defeated Perez and replaced Cobos as County Judge on January 1, 2011. FBI investigation Judge Cobos was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for involvement in public corruption charges involving several high-profile citizens and organizations in El Paso. His office, along with the offices of two County Commissioners (Miguel Teran and Luis Sarinana) and the homes of Commissioner Teran and a member of the board of managers of R.E. Thomason Hospital (Arturo Duran), was searched by the FBI for evidence of crimes involving public corruption. Judge Cobos has denied any wrongdoing. Seven others, all part of the same investigation, have plead guilty to various charges. Cobos was arrested by the FBI on December 16, 2011 and charged with mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and deprivation of honest services. On December 21, 2011 Cobos was released on $50,000 bond; his bond was not set on December 16 because he refused to answer pretrial questions. On January 20, 2012 several charges were dropped, with the charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and deprivation of honest services remaining. Federal court documents filed in August 2012, as part of the trial of Cirilo Madrid, indicate that Madrid bribed Cobos in December 2006 with envelopes of cash to receive Cobos's support for Madrid's company receiving a county contract to help mentally ill children. Cobos pleaded guilty in September 2013 to receiving $4,500 bribes from lobbyists in exchange for his vote on county commissioner's court. He was sentenced in January 2014 to a $10,000 fine and four years in federal prison, to be served in Colorado. In December 2014 he requested his guilty plea and conviction be vacated because of alleged improper involvement in plea negotiations by the judge. Cobos' lawyers withdrew from representing him in January 2015 because he made this request without informing them. 2014 arrest On January 30, 2014, Cobos was arrested on suspicion of fraud by the U.S. Marshals Service and Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office at his El Paso home for embezzling $43,000 from a couple in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He was convicted on January 13, 2016 and will face a maximum of nine years in prison. References External links El Paso County, Texas Home Page Solar Summit El Paso County judges in Texas Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Doña Ana County, New Mexico El Paso City Council members