Marfa man accused of taking school district funds faces prison time

A Marfa man faces lengthy prison sentences after pleading guilty to stealing more than $300,000 from the West Texas school district where he worked to travel and pay personal bills and expenses.

Ernesto Villarreal Jr., 43, pleaded guilty to one count of theft and eight counts of bank fraud related to programs that receive federal funds, according to a statement by Jaime Esparza, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas.

Villarreal worked as a business manager, tax collector and assessor for the Valentine Independent School District in Valentine, located in Jeff Davis County, not far from Marfa in West Texas.

Federal court records show that Villarreal “conspired to defraud Valentine ISD by making hundreds of unauthorized personal purchases worth thousands of dollars using two ISD credit cards” during his tenure with the school district, according to the statement.

The tally of unauthorized checks from Valentine ISD accounts included more than $10,000 Villarreal paid himself, as well as $20,000 to cover personal expenses owed to a credit card company, federal authorities said.

Federal authorities said Villarreal changed the bank account information of some current and former employees and then obtained more than $100,000 in fraudulent payments to them for work that did not occur. According to court documents, Villarreal diverted payments to employees’ personal bank accounts without their knowledge or permission.

Those funds were used for hundreds of personal expenses, officials said. Villarreal used the money for travel, lodging, home renovations, hardware store purchases, personal cell phone bills, fuel, oil changes, groceries and other unauthorized purchases.

Federal authorities say they believe Villarreal caused more than $300,000 in losses to the Valentine school district.

FBI agents, along with the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General, investigated the incident.

Villarreal faces up to 10 years in prison for the theft charge and up to 20 years in prison for each of the eight wire fraud charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February.