A 20-year-old Minden man is set to plead Tuesday to four felony charges in connection with a series of residential burglaries in the Johnson Lane area at Christmas.
Eric Rangel, 20, is charged with three counts of burglary and possession of stolen property.
He waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday and is to appear before District Judge Dave Gamble on Tuesday,
"How did you get so far down the toilet?" asked East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl.
"You have been nothing but a gentleman in this court and you're about to go to District Court and plead guilty to burglary. You seem resigned to it."
Rangel told EnEarl he completed 18 months of college and had enlisted in the service but was sidelined by a back injury.
"I got hooked on pain pills. I was taking meth and cocaine. I want to do my time and straighten myself up," he said.
Rangel's lawyer, Terri Steik Roeser, said her client is facing $177,000 restitution on an unrelated charge in Carson City.
He is in Douglas County Jail on $50,000 bail.
Investigators were lead to Rangel in January by a 57-year-old Johnson Lane woman who had been checking vehicles in shopping center parking lots for her stolen handicap parking sign.
They were led to Rangel's trailer at Silver City RV Park after the victim spotted the permit in Rangel's vehicle at Target.
While she waited for deputies, she saw three people get in the vehicle, so she jumped in her car and followed the trio to the RV park in north Douglas County.
The car had no license plates and a broken tail light, but as it turned out, Rangel had been cited earlier in the day by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who was able to provide telephone numbers and identification.
Many of the stolen items were recovered.
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