Dennis Arguello-Acosta pleaded guilty in the hit-and-run death of Fort Bend County Deputy Kenneth Lewis and received 12 years.

A guilty plea to failure to stop and render aid is the conviction on that count. Twelve years is the term FOX 26 reported he agreed to. It is not a murder plea. The station's Friday account does not say whether the tampering count Houston police announced in March was part of the deal, dismissed, or still open.

FOX 26 Houston reported Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, that Dennis Arguello-Acosta pleaded guilty to failure to stop and render aid in an accident involving death and agreed to a 12-year prison sentence. The station reported it was in court for the hearing. The charge, the station reported, is for the February death of Fort Bend County Deputy Kenneth Lewis, an 11-year deputy. FOX 26's story spells him Dennis in the article and Deniss once in the line that says the station was present. The Houston Police Department's March 20 release spells him Dennis Xavier Arguello-Acosta. Friday's plea and the 12-year term are what FOX 26 reported from the hearing.

What the station reported about the crash is the account Houston police had already given. FOX 26 reported Lewis died two days after he was hit in late February. The station reported Houston police said he was off duty but in uniform at around 3:40 a.m., stopped to help people from a separate crash, and was struck by a third vehicle that left the scene. The Houston Police Department, in a March 20, 2026, release, said the crash was at 13300 Katy Freeway at about 3 a.m. on Feb. 21, that Lewis had gotten out of his vehicle to help two other vehicles from an earlier crash, and that doctors pronounced him dead on Feb. 23. About 3 a.m. is the department's time. Around 3:40 a.m. is FOX 26's. The department identified him as Kenneth Lewis, 51. FOX 26 did not print that age. Both accounts say he had stopped to help and was hit by a vehicle that left.

The March charging papers are broader than the count FOX 26 reported he pleaded to on Friday. The Houston Police Department said he was 22, that he was charged March 19 in the 176th Criminal District Court with failure to stop and render aid in an accident involving death and with tampering with evidence, and that he was booked into the Harris County Jail on March 20. The department said the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety helped identify him. Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan said, "The job of law enforcement is one of service and sacrifice," and, "Deputy Kenneth Lewis was a valiant officer. Acting under the color of law, he paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving his community," the department reported. FOX 26 reported the Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest in March, that a tip reached the FBI and other agencies on March 11, and that he was taken into ICE custody. The age, 22, is the March release. Friday's FOX 26 story did not print an age.

Friday's FOX 26 story reports a guilty plea and a 12-year sentence on the failure-to-stop count. It does not mention the tampering count the department listed in March, and it does not say whether that count was dismissed, included in the 12 years, or left for another day. A plea to leaving the scene of a fatal crash is the count he admitted. It is not a finding that he meant to hit the deputy. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.