A 41-year-old La Porte man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated with three or more prior convictions, capping a case that began when police found him asleep behind the wheel of a pickup truck stalled in the northbound lanes of Loop 337 in New Braunfels. Brian Cooper's blood-alcohol level came back at 0.182 grams per 100 milliliters of blood, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, and his truck rolled forward and struck a parked police vehicle after officers roused him.
Judge Gary Steel of the 274th District Court handed down the sentence on August 20 after Cooper chose to let the judge, rather than a jury, determine his punishment, according to the Comal County Criminal District Attorney's Office. As reported by the San Antonio Express-News, Cooper's case marked his seventh DWI conviction, according to Comal County officials, though the district attorney's office says the October 29, 2024 arrest was his tenth career DWI arrest overall, including six prior convictions out of Harris County.
A Stalled Truck With Two Dogs Inside
Police found Cooper asleep behind the wheel of a pickup truck towing a travel trailer with two dogs inside, stopped in the northbound traffic lanes of Loop 337 at East Common Street. Officers woke him by knocking on his truck window, and as he got out, he staggered and smelled of alcohol. His truck then rolled forward and struck a parked police vehicle in front of it, per the district attorney's office.
Officers recovered vodka and an alcoholic energy drink inside the truck. Cooper told them he had driven from his home in La Porte, more than 180 miles east in Harris County, and intended to stay in the New Braunfels area for about a month. A warrant-obtained blood test later showed his blood-alcohol level at 0.182, and the report notes Cooper was uncooperative and had to be restrained during the blood draw.
Habitual Offender Enhancement Tripled the Stakes
At the time of his arrest, Cooper was on active parole and had previously served separate state prison terms of two years and four years for earlier offenses, the district attorney's office says. That record allowed prosecutors to pursue punishment as a habitual offender, transforming what would ordinarily be a third-degree felony DWI carrying two to 10 years behind bars into a far steeper penalty range.
Under Texas Penal Code Section 12.42(d), a defendant convicted of a third-degree felony with two prior sequential felony convictions faces an enhanced range of 25 to 99 years or life in prison, according to the L&L Law Group. Texas law also imposes no look-back time limit on prior DWI convictions, meaning prosecutors can count offenses no matter how many years have passed, per the Law Office of Kyle Whitaker.
Prosecutors Argued Chances Had Run Out
The case was prosecuted by Chief Felony Attorney Daniel Floyd, Assistant District Attorney Pawan Singh, and 3L Bar Card Prosecutor Kyra Swartz, who argued during closing statements that Cooper had exhausted all prior chances for reform, according to the district attorney's office. Cooper's active parole status at the time of his arrest meant an additional layer of legal exposure beyond the new felony charge itself.
The sentence fits a pattern in Comal County, where judges and prosecutors have repeatedly handed down stiff terms for repeat felony DWI offenders. In April, a 50-year-old San Antonio man was sentenced to 25 years for his fourth DWI after a drive-thru arrest, and Hoodline has separately reported on tough sentencing trends tied to recent New Braunfels crime coverage.
Impaired Driving Remains a Statewide Problem
The case lands amid sobering statewide numbers. Texas Department of Transportation data shows impaired driving crashes caused 1,254 traffic fatalities across the state in 2025, averaging more than three deaths per day. New Braunfels itself sits along the busy Interstate 35 corridor, and the city's police department reported that overall crime declined in 2025 even as its population grew to an estimated 122,492 residents.
Cooper's defense strategy of letting a judge rather than a jury decide his punishment did not spare him the maximum weight of the habitual offender enhancement. Whether Cooper's parole in Harris County will be formally revoked as a result of the new conviction, and whether his defense team will challenge the sequence of prior felonies used to enhance his sentence, remain open questions for now.
