Texas Department of Public Safety officials arrested city of Uvalde municipal court Judge Richard O. Gonzales, 76, after a multi-agency effort to serve indictments on his grandson.
Gonzales said he has hired attorney Rogelio M. Muñoz to represent him, though Gonzales hopes the charges will be dropped. Uvalde City Council will meet Sept. 3 at noon at city hall to consider his employment.
Gonzales, charged with drug possession, said he was devastated by his arrest. He said he allowed law enforcement to enter the home and his grandson’s room because he believes in the law, the legal system, and cooperating with the authorities.
He said from the charges, he understands grams of drugs, including marijuana, were found in his grandson’s room. Gonzales said he had no idea there were drugs in his home, and expressed fear of losing his job and his reputation.
“I go to my office, I work all day,” Gonzales said. “It’s sad, I didn’t know anything about any drugs.”
Judge Gonzales said in a phone call that his daughter Cassandra Gonzales and her husband, Mike Lugo, were also arrested. He said police took his grandson, Anthony Xavier Gonzales, later returned for his daughter and her husband, then, even later, came back for him. Haley Raquel Ruiz, 23, whom Judge Gonzales identified as his grandson’s girlfriend, was also arrested.
‘I work all day… I didn’t know anything about any drugs.’
They have all been charged with possessing less than 28 grams of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 3 and possessing between 1 and 4 grams of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1/1B.
Gonzales said his daughter and her husband are staying with him while they look for a home in Uvalde. He said he has tried to help his grandson, but things have not been going well and he recently asked his grandson to leave the home.
Texas DPS arrested the grandson, Anthony Xavier Gonzales, 30, who resides with Gonzales at 529 N. Fourth St. on charges involving drugs and organized crime. For more information on the grandson’s charges, see the arrest report on Page 3.
On Sept. 2, 2019, three people, including the grandson, then 25, were shot at Richard O. Gonzales’ West Main Street law office. One of the victims died. The shooter turned himself in.
The grandson was arrested earlier this year, on July 19 for possessing marijuana and controlled substances, then on Aug. 13 for violating pre-trial conditions and tampering with evidence.
In 2023, the grandson was arrested three times on charges including unlawfully carrying a weapon, engaging in organized criminal activity, resisting arrest, parole violations and various other drug-related charges.
Judge Gonzales was booked into the Uvalde County Jail early on Aug. 27. Uvalde County Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Lalo Diaz served as magistrate for Gonzales’ bond hearing around 11 a.m. and allowed Gonzales’ release on personal recognizance.
Uvalde City Council appointed Gonzales, a local attorney who has been practicing law in Uvalde since 1985, as the city’s municipal court judge in February 2020.
On Feb. 27, 2024, in a split 4-2 vote, council reappointed him to a two-year term and gave him a 25-percent pay raise, from $2,000 per month to $2,500 per month. Councilmen Hector Luevano and Everardo “Lalo”
Zamora, both of whom are currently running for city mayor, cast the dissenting votes.
Law background
Richard O. Gonzales graduated from Hereford High School in 1967, going on to the University of Texas at Austin for an undergraduate degree in 1971 and then the University of Houston, where he obtained a law degree in 1974.
He has been practicing law in Uvalde since 1985. He has done appellate work, family and real estate law and civil cases, in addition to being a judge and prosecutor. His wife, Maria Elena Gonzales, served as his administrator. She died on Feb. 21, 2023, after more than 52 years of marriage.
He was appointed as city attorney in 2009 and later transitioned to municipal court prosecutor. He is licensed to practice before courts including the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Western District of Texas.
A previous version of this story first appeared online on Aug. 27, and it and the print version included in the Sunday, Sept. 1 edition of the Uvalde Leader-News have been updated to correct Judge Gonzales’ age, the precinct number for the justice of the peace who served as magistrate, and the address of the judge’s residence.
