Kaleb Mickens pleaded guilty after prosecutors said he drugged and assaulted Sheila Cuevas, then blamed his dog.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in the fatal assault and drugging of his girlfriend, Sheila Cuevas, whose 2023 death he first blamed on his dog, prosecutors said.

Kaleb Mickens, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated assault family violence in Tarrant County, bringing a prison term in a case that prosecutors said showed both a violent private life and a public image built around money, status and influence. The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said Cuevas died Oct. 8, 2023, after the assault. Prosecutors said the case did not end with a murder conviction because proving the exact cause of death carried medical and legal complications.

The sentence was announced after a Monday hearing in a courtroom filled with Cuevas’ relatives and women who prosecutors said had survived abuse by Mickens. Assistant District Attorneys Allenna Bangs and Peter Gieseking prosecuted the case. Cuevas’ family told the court that no sentence could return her to them, but accountability still mattered. Her brother addressed Mickens directly and said, “You deserve this,” according to prosecutors. The hearing placed Cuevas’ death at the center of a broader record of violence against women who had been in relationships with Mickens.

Mickens also received two other sentences tied to separate cases involving different women. Prosecutors said he was sentenced to 20 years on a probation revocation for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and 15 years for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Dallas County. The district attorney’s office said those offenses were also against women with whom he had relationships. The 40-year sentence in Cuevas’ case was the central punishment announced by Tarrant County officials, while the other sentences underscored what prosecutors described as a pattern that had reached beyond one county and one victim.

The case began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Mickens called 911 and reported that Cuevas had been attacked by his dog, Soldier, and was no longer breathing. Animal control took the dog, and Soldier was euthanized. Investigators later determined the animal had nothing to do with Cuevas’ injuries or death. Bangs said Cuevas was found in the couple’s apartment at the foot of the bed with injuries across her body, including a swollen face, a cauliflower ear, puncture wounds and 15 broken ribs. Investigators identified Mickens as the suspect after concluding that the injuries did not match the story he gave authorities.

Prosecutors said they could prove Mickens drugged and brutally assaulted Cuevas, but they faced problems in bringing a murder charge because of medical examiner issues and the need to prove the precise cause of death. That legal gap shaped the final charge. The guilty plea to aggravated assault family violence still carried a long prison term and allowed the case to end without a trial. Authorities have not stated a clear motive for why Mickens drugged and assaulted Cuevas. Prosecutors said the lack of a known motive did not change the evidence that he was responsible for the attack that led to her death.

Before the crime, Mickens had built a following under the name “Cash Cartier.” Prosecutors described him as a prominent figure in IM Academy, a multi-level marketing platform where he recruited young people with claims that they could make thousands of dollars. They said he used a public image of wealth and success to manipulate people with promises and threats. Photos and video from public appearances showed him presenting himself as a mentor and high earner. Prosecutors said his income had reached as much as $20,000 a week at the peak of his success, but had reportedly declined by fall 2023.

The courtroom statements added personal accounts to the official record. Prosecutors said several women described torment, torture, manipulation and sexual assault. Each spoke about survival and about the devastation that Cuevas did not survive. The district attorney’s office thanked Detective Tracy Dixon and the Arlington Police Department, along with prior victims from across the country who came forward. DA Investigator Timothy Pinckney and Victim Advocate Carma Anderson also worked on the case. Those names appeared in the official sentencing announcement, which framed the plea as the result of both police work and survivor testimony.

Cuevas’ family remembered her as kind and bright. A memorial fundraiser described her as an amazing person whose smile and heart lit up rooms. In court, her relatives spoke less about case law than about the empty space left by her death. Prosecutors said the family’s message to Mickens was direct: there could be no justice that brought Sheila back, but there could be outcomes and accountability. That statement became one of the clearest summaries of the hearing and of the limits of a criminal sentence after a death.

The case now stands at sentencing, with Mickens facing decades in state prison. No further trial date was announced after the guilty plea and punishment. Any future action would move through standard post-conviction or prison procedures.

Author note: Last updated 2026-04-30.