Former State Rep. Rene Oliveira,D-Brownsville, pleaded no contest to his 2018 DWI charge in county court in Brownsville this morning.
Oliveira appeared before County-Court-at-Law No. 1 Judge Arturo A. McDonald Jr. alongside attorney Ed Stapleton, where he was advised of his rights before asking to enter his formal plea.
Stapleton told McDonald that his client stipulated the facts of the case. He made note that no evidence of drug use should be included in the records. “Those were rumors,” he said.
McDonald handed Oliveira a 12-month probative sentence. He will be required to take a 12-hour DWI class and seek alcohol and substance abuse treatment. Following the hearing, Oliveira and Stapleton left the courthouse to report to the probation office.
According to The Brownsville Herald archives, a police report indicated that Oliveira left Cobbleheads after having dinner and a few drinks around 10:30 p.m. on April 28. He crashed into a vehicle at a stop light on the 800 block of Boca Chica Boulevard.
The report stated that the woman driving the car told authorities that Oliveira checked if she was ok, told her that he would take care of everything and to contact his insurance. He gave her a business card with only his name and business address.
At his home, Olivera told law enforcement that he did not believe he hit anything, later stating that he must have struck something on the way home.
The officers noted that Oliveira had red, bloodshot eyes, glassy eyes, and dilated pupils.
Oliveira addressed the court following his guilty plea on Friday, thanking the court and the district attorney’s office for their work on the case. He apologized to his family, friends, partners, associates, and others for his “error in judgement”.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz told The Brownsville Herald that it was a “standard DWI case.”
