District Attorney Micheal Murray reported that on Thursday, January 15, 2026 Gable Ramirez Sanchez was placed on deferred adjudication by Judge Mike Smith for failing to register as a sex offender after a contested bench trial.

The District Attorney’s Office charged Sanchez with Failing to Register as a Sex Offender and filed a notice of intent to enhance Sanchez as a habitual offender.

Sanchez, who is currently 58 years old, was convicted in 1996 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated sexual assault of a child. Sanchez was later convicted in 2003 for indecency with a child by exposure and in 2007 for failure to register as a sex offender.

The District Attorney’s Office presented evidence of each of these convictions to prove that Sanchez was legally required to register for life as a sex offender and had two prior consecutive prison sentences.

Based upon Sanchez’s status as a habitual offender, only two possible legal options existed for the resolution of his case: (1) a prison sentence for any amount between 25 years and 99 years or life; or (2) finding the evidence sufficient to support a guilty verdict but deferring that finding and placing Sanchez on probation.

Sanchez pled not guilty to the offense of failure to register and not true to habitual enhancement. Judge Smith found the evidence sufficient to find Sanchez guilty but agreed to the defense request to defer adjudication and place Sanchez on probation for ten years.

First Assistant Elisha Bird asked that Sanchez be found guilty of the new offense of failing to register and sentenced to at least forty years’ incarceration in prison. Bird presented evidence from Brown County Sheriff’s Office officers and employees that Sanchez was not in compliance with his registration requirements. Law enforcement officials testified that Sanchez failed to disclose multiple social media accounts and a phone number.

Sarah Wright, a custodian of records for TDCJ, also traveled from Huntsville at the request of the DA’s Office to testify about notice of registration requirements provided to sex offenders. Wright authenticated documents from 2004 and 2012 containing Sanchez signature showing that he was aware of the legal requirements he faced as a sex offender.

Bird presented testimony that Sanchez joined the criminal street gang Partido Revolucionario Mexicano during his first trip to prison and that his victims from his original sex offenses were both three years old at the time Sanchez abused them.

During cross-examination, Sanchez admitted that he was following a local girl’s Instagram account even though he had never personally met the girl.

The defense requested deferred adjudication rather than a prison sentence. Sanchez was supported by several members of the community who testified that Sanchez had remained out of prison since 2012, maintained a good job for over a decade, and positively supported his family. Bird and the District Attorney’s Office opposed the defendant’s request for deferred adjudication.

Bird argued that the extensive criminal history of Sanchez as well as the evidence of on-going participation in hyper-sexualized online material justified far more than the minimum sentence.

Sanchez will continue to have to register as a sex offender for the duration of his life. If Sanchez violates his probation, he will continue to face the 25 year to 99 year or life range of punishment.