Garza Gets 5.5 Years for Jailhouse Witness Bribe

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA – Richard Garza, a 61-year-old man from Edinburg, Texas, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced for a brazen attempt to obstruct justice from inside the Saline County Jail. U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr announced the 66-month sentence handed down by Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard on June 12, 2024. Forget parole – in the federal system, Garza will serve every single day.

The conviction stemmed from a jury trial back in October 2023, where evidence laid bare Garza’s scheme to buy a false testimony. While both he and a potential witness were locked up in Saline County Jail, Garza leveraged a jail text messaging system and a willing accomplice on the outside. He had a relative funnel money onto the witness’s messaging account, and routinely purchased commissary items – food, clothes, the usual jail comforts – all at the witness’s request. The goal? To get the witness to swear that government witnesses were lying about their interactions with Garza.

But the scheme fell apart. The witness, ultimately unable to fabricate the desired testimony, admitted she had no independent knowledge of any dealings between Garza and the other witnesses. She couldn’t lie for him, and the jury saw right through it. Garza wasn’t just trying to manipulate the system; he was trying to rewrite reality from a jail cell. A clear demonstration of desperation.

This wasn’t Garza’s only legal trouble. He was also facing charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, alongside a separate count of witness tampering. While he beat the second tampering charge, and the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on the drug conspiracy, the initial witness tampering conviction proved enough to land him a lengthy prison term. The conspiracy charge was eventually dismissed by the prosecution.

The investigation, led by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force and the Saline County Sheriff’s Department, revealed a calculated effort to undermine the legal process. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was a deliberate, planned attempt to influence a trial through intimidation and bribery. Garza will now have three years of supervised release to look forward to after serving his time, but it’s a small consolation after a failed attempt to game the system.

This case serves as a stark reminder that attempting to obstruct justice, even from behind bars, carries severe consequences. Federal authorities are committed to prosecuting those who tamper with witnesses and undermine the integrity of the legal system, no matter where they operate. Garza’s sentence sends a clear message: you can’t buy your way out of justice.