A Tarrant County jury has found 60-year-old Edward Ponpa Garza guilty of failure to comply with annually registering as a sex offender and sentenced him to 28 years in prison.
The conviction stems from a case filed on October 13, 2023, by a Fort Worth Police officer. Garza had reportedly not registered as a sex offender since 2020, despite being required to do so annually for the rest of his life. This lifetime registration requirement was mandated due to his 1984 conviction for aggravated kidnapping, with intent to sexually violate or abuse the victim.
The case was prosecuted by David Elder and Tad Schmidt of the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, with DA investigator Patrick Knotts assisting. The Fort Worth Police Department's Sex Offender Registration & Tracking Unit also worked on the case.
