Malaer, Fonseca sentenced; Garza reset

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Former Gonzales city employee Billy Malaer’s high-profile trial finally came to an end Thursday, and it was a good ending for Malaer.

With the drop of a gavel, Malaer got a chance to wipe the proverbial slate clean and walk away with a second chance.

During Thurday’s 25th District Court proceedings before Judge Dwight E. Peschel, Malaer received five years deferred adjudication with no fine.

Malaer, the former director of parks and recreation with the city of Gonzales, had entered a guilty plea in September and was given 30 days PSI (pre-sentencing investigation report) to evaluate Malaer and determine his sentencing.

He was terminated on Aug. 8, 2011, stemming from an extensive investigation of the business operations at the J.B. Wells Arena. The investigation documented numerous violations of the public trust and disregard for management accountability by Malaer.

Malaer was indicted in February by a Gonzales County grand jury, charged with two counts of tampering with a government document, “the government document being the time sheets of city employees who were, in fact, not working,” 25th District Attorney Heather McMinn said at the time.

He had served as director of community services for the city, which had management responsibilities over J.B. Wells Park, Independence Park, including the golf course and swimming pool, airport operations and city cemeteries.

Malaer was the second of three city employees fired during a four-month period from July to October 2011. Belinda Wright Walker had been the first.

In Thursday’s proceedings, Walker had her trial reset for Nov. 16. Walker, who was terminated by the city in July 2011, is charged with 13 counts of theft by a public servant, allegedly misappropriating as much as $250,000 in municipal funds during a span of more than two years.

According to the grand jury indictment, Walker is alleged to have “unlawfully appropriated” on 13 separate occasions “United States currency, of the value of less than $20,000, from the city of Gonzales … without the effective consent of the owner … by virtue of her status as such a public servant.”

The charges against Walker, who served as the city park’s secretary, came eight months and one day after she was terminated from her position with the city Parks & Recreation Department.

Walker was booked into the Gonzales County Jail on March 12 and was released that same day after appearing before County Judge David Bird and posting a $10,000 bond.

LaJuane Catrell Clark, the man who allegedly unleashed himself on an onslaught of raucous behavior in September, on Thursday had his trial reset for Dec. 12.

Clark, 37, of Gonzales, allegedly caused quite a stir in various parts of town when he reportedly became intoxicated and began driving around and causing numerous disturbances.

On Sept. 5, Clark allegedly ran his vehicle into a Department of Public Safety unit parked in the parking lot of the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office, walked into the lobby and stripped naked, yelling obscenities and getting into a scuffle with police before being arrested. Clark is also alleged to have caused a disturbance at Gonzales Community Health Center earlier in the day, and later in the residential area commonly known as “The Hill” where he allegedly discharged a firearm.

Clark remains in Gonzales County Jail facing a multitude of charges and a cumulative bond amount of $102,500, including deadly conduct ($40,000,) unlawful possession of firearm by a felon ($40,000), criminal mischief resulting from damage to a patrol car of less than $20,000 ($15,000) and indecent exposure ($7,500).

Also appearing before Peschel was Henry Fonseca, who received 10 years deferred adjudication and an $800 fine. Fonseca, 46, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the stabbing of Eusebio Deleon in September 2011.

John Andrew Garza, 29, had his trial reset for Nov. 16. On May 17, Garza and another man were taken into custody during an early-morning raid by Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office SWAT and DPS. As a result of that raid, Garza was charged with deadly conduct, endangering a child and possession of a controlled substance.

Anna Louise West also had her trial reset for Feb. 19. West, 33, of Cuero, is charged with the Feb. 18 shooting of David Dubose, 48, of Gonzales County, in a remote pasture just south of Gonzales.

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