Man who stole $1.2 million in fajitas sentenced to 50 years in prison

A former Texas juvenile center employee who confessed to stealing $1.2 million in fajitas received a 50-year prison sentence last week.

Officers last summer found fajitas in the fridge of Gilberto Escamilla, a then-employee of the the Cameron County Juvenile Justice Department who later admitted to stealing and reselling the marinated meat over years.

“It was selfish. It started small and got bigger and out of control,” Escamilla said during his testimony, according to the Brownsville Herald. “It got to the point where I couldn’t control it anymore.”

An 800-pound fajita delivery sparked confusion last summer when it arrived at the juvenile center in San Benito, about 10 miles north of the Mexico border. That's because the center didn't serve fajitas.

Escamilla, the employee who usually received such orders, had taken the day off. A trail of invoices and vouchers eventually led investigators to Escamilla, totaling a theft of $1,251,578.

Cameron County Assistant District Attorney Peter Gilman asked for the 50-year sentencing to send "a strong message," the newspaper reported. The visiting state district judge, J. Manuel Banales, made it so.

Read the full report at The Brownsville Herald.

More: $1.2M in stolen fajitas prompts employee's arrest at Texas juvenile center