Texas Briefly

2 admit fencing more than $1 million in military gear

AUSTIN (AP) — A soldier and an ex-federal employee have pleaded guilty to stealing and selling more than $1 million in military gear taken from a Texas National Guard camp.

Prosecutors said in a statement that National Guard soldier Cristal Avila, 27, of Fort Worth, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Austin to stealing government property. Former federal program analyst Joseph Mora, 35, of Schertz, pleaded guilty in Austin to the same charge Tuesday.

They admitted stealing such military-grade equipment as rifle scopes, infrared laser aiming devices and thermal night-vision goggles from Camp Mabry in Austin and selling it on eBay and by other means.

Both face up to 10 years in federal prison each and have agreed to pay restitution and forfeit profits from the illicit sales. Both remain free on bond pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Ex-Dallas cop appeals murder conviction in neighbor's death

DALLAS (AP) — Attorneys for a white former Dallas police officer have filed an appeal of her murder conviction in the killing of her Black neighbor inside his home.

Amber Guyger is serving a 10-year prison sentence for the September 2018 fatal shooting of Botham Jean. She testified at trial that she mistook his apartment for her own and mistook Jean for an intruder when she entered and shot him.

In papers filed Tuesday with the 5th Texas Court of Appeals, her attorneys argue that the evidence presented at her trial last year was “legally insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Guyger committed murder.” They argue that Guyger had a “reasonable belief” that she was in her own apartment and there was an intruder inside, and that her mistake “negated the culpability of murder because although she intentionally and knowingly caused Jean’s death, she had the right to act in deadly force of self-defense.”