SAN ANTONIO – Last summer Stephen Vargas, 20, failed to appear in court to be sentenced to eight years in prison as part of a plea agreement after pleading guilty to two separate armed robbery cases in 2017 and 2018.
On Tuesday, defense attorney Roy Barrera Jr. asked Judge Jefferson Moore to abandon a 10-year sentence Moore added after Vargas failed to appear for sentencing.
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“I faxed an exhibit with my motion where his mother, who was already sick, was determined to be terminally ill with pancreatic cancer,” Barrera testified during a remote hearing Tuesday morning.
Moore, over objections from prosecutor Richard Guerra, granted Barrera’s motion.
“I sentence you in each case to 15 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,” Moore said.
Vargas’ total sentence, with the time added for his failure to appear, was 18 years.
Moore gave Vargas credit for time served.
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