Formal charges filed against ex-felon

Formal charges were filed Wednesday against an ex-felon accused of trafficking in methamphetamine and stealing evidence from his own vehicle after it was taken to the county impound yard.

Cody Gene Neubauer, 30, of Gardnerville, is to appear in East Fork Justice Court on Feb. 24 on six felonies and two misdemeanor charges stemming from the alleged sales of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

He is in Douglas County Jail on $80,000 bail.

Charges include:

-- Ex-felon failure to register;

-- Possession of a controlled substance;

-- Possession of a controlled substance for sale;

-- Principal to burglary;

-- Principal to the destruction of evidence;

-- Conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act;

-- Possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription;

-- Trafficking a controlled substance, level 1;

According to reports, a deputy observed Neubauer Feb. 10 in his vehicle in a liquor store parking lot on Langley Drive. The officer said several subjects were around the driver's window and appeared to be handing Neubauer something. Others appeared to be acting as lookouts.

The officer followed Neubauer's vehicle as it left the parking lot and initiated a traffic stop. The deputy contacted another officer who brought his K-9 partner. The dog alerted for suspicion of narcotics, but Neubauer refused to allow officers to search the vehicle which was seized as evidence and towed to the sheriff's office evidence yard.

A records check revealed that Neubauer was not registered as an ex-felon despite at least two felony convictions in 2002.

On Feb. 11, officers arrested Neubauer at his residence in the 1400 block of Kimmerling.

Through a window officers observed drug paraphernalia on a bed, including a scale, glass pipe, plastic bags and a metal box disguised as a book.

The box reportedly contained 38.6 grams of what appeared to be cocaine, three grams of methamphetamine, a tin foil ball containing black tar heroin, two Vicodin prescription pills, glass pipe and scale.

Deputies also located a surveillance camera reportedly taken by Neubauer from his own vehicle after it was seized for evidence and taken to the impound yard. Officers said after Neubauer's Jeep was impounded, he called around trying to locate his vehicle. He and a friend reportedly went to the county's impound yard and returned an hour later with the scale and surveillance camera.

At the jail, deputies confiscated Neubauer's phone which reportedly had multiple text messages from people who wanted to purchase narcotics.

East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl appointed lawyer Kris Brown to represent Neubauer.