Val Verde County burglary defendant gets 10 years after 2022 UPS shed theft

A Val Verde County jury case that began with a cut chain at a UPS storage shed ended with Benjamin Lopez sentenced to 10 years in prison, a punishment that prosecutors said reflects how seriously repeat theft cases are being treated in Del Rio and across the county.

Lopez, 57, was sentenced April 13, 2026, in the 63rd District Court after a jury found him guilty of burglary of a building. The 63rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said the case stemmed from June 26, 2022, when Lopez was caught trying to steal items from the shed by cutting through the chain used to secure entry.

The evidence at trial was not limited to the broken lock. A 911 caller saw the crime unfold and later testified at Lopez’s November 2025 trial. Officers who responded said they found bolt cutters, stolen items and gloves inside Lopez’s truck, and noted that the license plate had been taped over. Prosecutors said that combination of eyewitness testimony, physical evidence and police documentation showed a deliberate burglary, not an isolated lapse.

The district attorney’s office also said Lopez had 11 prior convictions, including eight felonies in multiple Texas counties, all tied to theft-related offenses. That criminal history mattered because Texas law generally treats burglary of a building other than a habitation as a state jail felony, but repeat-offender rules can raise punishment ranges when a defendant has prior felony convictions. In this case, prosecutors used that history to push the case into enhanced-felony territory.

The path to sentencing was unusually long. Lopez’s attorneys filed pre-trial motions, he later chose to represent himself with standby attorneys, and the proceedings included a competency evaluation and a separate competency jury trial before the final punishment phase. Lopez testified on his own behalf, admitted to the burglary and admitted to his prior convictions. After that testimony, jurors unanimously found him guilty.

A separate April 1, 2026, report described Lopez as a Del Rio veteran and raised concerns about self-representation. The case also drew attention because Val Verde County is a relatively small border county, with a 2020 Census population of 47,586 and Del Rio as the county seat, where a long-running theft case can reverberate quickly through the courthouse and community.

For prosecutors, the sentence was a statement that property crimes backed by repeat felony history can still draw serious prison time in Val Verde County. For residents, the case shows how a paper trail of eyewitness testimony, police evidence and prior convictions can carry a burglary case from a 2022 arrest to a 2026 prison term.