Willacy County DA linked to wrecked car found to contain marijuana residue

RAYMONDVILLE — A 25-year-old Lyford man has confessed to being the driver of a wrecked and abandoned car in which deputies found links to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, Sheriff Larry Spence said Thursday.

Officials are investigating the incident to determine what charges they could file against Obadiah Fredrick Villarreal, Spence said.

Villarreal confessed to driving the 1998 Ford Escort registered to Lupita Salas, Guerra’s sister, when he crashed the car early July 7, Spence said.

Deputies found Guerra’s identification badge and some of his mail in the car, which he once drove, Spence said.

Deputies also found marijuana residue under a floor mat, Spence said.

Guerra said the marijuana and identification card were planted.

Villarreal’s mother has said there was no marijuana in the car.

Guerra was in the process of selling the car to Fred Villarreal, the suspect’s father, Spence said.

Obadiah Villarreal told investigators he crashed the car into a wooden electrical pole at the intersection of Business 77 and Farm-to-Market Road 490 about 1:30 a.m. July 7, Spence said.

The sheriff said Obadiah Villarreal said he fled the scene because he was in fear of some men who had assaulted him earlier that night at a bar.

Obadiah Villarreal confessed that he asked his mother, Sandra Villarreal, to take the blame for the accident, Spence said.

“I asked my mom to take the rap for me,” Spence said, reading from the man’s statement. “She told me she would take care of it.

“Then she told me she would tell Mr. Guerra it was her driving the car. … After they hung up, my mom told me she said to Mr. Juan Guerra it was her that was driving the car. My mom told me not to worry about it.”

About two months ago, Guerra had sold the car to Fred Villarreal for $1,000 on the condition that a mechanic inspect its transmission, Spence said.

Guerra said he left old mail in the car’s trunk.

“(Fred Villarreal) was going to take the car and take it to a mechanic and there was stuff in the trunk,” Guerra said. “It was just old mail and stuff.”

Villarreal had not paid Guerra for the car, Spence said.

“I do not have any dominion nor control over said vehicle,” Guerra wrote in a July 9 letter to Spence. “Since delivery of the vehicle, I have not driven nor been close to the vehicle.”

On Thursday, Sandra Villarreal called it a “simple accident.”

“I’m a regular person,” she said. “I’m not involved in politics.”

Neither marijuana nor Guerra’s identification card were in the car, she said.

“There was nothing in the car,” she said. “There was no ID in the car. I was in the car plenty of times to know there was no ID in the car.”

Guerra accused Willacy County Chief Deputy David Martinez of planting the marijuana and the identification card.

Sheriff’s department officials denied the claims.

Guerra said Martinez made the identification card when Guerra taught him how to use a new machine the sheriff’s department bought to make identification cards.

“There’s nothing official about it,” Guerra said of the identification card. “Anyone with a computer could make it.”

Years earlier, Martinez made the identification card for Guerra, Spence said.

“We had made a card for him when we first got the machine,” Spence said. “I think we made one for a few (officials) in the county.”

Questions remain about the accident, Spence said.

Heavy damage to each side of the car indicates another car may have hit the Escort, the sheriff said.

Obadiah Villarreal must pay for damage to an AEP utility pole, Spence said. A company spokesman said he didn’t have a damage estimate.

Spence said officials could charge Obadiah Villarreal with leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident, possession of marijuana and perjury.

On July 26, Obadiah Villarreal gave investigators two conflicting statements, Spence said.

First, he told investigators that his mother had driven the car when it crashed, the sheriff said.

Later, he told investigators that he was the driver, Spence said.