Drugs for sex leads to probation

A California man who agreed to exchange sex for mushrooms and marijuana received a suspended 12-48 month prison sentence Monday.

According to court documents, Michael John Ballew, 30, was caught in a human trafficking operation conducted by Douglas County Sheriff’s investigators, the Reno Police Department’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking team and the FBI in July 2022. The sting netted nine men over two days in July. While the other men were caught in underage prostitution, Ballew and one other man were cited and released for solicitation for prostitution of an adult.

State Attorney Chelsea Mazza said the text messages between Ballew and the victim indicated there was clear intentions of a “trade” of sexual activities for drugs.

As a condition of the suspended sentence Ballew was taken into custody to complete 45 days in jail and was ordered to not have access to dating sites after his release and all his electronic devices are subject to search and seizure.

• A man who had around two dozen credit cards belonging to other people was sentenced to 12-30 months in prison on Monday.

Jeffrey Alan Williams, 40, was ordered to serve simultaneous terms for possession of credit cards without the card holder’s permission and giving a false ID to law enforcement. He was given credit for 93 days time served.

Williams and Dawn Michelle Kuskie were arrested Oct. 9, 2022, after deputies checked the expired registration on a gray Lexus and discovered that Kuskie had an active warrant from Nevada Parole and Probation.

At that time, Williams got out of the passenger’s seat and tossed his real ID under the car. Upon retrieving it, deputies learned that Williams had a warrant for offenses in Clark County.