A jury that convicted Jose Luis Diaz for DWI with three prior convictions was followed by the trial judge issuing a 12 year prison sentence.
Prosecutors say Diaz’s blood alcohol level was one and a half times the legal limit at .120.
His arrest in May 2024 was the result of Bryan police officers spotted Diaz speeding and failing to turn on his traffic signal at least 100 feet before turning.
Online court records shows two prior felony and ten prior misdemeanor convictions for crimes that go back to July of 2006, in sentences ranging from 70 days in the county jail to ten years in prison.
And Diaz still has two pending trials on misdemeanor charges of driving with an invalid license that took place in 2024 and 2025.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
A Brazos County jury in the 272nd District Court has convicted Jose Luis Diaz of Driving While Intoxicated, 3rd or More. Following the trial, Judge John Brick sentenced Diaz to 12 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
On May 17, 2024 at approximately 2:24 AM, Bryan Police Officers Adam West and Jared Watkins spotted a silver Camaro speeding down the 1000 block of Verde Drive. The vehicle turned into an apartment complex without using a turn signal within 100 feet. When officers pulled the vehicle over, officers pulled the vehicle over, officers immediately noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Diaz’s breath, along with slurred speech and glassy, bloodshot eyes. Diaz claimed he had not been drinking and was only driving because he had taken an Uber to pick up his intoxicated passenger. However, he failed multiple Standard Field Sobriety Tests. Diaz later admitted to officers that if he took a breath test, he “would not blow all 0’s”. His BAC was later discovered to be 0.12 four hours after the traffic stop.
Diaz has an extensive criminal history: In 2014, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver 4-200 grams. Diaz had three prior convictions in Brazos County, the most recent of which was in January 2024, just four months prior to his arrest. His record includes two prior convictions for Collision Involving Damage. In January 2026, while awaiting trial for his felony DWI, Diaz also brutally assaulted another inmate in the jail.
Statement from Brazos County assistant district attorneys Jordan Jordan and Mark Stahman: “Jose Diaz put our community at risk by driving drunk just four months after a third DWI conviction. This sentence sends a clear message that Brazos County will not tolerate repeat offenders who make our local highways dangerous.”