A Brownwood man was sentenced to the maximum punishment of three concurrent two-year terms in State Jail after a contested hearing involving two methamphetamine possession cases and an evading-arrest case, according to 35th District Attorney Micheal Murray.
Albert Salazar of Brownwood received the sentences in the 35th Judicial District Court of Brown County. The findings and sentencings were reported as taking place on Wednesday, August 10. The three terms will run concurrently, meaning they are served at the same time rather than consecutively.
Drug possession and evading-arrest cases
Salazar faced separate charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance involving methamphetamine in the first two cases. The third case involved Evading Arrest. Evidence also showed that Salazar had a previous conviction for Evading Arrest, enhancing that charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Brownwood Police Department officers testified about an injury sustained during an attempt to arrest Salazar in the second possession case. The officer suffered two lacerations to a hand while Salazar resisted arrest and required stitches at Hendrick Medical Center in Brownwood.
The court also heard evidence from a separate evading-arrest incident. Assistant District Attorney Ernesto Gamez presented evidence that officers tried to arrest Salazar while executing an arrest warrant. Salazar ran into the residence where he was living with other people.
Six officers were needed to take him into custody. According to the court evidence described by the district attorney’s office, officers kicked open two doors, evacuated the residents and forcibly took Salazar to the ground.
After considering the evidence, the judge imposed three separate, concurrent two-year State Jail terms. The district attorney’s report identified the sentence as the maximum punishment.
Additional felony sentences reported
Murray also reported other felony cases recently heard in Brown/Mills County District Court, with Judge Mike Smith presiding.
Alexis Tompkins, who was on probation for felony Possession of a Controlled Substance, was sentenced to five years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Institutional Division. Tompkins was also sentenced, under a plea agreement, to 18 months in the State Jail Division for the state jail felony of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle.
Philip Andreas Walker pleaded guilty to felony Evading Arrest with Vehicle and received a five-year sentence in the Institutional Division. Walker was also adjudicated and sentenced to one year in the State Jail Division under a plea agreement for the state jail felony of Injury to a Child, while on probation for that offense.
The sentencing information was released by the 35th District Attorney’s Office through Brownwood News.