Local soldier gets 36 months.

Local soldier gets 36 months in military prison, by Tim Olmeda, Nueces County Record Star, Friday, October 9, 2009.

A Robstown soldier was sentenced to 36 months in a military prison after pleading guilty to various charges that included failure to report to duty and impersonating a commissioned officer.

Pfc. James Gonzalez pled guilty at an October 2 general court martial held at Fort Hood in San Antonio for his disappearance July 11 that the soldier’s family initially claimed was the result of a kidnapping.

The soldier’s brother, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, told authorities that a ransom call was made to his mother’s home demanding $100,000 cash and the removal of all U.S. troops from the U.S./Mexico border.

However, after a lengthy investigation, Gonzalez was found on July 22 and taken into custody in Laredo during a traffic stop. He later confessed to investigators that he fabricated the kidnapping story.