Now that we know that there is evidence that felon Larry Medina provided “favors” for El Paso corruptors while he was at City Council, I thought it might be interesting to see who Larry Medina supported via political contributions.
Political contributions are a two way street, one is receipt of monies and the other is giving political contributions. Today I’ll explore Larry’s contributions to see if maybe a pattern begins to emerge.
From 2000 until his last filing in 2012, Larry Medina seems to have been stingy with his political support but he had his favorites. Larry Medina’s ethics filings show that he made no political contributions after 2009.
Here is a breakdown of Larry’s contributions to others:
2000:
- May 18, 2000: $70 to the Texas Democratic Party
- August 10, 2000: $1,000 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- November 2, 2000: $500 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- Total for 2000: $1,570
2001:
- April 2, 2001: $150 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- Total for 2001: $150
2002:
- May 8, 2002: $500 to William E. Moody
- Total for 2002: $500
2003:
- January 6, 2003: $100 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC) from the Larry Medina Campaign Account
- August 12, 2003: $1,000 to Move El Paso Forward
- Total for 2003: $1,100
2005:
- April 27, 2005: $500 to the El Paso County Medical Society PAC
- October 14, 2005: $200 to Maria Salas-Mendoza
- October 24, 2005: $500 to Paul Moreno
- November 17, 2005: $100 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- Total for 2005: $1,300
2006:
- October 25, 2006: $1,000 to Eliot G. Shapleigh
- October 26, 2006: $200 to Paul Moreno
- Total for 2006: $1,200
2007:
- September 25, 2007: $200 to Patricia A. Macias
- November 9, 2007: $200 to Paul Moreno
- Total for 2007: $400
2008:
- February 25, 2008: $250 to Joseph E. Moody
- March 13, 2008: $500 to Paul Moreno
- November 1, 2008: $200 to Regina B Arditti from an account titled Larry Medina and Ruth Reyes
- Total for 2008: $950
2009:
- November 12, 2009: $100 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- November 13, 2009: $1,000 in two $500 contributions to the Texas Democratic Party
- November 20, 2009: $400 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- December 14, 2009: $25 to the El Paso Democratic Party (CEC)
- September 24, 2009: $200 to Eliot G. Shapleigh
- Total for 2009: $1,725
Total contributions: $8,895 for 2000 to 2009.
Of the recipients of Larry’s political financial support the following are important to note.
- El Paso Democratic Party (CEC); $1,850 (21% of all of Larry’s support for 2000 to 2009)
- Paul Moreno; $1,400 (16% of all of Larry’s support for 2000 to 2009)
- Move El Paso Forward in 2003; $1,000 (11% of all of Larry’s support for 2000 to 2009)
- Eliot G. Shapleigh; $1,200 (13% of all of Larry’s support for 2000 to 2009)
- Texas Democratic Party; $1,070 (12% of all of Larry’s support for 2000 to 2009)
Readers should also note that Eliot Shapleigh accepted $6,000 from another felon in the El Paso corruption scandal; Bob Jones. Of the money that Larry Medina gave over the 9 year period, almost 25% of it went to support Shapleigh and Move El Paso Forward which in 2008 gives its money to Community Initiatives, a Ray Caballero entity and El Paso Counts, who is led, in part by Veronica Escobar’s husband.
What we still don’t know, and probably never will know is who Medina provided “favors” for and what those “favors” were at city hall.
Hopefully, when I complete the rest of the balance sheet, the people who gave Larry political contributions, we might be able to develop a picture of what kind of “favors” Larry was thanked for by one of the other corruptors on the endless list of El Paso corruption leaders.
In the meantime, keep an eye on the money flows between the players as we continue to connect the dots.