Judge Edward Aparicio of Edinburg, Texas, was close to inking a plea deal with federal prosecutors in connection with a 15-month federal investigation into bribery allegations [against the judge] when the judge was found dead in his house on April 4 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Three lawyers who represented Aparicio say they were close to finalizing details of a plea agreement, and say they were shocked to learn of the judge's death on the same day he resigned from office. Houston solo practitioners Michael Ramsey and Chip Lewis, and Jose Chapa, a partner in Yzaguirre & Chapa in McAllen, Texas, are among the attorneys who represented Aparicio in connection with the federal bribery probe.
"We had an agreement in principle," says Ramsey, who has represented Aparicio since shortly after Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched the judge's chambers in Edinburg and his home in Weslaco in January 2004 and removed artwork and photographs from each.
He was 46 and left a wife and five sons. Sad details here from Texas Lawyer via Law.com.