South Texas mayor says he didn’t realize he was depositing check made out to someone else

Texas mayor says he deposited check in error

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A south Texas mayor accused of stealing $26,000 from the city of Brownsville says he didn’t realize what he was doing when he deposited a check made out to someone else into his business account.

Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada is on trial on charges of theft, abuse of official capacity and misapplication of fiduciary property. He’s accused of depositing a check from the city to a vendor into an account for his real estate appraisal business.

The Brownsville Herald reported on its Web site that jurors began deliberating Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Ahumada testified that he did not know how he got he got the check, how much it was written for or to whom it was made out. He said that if he needed money, it would be “foolish” to steal it.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. corrects spelling of Brownsville in lede.)