DWI Fatality: Lawyer receives probation

By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal

With the news last week that a local female attorney, Angela Mia Villarreal, won’t have to serve any prison time for killing a man in May 2022 after she plowed into his SUV from behind, you have to ask: Is the Hidalgo County Courthouse the place you want to land if you drive drunk and kill someone?

This past March, after all, another Valley woman convicted of a drunk-driving crash, Ashley Espinosa Castro, was sentenced to 10 years for killing a teenager, but after only six months in lock up, she’s now been placed on probation for her remaining sentence by state District Court Judge Joe Ramirez (the 464th). According to the order for her probation (and community service), Ramirez wrote that Castro “would not benefit from further imprisonment.”

For Attorney Angela Mia Villarreal, the deal she got is even sweeter. Unlike Castro, she won’t have to serve any jail time other than 120 days, courtesy of the 10-year probated sentence handed down by state District Judge Mario Ramirez (the 332nd) last week.

Not only that, but approximately three months after plowing into her victim’s SUV from behind in May 2022, taking a life, while cruising along drunk at approximately 110 mph, Villarreal had that annoying alcohol-monitoring device removed from her vehicle, courtesy of Judge Mario Ramirez.

After “playing” the court system for 16 months (multiple subpoenas issued by her legal defense, motion to suppress, motion for a witness list, motion for production of evidence favorable to the accused, motion to inspect and test physical evidence, pre-trial hearings, motion for discovery), Villarreal pled guilty to intoxication manslaughter Aug. 14, 2023, and for her troubles, will now be on probation for 10 years, thanks to the judicial generosity of Judge Mario Ramirez.

Her victim, however, 62-year-old Agustin Molina Uribe, ran out of time the moment that Villarreal plowed into his car May 6, 2022.

Leaving oneself to ask the question: if you drive drunk and kill someone, shouldn’t there be a sentence more severe than 10 years on probation?

Apparently not, according to Judge Mario E. Ramirez, Jr. He also added a $2,500 fine to Villarreal’s sentence.

This case, by the way, didn’t include a plea bargain, so don’t blame the DA. Prosecutors wanted her to serve 20 years, but that didn’t happen. Instead, she got a pass.

Reading through the probable cause affidavit, one has to ask the question, what does this case/sentence say about our local criminal justice system? Was there ever any question of guilt?

No. At the scene of the wreck on N. 10th Street in McAllen May 5, 2022, there was Uribe’s SUV engulfed in flames, and there was Villarreal’s red Mazda with extensive front-end damage on the scene along with its driver, the inebriated (blood-shot eyes and slurred speech) Angela Villarreal. In fact, a later blood draw showed that her blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. Witnesses on the scene told police that Villarreal plowed into Uribe’s Chevy Trailblazer.

Yet, her blood-alcohol monitoring device stays on her vehicle for no longer than three months; her case bounces around the court system for more than a year, costing taxpayers; and in the end, what does this local female attorney get in the way of punishment for taking a man’s life who should have been looking forward to retirement, not a cemetery?

Ten years probation. Oh, and don’t forget the stiff $2,500 fine and 120 days in jail.