Minden meth traffickers head to prison

MINDEN - Two convicted drug traffickers received prison sentences Monday.

The men were arrested in May for selling methamphetamine in Douglas County.

Marvin Allan, 54, of Minden will serve three to 10 years in prison, and Christopher Moreno, 20, also of Minden, will serve four to 12 years.

Moreno received an additional sentence Tuesday in district court for felony grand theft. The sentence of 12 to 48 months is to be served concurrently with Monday's sentence.

"If you don't let the system change you, you're going to keep coming before judges like me," said District Court Judge David Gamble told him Tuesday.

Moreno told Gamble he was a man and wanted to take responsibility for his actions, but had nothing to say to District Court Judge Michael Gibbons before his Monday sentencing.

Allan told Gibbons he was ready to stop his nearly lifetime addiction to methamphetamine.

"I want to get over this addiction," Allan said. "I get high, and I don't even know that I'm high. I'm not that old that I can't get myself straight."

Allan's sentence was doubled because he sold methamphetamine within $1,000 feet of a school. Allan has had a long-term addiction and sold to support his habit, according to his attorney Kevin Walsh.

Moreno said at his arraignment he sold only for the money. Statements in court Monday by Douglas County Deputy District Attorney Mark Jackson indicate Moreno made between $60,000 to $70,000 a year.

Jackson sought the maximum sentence for both men, arguing that Moreno was a high school dropout with no employable skills, sent to drug court for grand theft, then kicked out after having warrants issued repeatedly for failing to appear.

Jackson said Moreno continued to sell meth after finding out his fiancee was pregnant, and that his sister delivered a stillborn baby due to her meth use.

He said Moreno has an extensive juvenile history and a lengthy criminal history as an adult. But Jackson said there was hope for Moreno because he was only 20, whereas he did not have a hopeful outlook for Allan.

Walsh said his client was raised in more than 20 foster homes and started doing meth before being dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army. "In fact, he said it was a good thing he got arrested on these charges."