2023: Atascosa County: A Year in Review

by Audrey Gossett Louis, District Attorney

2023 in Atascosa was incredibly busy with our office fighting the tide of crime.  There were 347 indictments for felony crimes.  2023 year started off with a jury trial for Juan Isabel Martinez for his third Driving While Intoxicated offense.   After considering the facts of the case and his prior intoxication manslaughter conviction, our team obtained a 46-year sentence for Martinez. 

 Our office relentlessly pursued sex offenders pleading Derrick Wilson to 60 years for possessing child pornography.  Wilson was discovered by the Attorney General’s Office and a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  Through detailed detective work, Wilson was found with thousands of images of child sexual abuse material.  It was also discovered that he was soliciting a minor child online, directing the child to himself performing sexual acts to send to Wilson.  Prosecutors argued for the max sentence on three counts, 20 years each, and that those sentences run consecutively.  He was sentenced to the maximum on each count and was stacked for a total of 60 years. 

 Rene Monreal pleaded guilty and agreed to 40 years for aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault.  Monreal held his estranged wife hostage in her own home.  Despite having a protective order against him, he showed up at her residence asking to see their children.  Monreal ended up holding her at knife point threatening her, choking her, and eventually sexually assaulting her.  She was able to escape with their two children while Monreal was distracted.  She bravely testified, describing for the judge the abuse inflicted upon her during the relationship. 

 Always seeking justice for victims, our Atascosa prosecutors successfully revoked the probation of David Herbert, a sex offender placed on probation by the previous administration and achieved a 30 year prison sentence.  Herbert’s case had been pled to three counts of indecency by exposure years ago.  He was arrested in Hildalgo County for failing to register as a sex offender, a violation of his probation here.  Our team contacted the previous victim about the revocation proceedings.  She traveled from out of town to testify at the hearing.  Despite the maximum of each of the three charges only being 10 years, prosecutors argued that the maximum allowed did not adequately hold the defendant accountable for his crimes. While Herbert argued to be allowed to remain on probation, my prosecutors secured the maximum on each charge, 10 years, each to run consecutively.  This effectively gave Herbert a sentence of 30 years.  

Drugs are a destructive force to our community and our office is constantly striving a balance of rehabilitation for small users and prison time for dealers.  I have a prosecutor dedicated to drug, gang, and smuggling offenses in Atascosa County.  This year Russell Trimble was sentenced to 12 years after Jourdanton Police Department found him in a residence with 34 grams of methamphetamine in July of 2020.  Katherine Anderson was stopped and searched by Pleasanton Police Department, and they found 9 grams of methamphetamine on her.  She had already been to prison once for delivery of a controlled substance.  On these new charges she was sentenced to 13 years in prison for manufacture and delivery of controlled substances.  Rose Ann Perez plead guilty to Manufacturing and Delivering of Methamphetamine and proceeded to sentencing with the Judge. Rose Perez was pulled over, and after officers noticed drug paraphernalia in her vehicle, a search was conducted on her vehicle where 25 grams of Methamphetamine was found. Punishment was accessed by the judge who gave her 12 years in prison.

 We take securing our borders seriously and prosecute smuggling cases to the fullest extent allowed under the law.  On July 17, 2022, Jose Lucio was being pulled over, when the officer approached the vehicle, Jose Lucio threw car into gear and left at high rate of speed. He led officers on a chase until his car hit a bar ditch and five individuals attempted to escape from the wrecked vehicle. Lucio was charged with Evading Officers with a Vehicle and Smuggling of Persons. Jose Lucio was 19 years old at the time of the incident, he pled guilty, and punishment was accessed by the judge who gave him 6 years in prison.  On November 20, 2022, officers in Atascosa were monitoring traffic and illegal activities coming from the border checkpoints. While doing this, officers noticed a vehicle that was flagged for potentially having undocumented aliens. Officers attempted to stop Jesus Leos Nino when he began to evade from officers. This continued at a high rate of speed until Leos Nino crashed his car into a barbed wire fence and dry creek bed. Six undocumented aliens were also detained. Leos Nino was charged with Evading Officers with a vehicle and Smuggling of Persons. Jesus Leos Nino was 19 years old at the time of the incident. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. On February 11, 2023, Officers saw Jaime Ortega-Rodriguez speeding. They continued to speed and attempted to evade the officers. Ortega-Rodriguez would stop and let people out and continue evading. Ortega-Rodriguez eventually stopped the vehicle and was apprehended by officers, there was no crash in the case, but Ortega-Rodriguez attempted to evade on foot after stopping the vehicle. Ortega-Rodriguez was charged with Evading Officers with a Vehicle and Smuggling of Persons. Ortega-Rodriguez pled guilty, and punishment was accessed by the judge who gave him 5 years in prison. 

 Trial work is the foundation of good prosecution.  This year our Atascosa team tried 9 cases to verdict including one bench trial. This year also saw our office working closely with law enforcement to prosecute new violent crimes. Our office obtained 9 new indictments on 10 defendants for homicide cases including 2 for capital murder.  Notably the office pled Marlena Jaramillo to 30 years for murder and tried Marcelino Esparza to a jury achieving a 60-year sentence.  Jourdanton Police Department discovered Jaramillo’s deceased grandmother living in the home with Jaramillo and Jaramillo’s mother.  During their investigation, Jaramillo confessed to stabbing her grandmother who was supposed to be under the care of Jaramillo’s mother.  Marcelino Esparza, a habitual criminal, strangled his roommate, Margie Arguijo, using a shower curtain. Esparza gave multiple conflicting statements to law enforcement about their relationship, the events leading up to Ms. Arguijo’s death, and made other bizarre and grandiose statements about himself and his role in her life. Ultimately, prosecutors convinced the jury to see through his lies and convict him of murder and he was sentenced to 60 years. 

 Thanks to the dedication and hard work of law enforcement and our prosecutors we were able to investigate, charge, and plea a particular heinous capital murder in under one year.  Derrick Sherwood was arrested January 29th, 2023, for the Capital Murder of both of his parents.  Sherwood had lived a life of drug addiction and had moved back in with his parents in Atascosa County.  Sherwood’s brother came to find his parents car missing and both of his parents shot in their home.  The Atascosa County Sherriff’s Office along with the Department of Public Safety conducted a search for the vehicle and ultimately found Sherwood driving the stolen car.   Sherwood pled guilty and was sentenced to life without parole on December 12th. 2023. Part of his plead included waiving his right of appeal.  This saves the county the costs of continued court appointed lawyers and spares the remaining Sherwood family the years of legal wrangling that continue with an appeal. 

Thank you to all our law enforcement for working tirelessly on thin budgets to keep our communities safe.  To the team at our District Attorney’s Office that work daily to fight for justice, for the community members that show up for jury selection, those that are selected as jurors, and our grand jurors.  Every one of these positions are critical to the safety of our community.  If you have information on criminal activity, please contact your local police department or Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office.  Law enforcement cannot be everywhere, help be the eyes and ears of our community. If you see something, say something. We look forward to continuing this impactful work for Atascosa County in 2024.

Audrey Gossett Louis was sworn in as District Attorney in January 2017.

Our Goals for 2024

We look forward to continuing this impactful work for our district in 2024.