On February 12, 2014, a Montgomery County jury found Frelin Armando Romero guilty of the felony offense of Aggravated Robbery and assessed his punishment at 60 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Institutional Division. The trial took place in the 435th District Court, Judge Michael T. Seiler presiding.
On the morning of October 10, 2012, Mitch Wilkins, owner of Wilkins Jewelry in Conroe, had just opened his store when a Hispanic male and Hispanic female entered and asked to look at some items. Wilkins’ mother, Shirley Wilkins, was assisting them when the defendant, Frelin Romero, entered and approached Wilkins about cleaning a ring. As Mitch turned around to clean the ring, Romero jumped over the counter and stuck a gun in Mitch’s face. A struggle ensued between Wilkins and Romero. During the struggle, Romero attempted to shoot Wilkins two separate times. Meanwhile, the Hispanic male and female held a gun to Mrs. Wilkins during the struggle now allowing her to assist Mitch. After striking Mitch in the head with the firearm several times, Romero finally dropped the gun and the three robbers fled the store in separate directions.
The female, Kenia Vasquez, was immediately captured by the Conroe Police Department with the assistance of an eye witness. Shortly after, two Montgomery County Precinct 2 Constables found Romero hiding in some brush in an empty field not far from the Jewelry Store. The other Hispanic male was never captured by police and his identity remains unknown. Romero was charged with two counts of Aggravated Robbery, a First Degree Felony, which carried a range of punishment of a minimum 5 years up to 99 years or life in prison.
This was not Romero’s first Aggravated Robbery offense. During the analysis of the DNA evidence in this case, it was discovered that Romero’s DNA profile matched a blood stain found on a victim of an unsolved 2009 Aggravated Robbery in Dickinson, Texas. In that case, three Hispanic males entered a Pawn Shop, tied up all the employees and customers, and stole over $200,000 in guns, merchandise, and money. The Jury heard the details of that offense in the Punishment Phase of this trial. The Jury also learned that Romero was an illegal alien who had been deported at least three times. He had two prior Federal convictions for the felony offense of “Re-Entry of a Deported Alien,” one in the State of Texas and the other in the State of Pennsylvania.
Tyler Dunman (Trial Prosecutor): “Some people come to this Country to have a better life and others come to this Country to commit violent crimes. Frelin Romero chose the latter and he will now face the consequences. Montgomery County, and frankly the entire Country, is safer now that this illegal alien has been sent to prison. Law enforcement did a great job capturing this individual before he disappeared back into the darkness.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUPb9xhoog
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