Dallas County housing agency official pleads guilty to fraud

DALLAS (AP) — A 45-year-old North Texas man who was vice president of a Dallas County non-profit housing agency created decades ago to combat poverty has pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for defrauding homeowners he was supposed to be helping get mortgages and prevent foreclosures.

Federal prosecutors say Francisco Javier Gonzalez, of Duncanville, now faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and possible restitution. He entered his plea Tuesday before a federal judge in Dallas. Court documents show his actions cost the Department of Housing and Urban Development and some banks more than $611,000.

Gonzalez was vice president and a director of the Dallas County Community Action Committee, created in 1965 by Dallas County commissioners.

He was named in a 31-count indictment and arrested last October.