Mom's Excuses Backfires — Judge Revokes Probation & Doubles Prison Sentence

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: what have you done on probation other than pick up new cases and i would like to have a second [00:00:05] Amanda Argumetto: chance on probation i was i mean have you done anything no ma'am no okay court is calling 2022 [00:00:12] Speaker 1: cr11474w state of texas versus destiny argumetto could i have parties announced for the record for the state jason gearhead your defense john young and are you mr uh i'm sorry are you miss argumetto yes ma'am yes all right i'm going to show you what's entitled motion to enter adjudication of guilt and revoke community supervision did you review that document with your attorney did you understand it and did you sign it yes are you the same amanda argumetto who is placed on deferred adjudication in 2022 cr11474w for the offense of unauthorized use of a vehicle on december 6 2022 [00:00:54] Speaker 3: for a period of three years is that you yes all right state violated condition number one on or about the 23rd day of march 2023 in bear county texas the defendant amanda army ghetto okay committed the offense of theft 2500 to 30 000 vehicle violation edition number one how do you plead to that true or not true your honor we'll leave their main violated conditions any objections to the waivers what we're [00:01:23] Speaker 1: asking no no any objections to the waivers all right uh miss argumetto did you understand by pleading true to violation of condition number one the court could find it true grant the motion find you guilty sentence you up to two years into the state jail facility and up to ten thousand dollar fine did you understand yes knowing that do you still wish to plead true to violation of condition number one yes court will find violation of condition number one true is there an agreement no there is not your honor state what are you requesting revocation your honor defense what are you requesting your honor [00:01:58] Speaker 4: there was an agreement in that they were going to tic and dismiss the new charge that's correct uh she is requesting the court to allow her to stay on probation i was i can't get around here with four documents their certificates of classes she's been handed while she's been in the uh [00:02:21] Speaker 1: in the jail any objections to the court reviewing this [00:02:33] Speaker 4: okay as we said earlier your honor this young lady had been uh evaluated for competency i was not confident she wants to stay on probation and she what she would like to do is have you put her in outpatient treatment uh at the same time i've advised her that if you do keep her on probation that there is a high probability that there would be residential drug treatment uh as you can see she's taken from anger management classes uh at the aa classes and i don't understand what the other one it looks like it's uh a dignity class for women and i don't know what the basis for that was all right probation [00:03:26] Speaker 5: uh recommendation is to revoke due to the new felony offense and she absconded with non-compliance [00:03:37] Speaker 1: all right um miss agamera is there anything you wish to say yes all right can you raise your right hand for me please do you solemnly swear affirm the testimony you give will be the truth and nothing but the truth so help you god all right you can lower your [00:03:51] Amanda Argumetto: hand if you'll state your name for the record my name is amanda and i would like to um have a second chance on probation i will attend the classes i will go to everything i was still on my my drug problems like then but i am i'm completely done with it the thought of drugs like i do not even want to think of it makes me want to puke like just thinking back and hearing my kids voice my doctor's voice my kid's dad is willing on getting back with me getting the family back together and i just really want to go back to that how old are your children three and four man all right who's taking care of [00:04:28] Speaker 1: them their father all right so were your parental rights terminated no ma'am no so you just dropped [00:04:35] Amanda Argumetto: them off with the father i decided to leave when i was on drugs and yes i was really bad on them but i [00:04:42] Speaker 1: did stop i did stop all right so what have you done on probation other than pick up new cases [00:04:49] Amanda Argumetto: i did not attend because i was like i was i mean have you done anything no ma'am no ma'am okay [00:04:56] Speaker 1: all right is there anything else from either side any other questions not from the state your honor [00:05:03] Speaker 6: all right you have a question [00:05:08] Speaker 4: why should the judge believe that you're going to do what you have said you're going to do and that [00:05:14] Amanda Argumetto: you didn't do last time because i'm really committed to it i'm honestly and i apologize for not going to my probation and everything like i apologize i'm really committed to doing to completing at this time [00:05:28] Speaker 4: and why did the previous attorney have you evaluated for competency [00:05:35] Amanda Argumetto: and i didn't she wasn't we didn't talk about the case right and okay [00:05:43] Speaker 4: and you're not on any medication now in the jail no sir okay [00:05:48] Speaker 1: no other questions your honor all right uh any questions from the state no your honor state what are you requesting i know you're requesting revocation the court is going to grant uh the motion the court is going to find you guilty and the court will not grant you community supervision state how much time [00:06:04] Speaker 3: are you asking for the state was requesting 12 months in the state jail facility defense what are you [00:06:11] Speaker 4: requesting yeah she currently has 116 days in bear county jail on this case and we're asking the court to to grant her a request for six month sentence [00:06:25] Speaker 1: all right if you want at the state jail facility they do have a therapeutic community and that does not increase the time that you have been in custody if i were to sentence you to six months or 12 months or 18 months that will still be your sentence and therapeutic community is just there to help you would you like that yes ma'am all right the court is going to find you guilty the court will sentence you to 18 months in the state jail facility uh ask that you be placed in the therapeutic community you're still going to have to request it do you understand yes give you credit for any time served i'm going to show you what's entitled trial court certification of defendants rights to appeal did you review that with your attorney did you understand it and did you sign it yes all right you do have a limited right to appeal that right to appeal is as it relates to the allegation in the motion not the fact that you were on community supervision do you understand yes all right we can go off the record so miss argumento i always review everything and when you were placed on deferred adjudication and here there were several cases that were taken in consideration and so the only thing