FLORESVILLE, Texas — About a month after she pleaded guilty, former Wilson County Tax Assessor-Collector Anna Gonzales was sentenced on Thursday. She pleaded guilty to a charge of Securing Execution of a Document by Deception.
According to a Facebook post by 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis, the former public official “took advantage of her position by manipulating the computer system in her office allowing her to avoid paying taxes for well over a decade.”
When she pleaded guilty last month, Gonzales paid $17,000 in back taxes owed to Wilson County.
She was facing a range of punishments, including up to two years in state prison. At Thursday’s hearing, the judge sentenced Gonzales to five years of probation. She was also assessed a $10,000 fine, and was ordered to turn herself in to Wilson County jail Friday to await transport to an Intermediate Sanction Facility. 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Gossett Louis called the facility “a lock-down, prison-like facility” where Gonzales will stay for the next 45 to 120 days.
In addition to the probation, fine and time behind bars, Gonzales will also write an apology letter to the citizens of Wilson County, attend an anti-theft class and perform 100 hours of community service.
Louis, the district attorney, said current Wilson County Tax Assessor Dawn Barnett and attorney Jeffrey Garcia uncovered the abuse by the former tax assessor-collector.
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