Mauricio Celis, the former majority owner of a firm in Corpus Christi who was convicted in February of 14 of 22 counts of falsely holding himself out as a lawyer, was indicted again on May 28 – this time on a charge of aggravated perjury. A grand jury in Zapata County indicted Celis for allegedly testifying falselyabout his educational qualifications to practice law in Mexico during a pretrial hearing in a civil suit then pending in the 49th District Court in Zapata County. The indictment alleges Celis falsely testified in May 2007 that he had received a diploma from the Universidad Regiomontana in Monterrey, Mexico. But Celis testified at his sentencing hearing in May that he did not have a degree, and Nueces County District Attorney Carlos Valdez says he provided that information to prosecutors in Zapata County. “I think justice should be done. That’s our job, and in this case he admitted he lied under oath.” Celis’ criminal-defense attorney, J.A. “Tony” Canales, a partner in Canales & Simonson in Corpus Christi, could not be reached for immediate comment, but a spokesman for Celis, Jason Stanford, provided a written statement: “Mauricio’s lawyers are still sorting through the latest allegation but feel certain that when all the facts are laid bare that it will be clear that Mauricio Celis has done nothing wrong.” On May 18, Judge Manuel Banales, presiding judge of the 5th Administrative Region, sentenced Celis to a 10-year probated sentence and a $10,000 fine, after agreeing to recuse the trial judge, Mark Luitjen of San Antonio, who had said he would sentence Celis to a harsher punishment.
-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
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