FORT WORTH, Texas — Brennan Rodriguez is back in jail nearly ten years after being accused of felony murder for giving a fatal injection of heroin to the grandson of Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, according to court and jail records.
Jail records show that Rodriguez was arrested Thursday, Aug. 15, on a stalking charge. The details of the case are not yet known. He is being held in jail without bond, according to records.
Rodriguez, who is now 33, pleaded guilty to a charge of delivery of a controlled substance that resulted in Ty Pickens' death in 2013. Rodriguez agreed in 2014 to 10 years of deferred adjudication probation in a deal reached with prosecutors.
Rodriguez and Pickens were both TCU students at the time of the incident.
As part of his probation, Rodriguez served four months in jail. Now, he's back in Tarrant County Jail just three months shy of the end of the deferred adjudication period, according to court records.
Deferred adjudication is usually offered to first-time offenders and allows those who plead guilty to avoid a jury trial and conviction. If an offender completes deferred adjudication it can often be sealed from public view.
If an offender violates the terms of deferred adjudication, the district attorney can ask a judge to find the person guilty and sentence them to any term in the statutory range of the original charge.
District Attorney Phil Sorrels filed a petition Friday confirming that Rodriguez violated the terms of his adjudication by committing the offense of stalking. The petition orders Rodriguez to appear before the court and argue why the court should not find him guilty of delivery of a controlled substance.
The District Attorney's office declined to comment on pending cases.
At the time Rodriguez's plea deal was announced, Pickens' family said in a statement that they were grateful prosecutors were able to secure some justice for their son without subjecting the family to a trial.
"The guilty plea today reinforces what we have known all along — our son was not a heroin addict," the statement at the time said. "He was victimized by Brennan Rodriguez."
