Ranchos man faces prison in assault

A Gardnerville Ranchos man faces up to a dozen years in prison after he admitted to felony assault with a deadly weapon and coercion in connection with his Feb. 1 arrest.

Michael Jarrod Jacobsen, 35, admitted he held a knife to the throat of a woman he’d been living with for three months. He then walked her to a liquor store where she managed to escape and contact authorities.

A Special Weapons and Tactics team responded to the Wagon address and tried to talk him out, but ended up having to go in after him. He was arrested after they found him in a crawl space.

Attorney Kris Brown asked Judge Tom Gregory to lower his bail from $50,000 to $10,000, but the request was denied.

Jacobsen has a history of felonies and was most recently convicted of burglary in Carson City. He also has a felony domestic battery by strangulation from Carson City from 2014.

He was last paroled in May 2020. 

• A California woman was sentenced to up to four years in prison Tuesday after admitting to possession of three credit cards without the owner’s permission. 

Shunda Catalano, 42, was arrested in Stateline after deputies spotted a U-Haul she and a man had been living in that had been reported embezzled in Fresno. 

She received credit for 102 days in Douglas County Jail. 

• A Dayton man arrested May 21, 2021, in an underage prostitution sting admitted the charge on Tuesday in Douglas County District Court. 

James Ryen Markwardt-Abrigo, 29, entered guilty pleas to two counts of sexual conduct and sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of a child less than 16 years old.

In the May sting, Markwardt-Abrigo contacted an officer who was posing as a child with a computer and social media or a networking system in an attempt to draw her to an address to conduct in sexual activities.  

According to the reports, Markwardt-Abrigo also requested that the officer send him pictures of her naked body. 

He will be sentenced May 24 after undergoing an evaluation report of reoffending.

• A Reno woman, who claimed she doesn’t take the drugs she sells, received eight years in prison Tuesday. 

Rebecca Diane Frawley, 36, admitted to selling at least 200 pills laced with Fentanyl. Trafficking in 100-400 grams of Fentanyl carries a mandatory minimum two-year sentence and maximum $100,000 fine.  

“She’s not a drug addict, she’s a drug dealer and she’s selling one of the most dangerous drugs out there,” said prosecutor Matthew Johnson. “This court needs to send a message to the people who deal drugs, and this case needs to be taken very seriously.” 

Frawley was arrested Aug. 26, 2021, after K-9 Bane alerted the Mercedes she was driving during a traffic stop on Highway 395. 

Deputies found the drugs concealed in a pink bag.  

“I don’t think drug salespeople, dealers, drug pushers, or whatever you want to call them, listen to a message, but when they get caught, they do,” said District Court Judge Tod Young. “You sold 200 pills of death, for your own benefit and for that you’re being punished.” 

She received 96 months in prison and given 103 days credit.

• A man faces up to 20 years in prison after he admitted Tuesday to transporting 6.38 ounces of methamphetamine. 

Christopher George Zahradnik, 37, will have been in custody for nearly a year when he is sentenced on May 10.

Zahradnik admitted charges of trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription. 

He has been in custody since his May 20, 2021, arrest after K9 Riko sniffed out the methamphetamine.

• A 27-year-old Lake Tahoe man is facing up to 40 years in prison and $120,000 in fines after he admitted to several felony drug counts.

Keenon Albert Tavares admitted Monday to two counts of high-level possession of a controlled substance and two counts of sales of a controlled substance.

Tavares allegedly sold 30.1 grams of cocaine on April 22, 2021, and 30.6 grams of MDMA on April 28, 2021. The two high-level possession charges were for possession of 10.3 ounces of cocaine.

Tavares will have to pay back $124,750 in buy money.

His sentencing was set for June 20 at the request of defense attorney Richard Davies, who said Tavares is undergoing counseling and hopes to have the full restitution.

• A 37-year-old Gardnerville woman admitted one count of possession of methamphetamine for sale.

Tarrah Nicole Kizer faces up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine at her May 9 sentencing. She is free on $10,000 bail.