Judge Manuel Banales, presiding judge of the 5th Administrative Region who sentenced Mauricio Celis after recusing the judge who presided over Celis’ criminal trial, has been taken off the case himself.

Nueces County District Attorney Carlos Valdez had filed a motion seeking to recuse Banales from presiding over the prosecution of Celis, the former Corpus Christi law firm owner who was convicted in February on 14 of 22 counts of falsely holding himself out as a lawyer.