6 men accused of soliciting sex from undercover officer

HARLINGEN - Police arrested six men accused of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer during a sting operation Thursday at Gutierrez Park.

Police said the men offered a female undercover officer money for sex during the sting between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The men are charged with prostitution, according to police reports.

A person commits prostitution if he or she either "offers to engage, agrees to engage, or engages in sexual conduct for a fee," or solicits another in a public place to engage in sexual conduct for hire, according to the Texas Penal Code.

A charge of prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a fine up to $2,000, or both.

The six men offered the undercover officer between $20 and $35 for sex, according to arrest reports.

According to a police department news release, the men charged with prostitution are: Roberto Infante Serrano, 76; Francisco Garcia, 32; Marcos Arturo Cervantes, 37; Antonio Juarez, 29; Abel Rodriguez, 50; and Ricardo Gonzalez, 52.

A seventh man, Thomas Edward Hacker, 52, was arrested during the sting on charges of possession of a controlled substance and failing to have liability insurance on his car, according to an arrest report.

Hacker parked his car in the 200 block of S. G St., and the undercover officer saw Hacker holding a small plastic bag containing a white, powdery substance, the report states.

Another officer walked toward the car and Hacker hid the bag under the seat, the report states.

The second officer ordered the man out of the vehicle and found the bag under the seat, the report states.

Officials are trying to determine what type of controlled substance the powder was, police spokesman Sgt. John Parrish said.

An officer said that according to a jail list at the Harlingen Police Department Friday evening, Serrano, Cervantes and Juarez had bonded out of jail. The officer said Garcia, Rodriguez, Gonzalez and Hacker remained at the city jail Friday evening, according to the jail list.