Man receives 10-year prison sentence for drugs, evading police

Man receives

10-

year prison sentence for drugs, evading police

A San Antonio man will spend the next 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty to drug possession and evading arrest.

Joshua Watson, 28, of San Antonio pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance between 4 and 200 grams, a seco nd-degree f e l o n y, and evading arrest in a motor vehicle, a third-degree felony.

He was sentenced Aug. 8 by Judge Kristen Cohoon in the 451st District Court in Boerne.

Department of Public Safety troopers were conducting a traffic stop March 26 on Interstate 10 when Watson failed to yield to emergency vehicles. Troopers attempted to pull over Watson, who never stopped despite the DPS trooper following with lights and siren activated.

Watson continued west on I-10 before exiting at Johns Road and entering an apartment complex. There, he circled the apartment complex parking lot, increasing speed in an attempt to evade law enforcement. As Watson completed the third lap around the apartment complex, troopers observed Watson throw an object out his window. The object, later found in a grassy area of the parking lot, was a plastic bag containing 25.84 grams of methamphetamine.

Boerne police arrived at the apartment complex to assist in detaining Watson. Boerne officers also assisted in locating the methamphetamine during a search of the area.

Watson was alone in the vehicle and there were no weapons found on him or in his vehicle.

Watson was on parole until March 2025 for possession of a controlled substance in the amount of 4 to 200 grams at the time of the Kendall County offense. Kendall County Criminal District Attorney Nicole Bishop said the parole violation played a large part in the stiffness of sentencing.

“Not complying while on parole tells the prosecutor that he has not learned from his prior sentences,” Bishop said, “and this behavior indicates an individual will not be successful on any type of supervised probation.”

The 10-year sentence was offered by the state at the first court setting, Bishop said.

“ Typically, the first offer will be the lowest offer. This is done to incentivize an earlier plea,” she said. “At his first setting, he agreed to 10 years, knowing that if he rejected the 10-year offer, it would increase to 15 or 20 years.”

Assistant Criminal District Attorney Derly Chapa prosecuted the case on behalf of the state.

“Hopefully, this sentence sends a message to those in the same business as Watson, we will hold you accountable. Our office will not look away and allow destruction to freely flow to Kendall County,” Chapa said.