TAPE ON TESTIMONY REFUTES ACCOUNT

GALVESTON -- Mayor Roger "Bo" Quiroga did not help a man who later was
convicted on federal drug trafficking charges get a loan from Frost
Bank, according to his court testimony this year.

The tape of Quiroga's testimony at a February detention hearing refutes
a portion of a news release issued by the U.S. attorney's office on the
Sept. 8 sentencing of Timothy Terrell Day.

The press release said Frost Bank granted the 24-year-old Day a $60,000
unsecured business loan and that Quiroga, then the bank's vice
president for business development, had been convinced by Day and
others that Day was an acceptable loan risk.

The Daily News obtained a tape recording of Quiroga's testimony after
he disputed the press release.

Quiroga testified that he knew Day had a loan at the bank but was not
privy to the details, at one point correcting Assistant U.S. Attorney
Kenneth Dies when he suggested the mayor helped Day to get the loan.

Quiroga said he felt the news release was intended to damage him
politically and that he was considering taking action against the
Justice Department, perhaps in the form of a lawsuit for defamation of
character.

"I think it was very unprofessional, by the Justice Department,
especially," Quiroga said. "In my opinion this was just a minor deal
compared to the other things they look into."

The U.S. attorney's office is under the U.S. Justice Department.

"They have tried to defame my name, and that's all any man has,"
Quiroga said.

Day got the loan from the bank, despite reporting only $805 in income
over the previous 512 years.

Dies did not return a phone call to his office on Tuesday.

He previously has said that he and the Drug Enforcement Agency agent
who led the investigation drew up the press release from their memories
of the proceedings. Dies also said his office had no political motive
in drawing up the press release.

Bank officials had declined to discuss the issue, citing privacy
concerns. Quiroga, fired by the bank last month for undisclosed
reasons, said he felt the bank should have made clear that he was not
involved in the loan.

Day was sentenced to 212 years in a federal penitentiary on the charge
of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or
more of cocaine.

Quiroga said he became acquainted with Day during community meetings
aimed at revitalizing the economically depressed neighborhoods north of
Broadway. The mayor said he was impressed with Day's ability to bring
neighborhood youth to the meetings and that he believed Day had turned
his life around.