District Attorney Micheal Murray reported that on Thursday, August 24, 2023, a Brown County jury convicted Leonel Villarreal of Driving While Intoxicated 3rd or More. Villarreal was sentenced to fifty years incarceration in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division by Judge Mike Smith after hearing a significant amount of punishment evidence.

First Assistant District Attorney Elisha Bird and Assistant District Attorney LorAnn Newman presented evidence during the trial that Villarreal drove to Stripes and was intending to leave Stripes and drive home while his blood alcohol content was almost two and a half times the legal limit.

Villarreal had previously been sentenced to prison for Driving While Intoxicated 3rd or More in 2011 and also in 2014. Because of Villarreal’s two consecutive prior prison trips, he was a habitual offender and faced a minimum of 25 years’ incarceration on the charge from the 2021 incident.

Bird and Newman presented evidence that Villarreal also had prior convictions for two additional Driving While Intoxicated from Taylor County in 2003, a Driving While Intoxicated conviction from Brown County in 2003, a Driving While Intoxicated conviction from Callahan County in 2006, and a Possession of a Controlled Substance from Lampasas County in 2005.