Former felon convicted of failing to report as sex offender in Texas

BROWNSVILLE – A 60-year-old resident of Brownsville has entered a guilty plea to one count of failure to register as a sex offender as required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

Albert Frank Garza is a twice-convicted sex offender. He was convicted of first degree sexual abuse with a child under the age of 12 in 1980 and again just three years later for indecent liberties with a child under the age of 14. He received respective sentences of 48 months and 10 years in prison.

As a sex offender, he is required under SORNA to register as a sex offender every year. If he relocates, he is required to register in the new jurisdiction within three days after arrival.  

Previously residing in Colorado, he had registered as a sex offender until May 30, 2014. At that time, he signed and dated an annual form acknowledging a follow-up date of June 1, 2015. However, he failed to register in 2015 as required.

In fact, he never registered as a sex offender again, and his whereabouts were unknown until 2019.  

On Sep. 24, 2019, local authorities arrested Garza for failure to identify and possession of a controlled substance. At the time of his arrest, Garza used the fictitious name of Martin Infante Garcia and indicated he was homeless. A street outreach advocate at a local homeless shelter recognized his photo and identified him as someone who visited the shelter daily for breakfast from April 2019 through June 2019.

Although Garza resided in Texas from at least April 2019 until the date of his arrest in September, he failed to register within the required three days of his arrival.  

U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera accepted the plea and set sentencing for Nov. 25. At that time, Garza faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. He will remain in custody pending that hearing.  

The U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nikki Piquette is prosecuting the case.