that you've done since you were on probation with me was pick up another theft case and you're on probation for unauthorized use you're going to have to make a decision on what you want to do with the rest of your life yes do not when you get out go running to be with your children because at this point in stage you haven't been a mother to them and you can't go running on their doorstep creating chaos and up people if you get your life together you can probably slowly enter their life you understand all right good luck to you okay thank you you're welcome how far did you go in school uh second grade why did you drop out uh sell drugs i'm gonna lie okay i appreciate your honesty and are you mr mccullough yes ma'am stand you're charged with the offense of evading arrest detention second or more as a second degree felony the range of punishment for that offense is anywhere from two to twenty years in prison and up to ten thousand dollar fine did you understand yes ma'am the plea uh the state is proceeding on count one with enhancements punishments be assessed at three years in the prison there's a fifteen hundred dollar fine the state recommends community supervision you are to agree that you've been previously convicted of one or two or more felonies for enhancement there's no application for deferred adjudication did you understand that to be the plea yes ma'am defense yes your state it is your own state's exhibits one and attachments the court will find there's sufficient evidence to find you guilty and the court will find you guilty the court will find the enhancements true based upon your plea of true and based upon states exhibits one and attachments are you proceeding with sentencing [00:09:20] Speaker 7: yes sir anything you wish to say on behalf of your client and my client uh has uh both work and family on the outside um to go to uh after this [00:09:36] Speaker 1: occurrence all right how old are you i'm 30. do you have any children yes ma'am what are their ages 12 and nine who are they with now their mother all right how often have you been using drugs before you [00:09:50] Speaker 7: were placed into custody often yes like uh every other day not that much all right what were you using [00:09:59] Speaker 6: marijuana and what else no xanix all right how far did you go in school uh seventh grade why did you drop out or sell drugs [00:10:14] Speaker 1: i ain't gonna lie okay i appreciate your honesty so you were selling drugs oh yeah in the seventh grade [00:10:22] Speaker 7: i grew up in baltimore maryland watching my mom and so so that's all i mean okay i was so good all [00:10:28] Speaker 1: right and do these tattoos have any gang affiliation associated with them no ma'am i i do i like art and i do tattoos as well so all right so what is the 93 underneath your chin 93 it's a neighborhood i'm from okay and what and what neighborhood would that be indian creek the nines the eye and the threes assume all right and what is this red tattoo on no mercy for the week with a rosary okay [00:10:57] Speaker 6: all right this is what the court is going to do the court is going to sentence you to three years in the prison suspended and probate it for four years there's a 1500 fine that will be probated 200 hours of community service restitution [00:11:28] Speaker 1: 100 hours of those will be waived once you complete parenting classes in probation whichever parenting classes you think are appropriate the remainder of the 100 hours will be waived if you complete uh your ged or some sort of trade school or something to help you better yourself in life you understand yes ma'am i'm going to want to tap evaluation while in custody follow to tap tap recommendations i'm one uh gang evaluation to see if he should be on gang supervision there should be regular reporting by zoom or in person ua hotline upon release and that's until further notice field visits one time per month until further notice and of course if it's gang supervision then however the gang supervises it proof of employment [00:12:45] Speaker 6: within 45 days of release there should be no employment [00:12:49] Speaker 1: as a home health care provider or with minors [00:12:55] Speaker 6: defendant is not allowed to reside in any household with minors and there should be no unsupervised contact with minors uh probation is there anything else he needs [00:13:23] Speaker 1: is there anything else you need from the court to be successful oh ma'am showing you what's entitled trial court certification of defendants rights to appeal did you review that document with your attorney did you understand it and did you sign it yes ma'am because this is a plea bargain agreement because i followed your plea bargain agreement and because you waive your right to appeal you do not have the court's permission to appeal because this is a felony conviction you're not allowed to own or possess any weapons or ammunition if you have a question over what a weapon or ammunition is you'll need to speak to an attorney you understand yes ma'am all right we can go off the record you have two children in this world either you're going to be in their life and be someone that they can look up to or don't be in their life i'm sure everybody in this courtroom can maybe say something that their parent may have done done wrong but at some point in time the life you choose is the life you choose and it's not your parents fault now you told me that your parents sold drugs and that's where you learned it from and you've been selling drugs since seventh grade right you are now in your 30s at some point you got to cut off where you say it's your parents fault for your actions you understand it's my own fault i was addicted to the fast money all right so you got to stop it all right it's math from here on out everything you do you need to ask yourself is if it could result in me going to prison for three years if the answer is yes don't do it if the answer is maybe don't do it if you have anything about anything let probation know if you feel they're not addressing your issue then you can come to the court you understand yes ma'am all right did any of those tattoos face tattoos were any of those painful uh not really and did you do them yourself or someone else [00:15:10] Speaker 8: okay all right good luck the court reviewed the case of theodore joel mccullough who accepted responsibility through a plea agreement the judge carefully explained his rights the agreement and the possible result before accepting the plea after reviewing the case the court gave him a three-year prison sentence that was suspended followed by four years of supervised release he was also ordered to complete community service pay a fine attend parenting classes finish his education or learn a trade and follow several supervision rules during the hearing the judge spoke with him about his past his family and the importance of making better choices the judge encouraged him to focus on his children build a better future and avoid actions that could bring him back to court the hearing ended with a build a reminder to stay on the right path and make positive decisions every day