Ecstasy sales results in prison

A Gardnerville man was sentenced Tuesday to three years in Nevada State Prison for drug trafficking.

Kirk Edward Scott, 22, must serve a minimum of 12 months before he is eligible for parole.

"In retrospect, I wish I wouldn't have done it," Scott said. "I crashed my life."

He was arrested by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Street Enforcement Team in August after officers discovered Ecstasy pills, three loaded handguns, Kevlar body armor, a sawed-off rifle and a small amount of marijuana at Scott's home in the 1300 block of Kitty Hawk Avenue.

The Street Enforcement Team conducted a two-week investigation on Scott, who was suspected of Ecstasy distribution. Investigators allegedly purchased 73 pills from Scott at the Kitty Hawk residence.

"You're young and you are going to have the opportunity to do things differently when you get out of prison," Gamble said. "I hope you do that."

Prosecutor Michael McCormick asked that the maximum sentence be four years.

"He made three separate sales, all at trafficking levels," McCormick said. "Three different times he made conscious decisions to sell drugs in this community."

Gamble ordered the forfeiture of a sawed-off shotgun and $260 in marked funds to purchase the drugs.

He set a hearing to determine if other weapons confiscated at the arrest were used in the commission of the crime and may be forfeited.

-- A 48-year-old California man who caused a courtroom disturbance and challenged deputies to fight, striking a sergeant, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in Nevada State Prison.

Jeffrey Wronek is to serve the sentence concurrent to 18 months he received in East Fork Justice Court for stalking, violation of a court order and destruction of property.

"When you're in jail, and an event happens, it's your fault," District Judge Dave Gamble said. "When a person is incarcerated, they lose many liberties. Among those is freedom from coercion."

"I found that out," Wronek said.

He pleaded no contest to assault on a police officer and was given credit for 74 days served in Douglas County Jail. He will finish his sentence at the state prison.

In August, when the stalking victim offered an impact statement during Wronek's sentencing, he interrupted, shouting profanities at East Fork Judge Jim EnEarl, the deputies, the victim and the courtroom audience.

He also tried to overturn the defendant's table before he was returned to jail.

That weekend, a deputy who was monitoring Wronek in a mental health holding cell, observed him peeling paint from the cell floor and hiding the chips under a mat.

Fearful that Wronek - who was under a suicide watch - might ingest the paint chips, the deputy told him to stop.

The inmate reportedly responded with shouts and obscenities.

At that point, Sgt. Robert Duffy responded and said Wronek took on a fighter's stance and challenged him.

He hit Duffy in the right ear with a closed fist and had to be subdued.

-- Probation was revoked Tuesday for a a 29-year-old South Lake Tahoe man who stole a purse from an elderly casino patron in December 2005.

Abel George Soliz admitted several probation violations which included lack of employment and failure to report his residence and complete mandatory substance abuse treatment. He said he was basically homeless and had a difficult time obtaining identification from California so he could find work.

District Judge Dave Gamble refused to reinstate probation and sentenced Soliz to three years in prison with credit for 109 days in custody.

"This started out with you ripping a purse off the shoulder of an older lady," Gamble said. "Like everyone else who has no clue about life, you blame everything on everybody else. Something has to get your attention. This is your fault."

The victim was 74 when Soliz grabbed her purse and ran out of the casino before he was apprehended.

The purse was returned, but later the woman reported an envelope was missing that had contained $8,500.

-- A 22-year-old California man was sentenced Monday to three years probation and ordered to pay his share of nearly $8,000 restitution for his part in vandalizing a limousine.

District Judge Michael Gibbons sentenced Damian Butler to one year in Douglas County Jail which he suspended. He ordered Butler to complete 50 hours of community service and have no contact with the four codefendants.

The suspects admitted they threw rocks and used their feet and fists to bash in a limousine, causing more than $7,600 damage, but said they were so intoxicated they couldn't remember what happened.

Butler pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit destruction of property.

The 2000 Lincoln limousine was damaged in the parking lot of the Round Hill Mall early March 31.

-- The arraignment of convicted child molester James Hope was delayed one more time Monday so he could appear in Carson City District Court to answer similar charges.

Hope, 42, was scheduled last week for an appearance in Carson City where he faces charges dating from a 2001 incident, but was not transported from Douglas County Jail where he has been held without bail since July.

Hope's Douglas County attorney, Derrick Lopez, said another hearing was scheduled Nov. 13 in Carson City so Hope could be present.

A February trial date was set in the 2001 molestation of two Carson City girls.

Judge Todd Russell set a status check hearing for Nov. 13, at which time any plea negotiation that has been made may come to light.

Hope, 43, fled Nevada in 2004 while awaiting trial on five felony charges.

According to investigators, the Carson City assaults occurred in 2001 when the girls were ages 4 and 6. Hope was bound over to District Court in July 2004.

After Douglas County issued a warrant for his arrest on allegations that he'd improperly touched a Minden 10-year-old, he disappeared.

He was captured a year ago in Washington under an assumed name and convicted of felony child molestation in the first degree and gross misdemeanor communicating with a minor for immoral purposes for a separate offense for which he received a life sentence.