Mexican National Pleads Guilty in San Angelo Sexual Assault

SAN ANGELO, TX -- A Mexican citizen Wednesday took a plea deal for sexual assault of a child that drops a felony drug possession charge and will likely result in his deportation after he finishes his prison sentence.  

Israel Mireles Echeverria, 36, was charged with sexual assault of a child and possession of a controlled substance.  He began the hearing Wednesday morning in District Judge Brad Goodwin’s courtroom asking for a new court appointed attorney.  Joe Hernandez represents Echeverria. Hernandez told Judge Goodwin that Echeverria decided just before the scheduled plea hearing that he thought another attorney could negotiate a better deal.  

Echeverria hadn’t filed a motion requesting a new attorney, so Judge Goodwin had nothing to rule on.  Prosecutors told the judge the plea deal would be withdrawn if Echeverria insisted on delaying the trial because of wanting a new attorney.  

Judge Goodwin said that since he didn’t have anything to rule on, Echeverria should consult with his attorney while the court handled other cases.  Hernandez and Echeverria then went into a conference room while the judge heard another case. After consulting for about an hour, Hernandez returned to the courtroom with Echeverria.  

The plea hearing continued with Hernandez representing Echeverria.  Hernandez announced that his client was ready to accept the plea deal in exchange for a guilty plea.  

Echeverria pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child in exchange for dropping the felony drug charge.  He was sentenced to five years in prison with credit for time served since Dec. 2017.

According to court documents, Echeverria began communicating with a minor female through Facebook messenger.  The indictment alleges Echeverria picked up the minor female at her school in Aug. 2017. He then drove her to Lake Nasworthy where he had sex with her.  He then drove her back to school. The minor female admitted to police they had sex. Court documents indicate the two exchanged a Facebook message about the sex in Sept. 2017.

Federal law requires that anyone who commits a felony in the U.S. be advised that if they are found guilty they may be deported, denied re-entry and denied naturalization.  Echeverria faces deportation after serving his prison sentence.