Judge Stephanie Boyd issues prison terms and multiple deferred adjudications in March 3 docket

SAN ANTONIO — Judge Stephanie Boyd presided over a heavy criminal docket on March 3 in the 187th District Court, hearing pleas, sentencing motions and case settings for a mix of violent, property and drug-related offenses. The court imposed prison terms in two cases and approved deferred adjudications, dismissals and trial settings in several others.

The most significant sentences included a 4-year prison term imposed after a plea agreement in a shooting case and a 12-year prison sentence in a separate matter. The docket also produced multiple deferred-adjudication agreements; in one, the court accepted a plea and ordered three years of deferred adjudication with a combination of fines, restitution and treatment conditions.

Why it matters: the day's rulings involved offenses that the court said posed public-safety concerns (shooting, weapons), and several dispositions included conditions aimed at treatment and supervision rather than lengthy incarceration. Those decisions change defendants' immediate custody status and set supervision and treatment requirements intended to reduce recidivism.

Court highlights

- Jason Giovanni Bustos — The court accepted an agreed disposition and sentenced Jason Giovanni Bustos to four years in prison after finding sufficient evidence to support the plea; the judge entered an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon in the case and imposed the sentence the court pronounced in open session.

- Timothy Zapata — Judge Boyd sentenced Timothy Zapata to 12 years in prison following a plea in which the state and defense waived a presentence investigation and the court followed the parties' agreement in imposing the stated term.

- Samantha Guadarrama (case called as 202401093) — The court accepted a plea bargain and placed Guadarrama on three years of deferred adjudication. Conditions ordered by the court included a $2,000 fine (probated), proof of restitution payment to the identified victim in the amount discussed on the record (the court noted that restitution was paid), regular reporting and random drug testing, 200 hours of community service with partial credit tied to parenting classes and anger-management completion, and no contact with the named victim. The court explained that completion of specified programs could satisfy portions of the community-service requirement.

- Christian Chavez (2024CR5275) — The court accepted a plea and deferred adjudication for six years concurrent with a county-court matter, with standard supervision conditions, a TAP evaluation and a referral to programs as recommended.

- Marlon Phillips — The prosecutor informed the court the state would tender a dismissal; the judge indicated the court would process the dismissal once the paperwork was in order.

Other actions and settings

- Multiple defendants received deferred adjudication, community-service requirements, parenting classes, anger-management or drug-treatment referrals; the court repeatedly emphasized treatment and supervision steps for defendants with substance-use or mental-health issues.

- A jury trial was set in one case (Eric Mitchell) for June 3 and other dockets were reset for plea-deadline dates in mid-March and April as reflected on the record.

What the judge said

Judge Stephanie Boyd repeatedly framed several sentences and probation conditions as opportunities for rehabilitation and urged defendants to follow the court-ordered programs. As she told one defendant, "Make better choices," while explaining the connection between compliance with probation terms and the possibility of early termination of supervision.

Case-level details in the record

The transcript records specifics for several dispositions: restitution amounts and their receipt where the court acknowledged payment; the length of deferred adjudication periods (commonly 3–6 years on the day’s dockets); the requirement for TAP evaluations or felony-drug-court referrals; no-contact orders in domestic- or family-related matters; and community-service hour totals with mechanisms for partial satisfaction tied to parenting classes, GED or trade-school completion.

Procedural notes

Many matters were resolved under plea-bargain agreements documented on the record. The court accepted several stipulations of testimony and police reports in lieu of live witness testimony. Multiple attorneys and the prosecutor agreed on deadlines and reset dates on the record; the court also told attorneys and defendants precise administrative steps (for example, how to get a defendant to appear by Zoom for bond calls and where to file or retrieve paperwork).

Ending

Judge Boyd’s March 3 docket balanced custodial sentences in violent cases with probationary and treatment-oriented outcomes in many drug- and misdemeanor-related matters. Several cases remain set for future dates; those hearings will determine whether defendants comply with supervision conditions or whether the state seeks revocation or modification of those agreements.