A Hidalgo County jury on Thursday acquitted former Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina of several voter fraud charges stemming from the 2017 election that brought him to power, according to local reports.
Local news outlets reported Molina was acquitted of 12 counts, including one count of engaging in organized voter fraud and 11 counts of illegal voting. His high-profile arrest by the state’s election fraud unit in 2019 was announced by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as part of what Paxton described as “an organized illegal voting scheme” in the November 2017 municipal election.