Man arrested in 2020 raid admits meth trafficking

A man arrested in a May 14, 2020, drug raid on a Tahoe vacation rental admitted Tuesday to trafficking and possession of methamphetamine.

Joseph Allan Cudia, 46, faces a combined 3-19 years in prison on the two charges stemming from a February transaction where he sold 103 grams of methamphetamine and had another 88 grams.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, Cudia would face 6-15 years on the trafficking charge and 15-38 months on the possession case and the sentences would run simultaneously. He will not seek either probation or a deferral at his March 22 sentencing. The ultimate sentencing decision is up to the judge. 

Cudia and the other defendants in the case would be responsible for $19,440 in restitution, $2,850 in buy money. 

The address where he was arrested three months later was a vacation rental where he and two other people were living without permission. According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Cudia sold 1.1 pounds of methamphetamine.

Cudia originally denied the charges and a trial was set but canceled after he failed to appear in court in April 2021and his attorney said he hadn’t heard from him. 

He was returned to Douglas custody on a $100,000 warrant at the end of 2021.

• A day of barhopping at Lake Tahoe resulted in a Reno man receiving a seven-year prison sentence for a subsequent felony charge of driving under the influence.

Shawn Nicholas Sulli, 34, faces a minimum of 32 months and a $2,000 fine after appearing in Douglas County District Court on Tuesday.

Sulli was driving on Highway 50 and arguing with his girlfriend over his drinking May 1, 2021. He admitted Tuesday that he’d been drinking when he pulled over into the parking lot of the Target and the argument got heated. That attracted the attention of Douglas County deputies who pulled him over in Indian Hills with a .2 blood alcohol content.

Sulli previously served a prison sentence for a previous felony DUI, which meant he could have received up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors agreed to recommend the minimum 2-5-year sentence. District Judge Tod Young pointed out that Sulli had driven from South Lake Tahoe with a blood alcohol content above the legal limit.

“Me and alcohol can’t co-exist,” Sulli said before sentencing.

“You sound like a nice guy but going to prison didn’t change you, and that’s not acceptable,” Young said. “You cannot threaten the lives of everyone you don’t know because of your conduct.”

• A man who is facing a Feb. 16 trial on multiple drug charges was jailed on Tuesday after he admitted he’d used methamphetamine before coming to court.

James David Hornibrook is denying charges of possession of methamphetamine, LSD and more than an ounce of marijuana.

He was the subject of a bail violation because he was using methamphetamine, but while trying to turn himself in tested positive for COVID.

Because of his diagnosis he wasn’t taken into custody but when Young asked Tuesday whether he would test positive for methamphetamine, he said yes.