An investigator with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office was handed a 10-day suspension late last year after using his take-home vehicle to work an off-duty job in Uvalde, discipline records obtained this month by KSAT Investigates show.

Investigator Gustavo “Gus” Trevino was given the suspension in November for violations that also included unapproved working hours, according to records.

Trevino, who forfeited 80 hours of accrued leave time to cover the suspension, separated from the DA’s office July 31, weeks after KSAT began making inquiries into his disciplinary history.

The DA’s office this summer attempted to block the release of Trevino’s discipline record before eventually providing the records in early September after a ruling from the Texas Attorney General’s Office sided with KSAT.

Trevino had worked for the DA’s office for 22 years, county records show.

Records: Trevino worked at Uvalde tire shop without proper approval

An internal investigation late last year determined Trevino in October used a county-owned vehicle for part-time employment that was not related to county business.

Trevino used the take-home vehicle to work at a Uvalde tire shop over parts of two weeks.

Although he got approval Oct. 9 to work the outside job, records show he had already started the work Oct. 8.

Additionally, Trevino continued the outside employment for several days in October after his off-duty employment request had expired, records show.

His discipline paperwork does not state the nature of the work.

The ex-investigator used a county fuel card to fill-up the vehicle five times over a one-week period in San Antonio, Hondo, and Atascosa, records show.

As part of his punishment, Trevino was ordered to go through a 60-day review on knowledge and compliance of certain county policies.

Some county employees are permitted to use take-home vehicles, but they are prohibited from using those vehicles for personal gain, personal business, or to drive to secondary employment not related to county business, records show.

Trevino suspension came months before DA’s acceptance of car allowance was called into question

An attorney familiar with Trevino’s suspension said the investigator was justified in using the vehicle for the time period in question because Trevino was also on-call for a fugitive task force.

Trevino himself told the county it was an accepted practice for investigators in the DA’s office to use their take-home vehicles in the same capacity, records show.

Trevino declined to provide the names of the other investigators who use their vehicle in this manner, according to records.

The attorney called it “rank hypocrisy” for Gonzales to have issued a suspension for the use of a take-home vehicle, now that the DA’s own use of county transportation has been called into question.

Over several weeks, beginning in early March, KSAT Investigates repeatedly captured footage of Gonzales arriving to work at the Bexar County Justice Center while being driven by members of his security detail.

KSAT did not see Gonzales driving himself in his personal vehicle at any point until shortly after we reached out for an interview.

Gonzales did not respond to a request seeking an interview for this story.

Read more reporting on the
KSAT Investigates page
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