BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after cutting off his ankle monitor and violating his probation.
25-year-old Paul Thomas Bleuel Jr., of Beaumont, appeared in court before Judge Raquel West Tuesday morning.
Bleuel is charged with stalking an acquaintance and was indicted in 2018. He was sentenced to probation and was said to be doing good until this year.
Bleuel was required to wear an ankle monitor and ordered to stay in Jefferson County as part of his probation. But in July he cut it off and ran.
Officials immediately notified the victim who lived out of state.
A license plate reader picked up his car and it was headed toward the state where the victim lives.
The ankle monitor was found thrown in the trash at a business in Beaumont.
In court Judge West told Bleuel she was, "extremely concerned about what was going on" when Bleuel cut off his ankle monitor and drove straight to the state where the victim was.
In court Bleuel said that he was found going in a random direction and the judge said more than one license plate reader showed he was going straight to where the victim lived.
"I wish today that I had a higher range of punishment because I want [name of victim] to have a sense of peace," Judge West told Bleuel.
Bleuel will get credit for the time he has been in custody since July of 2023. He must serve 1/3 of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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