanna Elizondo (born c. 1975), a woman twelve years his junior and a former elementary school counselor and a real estate agent who was divorced from Joel Rodriguez/ Uresit was her attorney in the divorce. The ceremony was performed by Judge Orlando Garcia at the exclusive Kendall Plantation east of Boerne in Kendall County. The wedding was one of "glamour, glitz, elegance, and romance," consistent with Uribe's interest in the 1972 Marlon Brando mobster film, The Godfather. She brought two children into the marriage, Sebastian and Katalina. Uresti himself has two grown sons, Michael and Carlos, Jr.[2][3]
Shortly after the convictions, Mrs. Uresti filed for divorce on the basis of adultery that came to light in the securities case against her husband. Uribe's chief accuser, Denise Cantu of Harlingen in south Texas, obtained a $2.5 million settlement for the deaths of two of her children in an automobile accident in 2010. She then invested $900,000 of that amount with FourWinds and said that she did not understand that Uresti was personally benefiting from her investment. At first Cantu told police that there had been no romantic interlude with Uresti; then she changed her story: and claimed that he had pursued her for sexual favors and boated of the size of his penis. Uresti denied the claims and questioned Cantu's credibility on the basis of her having charged him after first saying that there was no relationship. Then, on February 28, 2018, two more women came forward to charge Uresti with sexual harassment; one of them is Jenn Cervella, a data director for the Texas Democratic Party who first met Uresti in 2015. Throughout the trial, Mrs. Uresti had accompanied her husband to and from court and embraced him upon learning of his conviction in the five-week trial. [4]
Uresti remains free on bond pending sentencing in June. He faces up to twelve years in incarceration and millions of dollars in restitution. He has vowed to appeal the verdict and remains for the time being a state senator.[3]
Two of Uresti's brothers are active in San Antonio Democratic politics: Albert Uresti ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2006 and was elected Tax Assessor-Collector for Bexar County in 2012. Tomas Uresti is a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the District 118 seat once held by Carlos Uresti himself..[5]
After their wedding, Carlos and Lleanna Uresti built a $1.8 million house located on three acres at Helotes Creek Ranch in southwestern San Antonio.[3]
References
{{reflist}]
Category;Texas
Category;Business People
- â https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/article/Jury-reaches-verdict-in-state-Sen-Carlos-12627740.php
- â Sen. Uresti weds in Sunday ceremony. Carlosuresti.com (June 24, 2012). Retrieved on March 4, 2018.
- â 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddannerandcontreras - â Patrick Danner and Guillermo Contreras, "Sen. Uresti's wife files for divorce," San Antonio Express-News, March 3, 2018, pp. 1, A7.
- â Tomas Uresti. Ballotpedia.org. Retrieved on March 4, 2018.