8 Violations in ONE Day? Judge West Gives Ultimate Wake-Up Call

[00:00:00]There were 17 17 juvenile either offenses or failure to comply with the court order that ended you up in TJJD. So you've already been to juvenile prison. All right. So you're Anthony Young.

[00:00:17]>> No.

[00:00:18]>> So Mr. Young, you were previously in court. You entered p of true in a motion to revoke your uh probation. You're on probation.

[00:00:30]for theft of a firearm.

[00:00:34]Um, which is a state jail felony. Um, I was just looking at the old PSI and it had F2 beside it, but we're all jail felony. Um, and so, uh, you you interpleas true that you violated your probation. And >> this case centers on Anthony Young, a young man already given multiple chances by the justice system, now back in court after admitting he violated probation tied to a serious offense involving a firearm. What's at stake here isn't just another sentence. It's whether the court believes rehabilitation is still possible.

[00:01:12]you were sent to. Okay. I just want to kind of go through I've received an updated prescence report. Has everyone had an opportunity to review that?

[00:01:20]>> Yes, sir.

[00:01:21]>> Any additions or corrections to that report?

[00:01:23]>> No.

[00:01:24]>> And then I've also received and we've been talking about these throughout his court appearances. Uh some updated jail incident reports. Have you both had an opportunity to review those as well?

[00:01:34]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:01:35]>> And so this is a this was an unagreed plea. There was no agreement when we were here before. And so, um, I also took a look at and was able to review again that underlying offense, uh, prescent report as well. If anybody has any questions, you're welcome to look at mine if you don't have your copy of that. And so, Mr. Young, it sounds like you guys talked at least today about an agreement for an 18-month term in the state jail, but I I don't based on what I've seen in this presentence report update, the old pre-cence report and the incidents that have happened since we were in court last time. I don't I'm not going to go along with any agreement. He played unagreed. It's going to be up to me. I'll let y'all make argument. Mr. Lewis.

[00:02:25]>> Well, judge, uh, this is a situation, of course, he was previously on probation where he was, uh, participating in a cognitive track through ISF when the initial incident occurred in which I believe was maybe a less than a week before he was to complete the program and he was sent back. Uh since then I've been in constant contact with his parents, his mother and father who uh uh >> I think he was already there. This incident happened at ISF.

[00:02:56]>> ISF. Yeah. We he was sent back from ISF like a less than a week before he completed >> two days before he was supposed to complete. Yeah. But since then I've been in contact with with his parents, judge and they still they are very supportive of him in any way. Uh as far as him going forward in the future. Uh I did talk with him. So he understands that probation of course you know would not be the probably the best situation for him. That's why we came to the agreement that we approached you about on the 18th month. um judge, we would still ask for the you know any uh 18 month months or close to it in order to allow him to finish clean out any time to support things that's deserving at this point and he can move on with this life. His parents are available. His father actually lives out of town which could be a benefit to get him out into a new situation, a new circumstance to where he can start start his life over. So that's kind of where we are at this point. Judge, you know, ultimately I know that decision risk to you.

[00:04:00]>> Mr. Smith, anything else?

[00:04:02]>> I don't think I need to judge.

[00:04:05]>> There were 17 17 juvenile either offenses or failure to comply with the court order that ended you up in TJJD. So, you've already been to juvenile prison.

[00:04:27]and you got out of juvenile prison and you commit this offense, you're certified as an adult. I give you this great opportunity to go to ISF to get the tools you need, which you should have gotten in the first one was in 2019 to 2024. You're going through, you're on delinquent court probation. You should be getting all kinds of tools that you needed through the juvenile system. You should have gotten some more at TJJD.

[00:04:57]I give you an opportunity and you get to ISF and you just can't make it through. Then you get into our jail and you're told, "Stop getting in trouble and you left court on the 24th and the first incident report was on that day."

