Judge sentences Bryce Thomas to combined terms for weapons, theft and indecency but suspends one term and places him on probation

A Jefferson County judge on Thursday sentenced Bryce Thomas on multiple felony convictions involving prohibited weapons, a theft of a firearm and indecency with a child by exposure, ordering prison time on three counts and deferring proceedings and probation on another count. The judge found sufficient evidence to convict Thomas of possession of prohibited weapons on two third-degree felony counts and sentenced him to seven years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on each of those counts. For a state-jail-felony theft of a firearm charge the court imposed a two-year state-jail sentence. For a third-degree indecency-with-a-child-by-exposure count the judge deferred adjudication, suspended a 10‑year institutional sentence and placed Thomas on probation for 10 years with conditions, including treatment and a $500 fine. The judge told Thomas he would receive credit for time already served on each sentence and warned that the suspended probation would run consecutively, meaning the probation period would not begin until after any prison time is served. The court also provided a written admonishment that, because of the judgments, Thomas is ineligible under Texas law to possess a firearm or ammunition. Prosecutor Mister Coleman urged a significant sentence, describing the facts the state says show thefts from patrol vehicles, conversion of a weapon to fully automatic fire and conspiracy with a juvenile. Defense counsel Mister Burbank pressed for leniency and referenced Thomas’s youth and prior status; Thomas addressed the court briefly and acknowledged poor decisions while in custody. The judge said the lengthier prison terms were driven in part by the custody time Thomas already has served and by the seriousness of the weapon allegations. The court also discussed that a probation term can be ordered to run consecutively after incarceration; after confirming authority and practice with counsel, the judge directed that the ten-year probation in the deferred case would run consecutive to the imposed prison terms. If Thomas violates that probation, the judge warned, he could face up to the full term in that count. Thomas was given copies of the trial-court certifications and the written firearm-admonishment before being returned to custody. Less critical details: the state had filed a sentencing memorandum and the pre-sentence report and jail incident reports were considered by the court. The court noted a number of incident reports in Thomas’s jail file and referenced them in explaining the decision to impose prison time on several counts rather than probation on all counts.