Sheriff's aide focus of probe

From My San Antonio.com

Bexar County prosecutors say a Louisiana private prison company that was awarded a lucrative deal to run the jail commissary gave $27,500 to apparent "shells" and "fronts" controlled by the longtime campaign manager, political aide and friend to Sheriff Ralph Lopez, according to a court document filed this week.

Premier Management Enterprises wrote the checks as "donations" or "consulting fees" to charities and a private computer services firm.

They were deposited in bank accounts controlled by John Reynolds while he served as the sheriff's appointee to the Benevolent Fund board, which awarded and oversaw the contract, investigators allege in the filing.

Investigators allege Reynolds wasn't actually involved with the charities but rather used their names on accounts that received Premier's checks.

Checks included in the filing show the first of four listed payments started not long after Lopez pushed to award the commissary management contract in 2005 despite resistance from his own staff, and after the company's owners took Lopez golfing in Costa Rica.

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Reynolds, who declined an interview, is represented by high-profile defense attorney Roy Barrera Jr., a former head of the Bexar County Republican Party. Barrera didn't return a phone message Tuesday.

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