David was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Tom and Lidia Lindenmuth. His father was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and his mother was born and raised in a small village in Paraguay before immigrating to the United States. David has always been proud of his mixed Paraguayan, German, and Polish heritage. Tom and Lidia met in San Antonio, Texas, while his father was stationed at Fort Sam Houston as a combat medic. They married after Tom returned from a deployment to the DMZ in Korea, during the Vietnam War.  Tom and Lidia moved with David to McAllen, Texas when he was three years old, and the family has made their home here ever since.

 

David’s mother treasured the promise and opportunity of the United States, given that in her native Paraguay, she was only able to get an 8th grade education. Her passion for education pushed her husband Tom to go to college and law school after he left the Army, and caused David to excel in school, which he did, graduating in the top 25 of the first graduating class of McAllen Nikki Rowe High School in 1994.

 

David then attended the prestigious Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Management in 1998. While at Trinity, David walked on the baseball team and was a founding father of the Phi Sigma Chi fraternity. He then followed in his father’s footsteps and decided to become an attorney, attending his father’s alma mater, St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he was elected by his classmates to be a Senator for the Student Government.  David obtained his J.D. in 2001 and became an Assistant District Attorney in Jefferson, County, Texas the same year, prosecuting state crimes in Beaumont, Texas for 10 years.

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In 2011, under President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, David was hired as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.  David was hired to prosecute federal crimes on the U.S. and Mexican border.  While doing so, he carried one of the largest caseloads in his division, if not the country. David handled cases in McAllen, Brownsville and Houston, Texas in his time as a federal prosecutor. While a federal prosecutor, David received multiple awards for his work, and received a commendation from the Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, for one of his cases.

 

After 22 years of criminal litigation as a prosecutor, in 2023 David decided that it was time to once again follow in his father’s footsteps. Tom Lindenmuth was the Asst. Federal Public Defender in Charge of McAllen for nearly 30 years, and was the founding attorney of the McAllen Division. While in that position, Tom developed a reputation as an excellent trial attorney, and one of very few criminal defense attorneys who could beat the Government in trial on a regular basis.  Tom was known for fearless and passionate advocacy, and David can still remember the days from his youth when his father prepared for trial on his yellow notepads all hours of the night, getting ready to fight on their behalf.  David left the Government to provide the same service to the community that his father did for 30 years; passionate, fierce and capable criminal defense.