Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar Jr. will wait five more months to face a federal jury. His fraud trial, once set for this October, now starts in February 2027.
Cuellar, 67, and former Assistant Chief Alejandro Gutierrez, 47, asked a judge to push back the trial. Both sides filed the request together on August 24, 2026. Court papers call it a joint unopposed motion. That means the defense and prosecutors agreed together to ask for more time.
The case matters to South Texas because it touches the top of Webb County law enforcement. Cuellar runs the Webb County Sheriff's Office, which polices a large stretch of the border near Laredo. He is also the brother of U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar. That family tie has drawn extra attention to the case. Rep. Cuellar is not charged with anything in it.
A grand jury handed up a five count federal indictment against the two men on November 19, 2025. An indictment means a grand jury found enough evidence for formal charges. The charges accuse Cuellar and Gutierrez of conspiracy to misappropriate funds. That means they allegedly planned together to misuse money that belonged to the Webb County Sheriff's Office. Prosecutors say this happened between 2020 and 2022. Cuellar also faces charges of money laundering. Money laundering means hiding where illegal money really came from.
If convicted, each man could get up to 10 years in prison. Each could also face fines up to $250,000.
Prosecutors say Cuellar and Gutierrez ran a for-profit cleaning company called Disinfect Pro Master. They allegedly used sheriff's office staff and county resources to run it during the Covid pandemic. The company landed a $500,000 contract with United ISD, a school district near Laredo. The business made about $525,000 in profit, prosecutors say. Cuellar and Gutierrez each allegedly pocketed about $175,000 of that money for themselves.
Sheriffs run county jails and lead patrol deputies. Voters trust them to spend tax money the right way. That is part of why this case has drawn so much interest in Laredo and across Webb County.
Gutierrez served as assistant chief under Cuellar. That is one of the top leadership jobs inside the sheriff's office. Prosecutors say he used that position to help run the alleged scheme alongside Cuellar.
The alleged scheme played out while Webb County dealt with the Covid pandemic. Disinfecting services were in high demand at that time. Prosecutors say the two men turned that demand into a private profit using public workers and public resources.
A third man tied to the case, former Assistant Chief Ricardo Rodriguez, already pleaded guilty in the same scheme. He admitted guilt instead of going to trial. As of March 16, 2026, he was still waiting to be sentenced.
Both Cuellar and Gutierrez remain free on bond while the case moves forward. Neither man has been convicted of anything.
The defense gave three reasons for wanting more time. First, prosecutors recently handed over almost 30 gigabytes of new evidence. That includes more than 500 files and 60 audio recordings. Defense lawyers say they need time to go through all of it.
Second, the defense and prosecutors are talking about a possible settlement. Settlement talks mean the two sides are trying to work out a deal instead of going to trial.
Third, Gutierrez got hurt badly in a motorcycle crash on August 13, 2026. He suffered severe injuries to his lower body and needed emergency surgery. His recovery is part of why the trial needed more time.
Lawyers on both sides will keep working through the new evidence in the coming months. Settlement talks could still end the case before it ever reaches a jury. If no deal is reached, the trial is now set to start in February 2027. Both men are due back in federal court as the case moves forward.
