Cheney indicted in Texas case

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has been indicted in Texas, accused of aiding in the neglect of federal immigration inmates by contracting for-profit prisons.

The indictment issued Tuesday said Cheney committed "at least misdemeanor assaults" on inmates by "working through corporations as prisons for profit," the San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday. The indictment said Cheney invested substantially in the Vanguard Group, which invests in privately run prisons.

Outgoing Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra, a Democrat, also indicted former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Brownsville, Texas, state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., R-Brownsville, among other political figures. Gonzales also was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and Lucio was accused of accepting honorarium.

"I didn't intend to go after the vice president. That was not my intention," Guerra said. "We just followed the money, followed the corruption. It just happened that it just took us all the way to Washington."

Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said the office hasn't seen the indictment.

"We haven't received a call from the district attorney's office," Mitchell told the Express-News. "We haven't heard anything from the district attorney."

Guerra, who once was indicted on corruption charges that later were dismissed and who lost in his re-election bid in the Democratic Party primary, told the San Antonio newspaper the investigation remains active and he'll ask that a special prosecutor be named once he leaves office.