MEXICO CITY, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Two Texas businessmen

were indicted for allegedly bribing officials at Mexico's state

energy company Pemex with $150,000 and luxury items to secure

contracts, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Monday.

Between 2019 and 2021, Ramon Rovirosa and Mario Avila, both

Mexican citizens and U.S. lawful permanent residents, conspired

to pay bribes to officials at Pemex and its exploration and

production arm, known as PEP, according to an indictment

unsealed in the Southern District of Texas.

Rovirosa is also alleged to have ties to Mexican cartel

members, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Rovirosa, 46, was arraigned while Avila, 61, remains at large.

Reuters was unable to immediately contact the lawyers for

Rovirosa and Avila. Pemex did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

Together with co-conspirators, Rovirosa and Avila allegedly

paid bribes in the form of cash and luxury goods, including from

Louis Vuitton and Hublot, to at least three Pemex and PEP

officials.

In exchange, those Pemex officials are accused of helping

companies associated with Rovirosa obtain contracts worth at

least $2.5 million, the statement said.

Mexico and its ailing state company Pemex have for decades

been awash with corruption, with several former senior officials

facing charges, including former Chief Executive Officer Emilio

Lozoya.

Lozoya, in turn, has accused ex-presidents Felipe Calderon

and Carlos Salinas of corruption, along with former President

Enrique Pena Nieto, his ex-finance minister, Luis Videgaray, and

more than a dozen others.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who was Mexican president

during the time covered in the indictment, had vowed to root out

the corruption that had plagued the country and its most

important company for decades.

Even so, Mexico's corruption ranking slipped.

Rovirosa and Avila are each charged with one count of

conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and

three substantive violations of it.

The act makes it illegal for citizens, U.S. companies, or

foreign persons and businesses in the United States to pay

foreign officials to win business.