Texas Law Enforcement Weekly Round-Up: Several arrested for child exploitation, fugitive apprehensions

Staff Report

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The Texas AG sits as an ex-officio member of state committees and commissions and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the State.

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To find out more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.

Fugitive Apprehension Unit arrests 13 in Violent Parole Violator Round-Up

AUSTIN – The Fugitive Apprehension Unit conducted an operation focused on apprehending and arresting Parole Violators with violent felony convictions and gang affiliations from May 3 to May 7 in Nueces County. During this operation, 13 suspects were arrested.

These suspects were on parole for offenses such as Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Robbery, Possession of Firearm by a Felon, Assault Family Violence, and various other felonies.

“My message to these vicious perpetrators is we are coming for you. Violent criminals and gang members have no place in the great state of Texas,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said. “I am extremely proud of the Fugitive Apprehension Unit’s oversight and commitment to tracking down these suspects and putting them back where they belong – jail.”

The Nueces County Sheriff’s Office Warrants Division and the Corpus Christi Police Department Gang Unit assisted with some of the arrests.

The Austin Fugitive Unit is currently following leads on other suspects who have absconded from Nueces County to other areas of the State. The following suspects were arrested during the operation:

• Jacob Cory Robertson, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Assault Family Violence conviction on 5-3-21
• John Arnold Castillo, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Aggravated Assault conviction on 5-3-21
• Joann Noyola, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon conviction on 5-3-21
• Kimberly Kay Balboa, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Aggravated Assault, Intoxication Assault, Evading Arrest/Detention with a Vehicle and Assault of Public Servant convictions on 5-3-21
• Robert Tumlinson, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Felon conviction on 5-4-21
• Rene Thomas Uresti, Corpus Christi, Parole Violator for Assault Family Violence conviction on 5-4-21
• John George Kraft, Corpus Christi, Parole Violator for Aggravated Robbery with a Deadly Weapon conviction on 5-4-21
• Broderick Alvin Smith, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Felon, Assault Family Violence, Tamper with Evidence convictions on 5-4-21
• Armando Junior Mendez, Beeville, Parole Violation for Injury to Child/Elderly/Disabled with Intent Bodily Injury conviction on 5-5-21
• Randy Morales, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Assault Bodily Injury Family/Household Member 2+ Within 12 Months conviction on 5-5-21
• Sammy Lopez, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Aggravated Assault Conviction on 5-5-21
• James Michael Garza, Corpus Christi, Nueces County Warrants for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child – Victim Under 14 on 5-6-21
• Joseph Leon Sharpe II, Corpus Christi, Parole Violation for Aggravated Assault conviction on 5-6-21

The Child Exploitation Unit

• Bexar County
  Brandon Garza, 22, of San Antonio, was arrested for two counts of Promotion of Child Pornography and one count of Continuous Sexual Abuse of Young Child on May 12. This case was received as an NCMEC CyberTipline report involving the upload of child pornography to an online account, with a possible live victim.

  During an interview, Garza confessed to owning the online account, producing child pornography with a 9-year-old female child victim, and sending images of child pornography. Investigators seized multiple devices to be examined by the Digital Forensics Unit. Garza was transported to the Bexar County Jail.

The Fugitive Apprehension Unit

• Bexar County
  Gonzalo Gonzales was arrested in San Antonio on May 7. Gonzales had an outstanding warrant for Sexual Assault/Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child issued by the Frio County Sheriff’s Office, as well as a warrant for Sexual Assault/Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child under 14 by the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office.

• Bexar County
  Darren Paul Doze was arrested in San Antonio on May 7. Doze had an outstanding warrant for Homicide issued by the Leon Valley Police Department. This arrest was made while working with the United States Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force out of San Antonio.

• Galveston County
  James Nolans Logan was arrested in Galveston on May 12. Logan had an outstanding warrant for Murder issued by the Los Angeles Police Department in California. This arrest was made while working with the Gulf Coast Violent Offender Task Force.

• Travis County
  Victor Roman Cardenas was arrested in Austin on May 13. Cardenas had outstanding warrants for two Counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child by the Austin Police Department. This arrest was made while working with the United States Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force out of Austin.

Paxton Sues Biden Administration to Block Biden’s Power Grab, Reinstate Billions Promised for Texas Healthcare

AUSTIN – On April 16, the Biden Administration unlawfully stripped away Texas’s 1115 Medicaid waiver extension, which would have ensured stable funding for providers of healthcare for children, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

To secure the assistance that countless Texans rely on, Attorney General Ken Paxton fired back with a lawsuit to reinstate the extension of the Medicaid waiver and prevent the federal government from forcing the adoption of its own unsuitable program.

“The Biden Administration cannot simply breach a contract and topple Texas’s Medicaid system without warning. This disgusting and unlawful abuse of power aimed at sovereign states must end,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Not only does this violate agency regulations and threaten to rip a $30 billion hole in Texas’s budget, it was clearly intended to force our state into inefficiently expanding Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This would be a disaster for our state, and yet President Biden seems intent on thrusting his bloated model of government on everyone—including Texas.”

Texas is in contact with the federal government on numerous aspects of its Medicaid program, including a temporary “Demonstration Project” that allows states to achieve healthcare-related goals while tracking efficiency, success, and needed changes along the way.

In 2020, Texas commissioned a survey of Medicaid providers and determined more time was needed for its current Demonstration Project.

After many weeks of negotiations, Texas’s request for an eight-year extension was granted by the Trump Administration in January 2021.

The Biden Administration rescinded that extension without warning, proper authority, reasoning, or the required notice-and-comment period.

Read a copy of the filing here.