By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A 25-year-old Del Rio man found guilty of tampering with evidence has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Senior District Judge Sid L. Harle sentenced Freddy Villanueva during a hearing Thursday. A jury on Wednesday found Villanueva guilty of felony tampering with evidence, but deadlocked on a murder charge against him.
Both charges stemmed from a March 23, 2019 incident in which another Del Rio man, Manuel Sanchez, was beaten at the home of Villanueva’s mother, Julie Villanueva, then stuffed into the back seat of his own car.
Freddy Villanueva was convicted of tampering with evidence for his role in trying to hide the car behind a local tire shop.
At the start of Thursday’s sentencing hearing, District Attorney Suzanne West, who had presented the state’s case against Villanueva, told Harle she did not plan to call any witnesses.
San Antonio attorney Sylvia Cavazos, who was Villanueva’s attorney, called Villanueva’s older sister, Ashley Villanueva, to the witness stand.
“Tell the court how Freddy Villanueva is as a person,” Cavazos said.
“He’s not a bad person at all. He’s very caring. He cares for our family and helps at home,” Ashley Villanueva replied.
She later testified how her brother had rescued a friend, Kelvin Brown, after Brown jumped off a cliff at Lake Amistad, was injured and not able to swim back to shore.
“My brother jumped in and saved his life,” she told the court.
“What are you asking this court?” Cavazos asked her.
“I’m asking for the lowest sentence,” Ashley Villanueva replied.
When Cavazos pointed out her brother’s sentence could range from two to 10 years and asked why she was asking for the lowest possible sentence, Villanueva replied, “Because I know in my heart the way my brother was described (during the trial) is not the person my brother is.”
On cross-examination, West asked Villanueva if she had been present at her mother’s house when the incident resulting in Sanchez’s death occurred, and Villanueva said she had not been present.
Cavazos next called Freddy Villanueva’s aunt, Mayra Cerna Quicksall, to the witness stand.
When Cavazos asked Quicksall to tell the court about her nephew, Quicksall said, “I helped raise Freddy, and he grew up with ethics and morals, very respectful . . . He has a huge heart, almost to where he is too kind. I hold him very close to my heart.”
When Cavazos asked Quicksall what she was asking the court to do, Quicksall replied, “To consider our testimony of Freddy’s character and not what’s on paper, not what was presented at trial . . . I know Freddy, and that’s not Freddy.”
West began her cross-examination of Quicksall by asking, “You understand a jury said he tampered with evidence after a murder. Are you offended by the verdict?”
“No, I’m offended by him being called a murderer. We didn’t raise a murderer,” Quicksall replied.
West asked Quicksall if she was aware of her nephew’s criminal history: a prior conviction for misdemeanor assault, a conviction for evading arrest, for criminal trespass and two convictions for thefts.
Quicksall said she was not aware of those convictions and also testified she was not present at the Villanueva home when Sanchez was assaulted and that she was unaware of the facts and circumstances of the case against her nephew.
In her closing statement, Cavazos asked the court to consider the events that led to Freddy Villanueva being charged with murder and tampering with evidence as “an isolated incident that should have never happened.”
She told the court Villanueva “did not have bad intentions that day.”
She said Villanueva simply did not want Sanchez, a registered sex offender, near his nieces and nephews.
Cavazos pointed out Villanueva has been behind bars for 26 months, awaiting the disposition of the case and asked the judge to sentence him to the time he has served, calling it “sufficient punishment” for the felony tampering for which Villanueva was convicted.
West, in her closing statement, told the court it isn’t her job to determine whether a person is good or bad and pointed out that even good people can make bad decisions.
She told the court there are any number of decisions Villanueva could have made on the night Sanchez was beaten, but he did not make those decisions and did not take those actions.
She said the actions he did take that night were not the actions of the kind and thoughtful man described by his relatives.
“And we have heard no testimony that he has taken steps to becoming a safe and productive member of society. Freddy Villanueva is dangerous and should not be walking our streets, and I am asking the court for the maximum sentence of 10 years,” West said.
After the two attorneys finished their closing statements, Harle delivered his judgment.
“I have no doubt that you had excellent role models when you were raised, but actions do have consequences . . . You had several opportunities to stop or make different choices, but you did not. Your actions have consequences, and I have to hold you responsible,” Harle said.
He then ordered Villanueva to serve a 10-year term in the Texas Department of Corrections, with credit for the 26 months he has been behind bars.
The judge also noted a trial on the murder charge has been placed on the court calendar for Dec. 1 and ordered Villanueva remanded to the custody of the sheriff’s office.
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