SISD Trustee Pablo Barrera Arrested for Official Oppression, Attorney Confirms

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — ABC-7 has learned that Socorro Independent School District Trustee Pablo Barrera was arrested Thursday on various charges, including official oppression.

In a phone call with ABC-7, Barrera’s attorney, Mary Stillinger, said she did not yet have all the information, including the circumstances of his arrest, but said Barrera was cooperating with authorities.

Stillinger said she didn’t believe Barrera did anything wrong and said she looked forward to defending him.

ABC-7 learned early Thursday that Barrera, who represents District 5, was arrested on a warrant from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.

ABC-7 conducted a quick review of the county jail’s online data and found that SISD Trustee Pablo Barrera was facing multiple charges, including undue influence, obstruction or retaliation, and coercion of a public official/voter.

Records show the dates of the offenses were between May 30 and July 1, 2022.

We reached out to the sheriff’s office for details on his arrest.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ray Vaquera referred us to the DPS Texas Rangers, who he said were overseeing the case.

ABC-7 also reached out to the school district for comment and received the following written statement:

“The county has been advised that a current trustee was arrested today by the El Paso Sheriff’s Department,” the statement said. “This is a legal matter and we will cooperate with law enforcement. The district does not have any further information on this matter at this time. The district’s focus remains on serving students and supporting staff to ensure the successful completion of the school year.”

Barrera’s arrest follows an investigative report from the Texas Agency of Education that shed light on several failures at Soccorro ISD.

ABC-7 obtained a copy of the report from the TEA under the Texas Public Information Act.

The report said SISD violated the Texas Education Code by expelling students who did not meet requirements, failing to disclose trustee Paul Guerra’s ties to a vendor used by the district and paying unauthorized stipends to employees .

The TEA recently appointed two conservators to oversee the district following this report.

Records show Barrera was booked Thursday and then released.

ABC-7 has reached out to the Texas Agency of Education and all SISD trustees for comment.

We reached SISD Trustee Ricardo Castellano by phone Thursday.

“This is just a continued persecution of Mr. Barrera and his family by the county,” Castellano told ABC-7. “We wanted to bring to light what was wrong with the district so we could take corrective action. Everything was presented through an examination. There is no follow-up from the district, its staff, or the superintendent to hold people accountable for these actions.” The names are available for review, but the focus was on both of us. There is no equal protection under the law here.”

According to the SISD website, Barrera is a former sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and served eight years on two combat tours, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

ABC-7 will update this story as more information becomes available.