The New York Times has a story this morning about the Obama campaign’s decision to return donations after discovering the family involved has a family member who’s a fugitive in Mexico — and there’s an Iowa link to this story. According to the NYT, Pepe Cardona fled the US after being charged in Johnson County, Iowa, with fraud in connection with the start-up of a telemarketing company. Cardona had been president of the University of Iowa’s student senate and he had been accused of mishandling student funds. There are some other Iowa-specific mentions in the NYT story, such an effort to get former Governor Chet Culver to pardon Cardonas.
Here’s a lengthy Cedar Rapids Gazette story from last fall, when WikiLeaks made a bunch of diplomatic cables public and Cardona was mentioned as having organized a hit on a rival casino owner in Mexico and being a major player in Mexico’s drug wars. The CRG story traces Cardona back to his roots in West Liberty, Iowa.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
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