[00:05:17]>> The judge outlines a long pattern of repeated offenses, failed interventions, and missed opportunities. Even after direct warnings from the court, when a judge emphasizes repeated chances and escalating behavior, it signals a move away from rehabilitation focused sentencing toward protection of the public. In legal terms, prior history and continued non-compliance are now outweighing mitigation arguments.

[00:05:45]first one after I said don't get any more and you went back and got one the very same day and you've had eight since then. You like to smoke, you like to do what you want, like to horse play. Do you like to I mean you're still acting unfortunately like a child and you're not a child anymore and you've been told that and you've been given these tools and at some point you've got to get truly a wakeup call and I and I think it's great that your parents are supporting you. You should have probably been living with your dad about four years ago if he's out of town.

[00:06:27]If that's what y'all are saying is helpful, then maybe sometime before the 17th time you got in trouble as a juvenile, somebody does something and that didn't happen. You just kept doing it. So, if they're there to help you, you're sure not taking advantage of it.

[00:06:43]And that's on you, not on your family.

[00:06:45]If they're trying and you just choose to go run the streets and do what you want, which is what you've been doing. I mean, you had a robbery. We're not talking about just little things, right? I mean, we've got terroristic threat, criminal trespass, running away, assault, bodily injury, assault, family, your So, your family's trying to help you and you're assaulting them. Expulsion from your pro uh school, theft, robbery, aggravated assault, assault causing bodily injury to a family member, terroristic threat, criminal mischief, escape while you're confined.

[00:07:19]I mean, that's crazy that that all happened while you were juvenile. And honestly that the most I can do today is two years.

[00:07:28]Somebody needs to protect looks like a whole lot of people from you. And that's the only thing I feel like I can do today. So I'm going to find that you entered the police of true freely and voluntarily.

[00:07:38]Find those counts true again. Find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of the state jail felony office of theft of a firearm. Sentence you to a term of two years in the state jail prison. You will receive credit on that sentence for any time that you've been in custody that the law gives you the right to receive.

[00:07:55]Uh you're going to be handed a trial court certification that shows this was not an agreement. You have some limited rights to appeal. You can talk to Mr. Lewis about that. I'm also going to hand you a trial court um a written admonishment that explains that because of the judgment entered against you, you're ineligible under Texas law to possess a firearm or ammunition.

[00:08:17]Possession of a firearm or ammunition could lead to charges against you, another felony. Um, if you have questions about the laws that make you ineligible to possess a firearm or ammunition or about how long that lasts, you can talk with Mr. Lewis. And so what you do with this time, Mr. Young, is going to be up to you. It's not a lot of time. You're going to be out. You're going to be real young. And then it's going to be up to you whether or not you want to change your life or not and get the help that your family's saying that they'll give you. Um, but if you choose not to, then you're just going to be it's just going to get worse and worse and worse, and you're going to spend the rest of your life in prison if you keep doing what you're doing. Does that make sense? I need you to sign this, and you'll get a copy of it, and um, Mr. Lewis, y'all get the bottom two copies.

[00:09:03]>> This case concludes with the court delivering a decisive ruling shaped by a pattern of repeated conduct, failed interventions, and a clear concern for public safety. Anthony Young initially appeared before the court on a probation violation tied to a state jail felony involving the theft of a firearm.

[00:09:22]Importantly, he had already entered please of true, meaning he admitted to violating the terms of his probation.

[00:09:30]That admission alone significantly narrowed his legal options, shifting the focus from determining guilt to deciding the appropriate consequence. Throughout the hearing, the judge carefully reviewed multiple sources of information, including updated pre-sentence investigation reports and recent incident records from custody.

[00:09:50]These updates proved critical. While the defense attempted to advocate for a reduced sentence of 18 months, arguing that Young had family support and could benefit from structured reset, the court ultimately rejected that proposal.

[00:10:04]Because this was an unagreed plea, the judge had full authority to determine sentencing without being bound by any recommendation.