Man armed at the beach gets six months in jail

A 19-year-old Reno man, who prompted the evacuation of a Lake Tahoe beach on July 15 after drawing a firearm and putting it in a woman’s face, received 180 days in jail as a condition of probation on Tuesday.

Mahkai Taham Gonzales was remanded into custody after his sentencing hearing. Part of a plea negotiation was that Gonzales admit to a charge of domestic battery in Tahoe Township Justice Court on Tuesday afternoon. Under the agreement, Gonzales would receive a suspended 12-30-month sentence.

Attorney Max Stovall said that while his client was technically an adult, he was very immature, though that has changed as the implications of the charges set in.

“This has been a real wake-up call for him,” Stovall said. “He screwed up and he knows that.”

According to Gonzales he went to the beach with the woman and another person. He told the judge that the driver took the handgun out of the glove box and handed it to him. He said it was unloaded. At some point, after he’d been drinking alcohol, he knocked the woman down and pointed the gun at her face.

Prosecutor Jim Sibley said one of the reasons for the plea agreement was that the woman refused to cooperate with authorities.

He asked for 364 days jail time in addition to the suspended sentence.

District Judge Tod Young gave him a suspended 19-48-month sentence and ordered him to spend 180 days in jail, saying that the crime called for some incarceration.

• A man who was arrested with credit cards belonging to 13 different people received 12-30 months in prison on Tuesday.

Christopher James Revelino, 40, admitted to a charge of attempted possession of a credit card without the owner’s permission.

The charge could have been treated as a gross misdemeanor but Revelino’s prior record weighed in the decision to treat it as a felony.

“I’ve never been incarcerated for long,” Revelino said. “It’s been an eye opener.”

Revelino was given credit for 250 days time served, though he’s been in custody for 370, between his time in Douglas County and California where he was on parole.

He said that he received 26 months probation in California that will begin when he’s sentenced in Douglas.

Revelino had to be extradited twice back to Douglas County on the charges stemming from a Jan. 14. He was ordered to pay $617.50 restitution.

• A 54-year-old man was ordered to treatment after he received concurrent suspended 1-3-year sentences on Tuesday.

“I apologize for the issues I’ve caused, but I don’t want to be in trouble anymore,” said Travis Keith Kluever.

“That’s a conclusion you should have reached 12 years ago,” District Judge Tod Young replied.

Kluever was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and a pipe on Highway 88 on Aug. 6. Around a week later, an altercation in the jail led to his being charged with the battery.

He will appear in Western Nevada Regional Drug Court on Monday, where he will be sent to Community Counseling Center where he has a bed waiting for him.

• A drug test was sufficient to solve the mystery of why a California man kept coming to court late.

Kurt Gunther Buttstadt was late for his sentencing on Tuesday, after being late for his arraignment on Sept. 19.

He told the judge he was working Door Dash until 2 a.m. that morning.

Buttstadt said the last time he was tested was at his April 23 arrest, so District Judge Tod Young ordered him to take a test that revealed he has opiates, amphetamine and marijuana in his system.

Young said he couldn’t sentence Buttstadt until the drugs were out of his system and ordered him taken into custody for contempt until Nov. 28.

He admitted charges of possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl and faces up to a suspended 1-4-year sentence. While the judge is required to place him on probation, Buttstadt could face up to 364 days in jail as a condition.