Stateline man admits selling heroin

Staff Reports

A Stateline man faces up to six years in prison and a $50,000 fine after he admitted to being a drug dealer.

Howard Smalley, 54, pleaded guilty on one count of trafficking in a controlled substance and faces sentencing on Oct. 17.

"I sold heroin and cocaine," he told District Judge Dave Gamble.

Smalley's attorney, Tod Young, asked Gamble to release Smalley, an admitted heroin addict, on his own recognizance.

Smalley had been out of custody since his arrest, but was put back in jail after he tested positive for drugs. He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Young said Smalley had all his possessions in his apartment and wanted to put them in order should he be sent to prison on the charge.

Prosecutor Mark Jackson opposed the change in bail and Gamble agreed.

n A South Lake Tahoe woman admitted on Monday she sold methamphetamine in a Stateline hotel room.

Jamaica Marie Whitlow, 25, is being held in Douglas County jail on two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance after she was arrested June 9 with 27 grams of methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Whitlow and an accomplice were arrested inside a room at the Lakeside Inn.

On Monday she told District Judge Mike Gibbons she understood that she faced up to six years in prison on each count.

n A Gardnerville man was sentenced to 12-36 months in Nevada State Prison for grand larceny of a motor vehicle.

James Matlean, 19, was in custody after failing a regimental boot camp.

Attorney Terri Roeser asked that her client be placed on probation after listing the difficulties Matlean had in boot camp.

She said the camp would not dispense the medication he had been taking because he'd heard voices. Roeser said Matlean was put in the mental health section while the camp evaluated him for a change in medication.

Matlean said it took him several years to see that the way he was living was not going to get him anywhere.

District Judge Dave Gamble said he hoped what Matlean was saying was true.

"I hope this is the last time you're standing in front of someone like me," Gamble said before pronouncing sentence.

Matlean and co-defendant Ross Perusse admitted stealing a 2002 Chevrolet S10 pickup from Mort's Autobody on July 4, 2005, driving it to Carson City and Sacramento and returning it to the Gardnerville Ranchos sandpits where they shot at it and tried to set it on fire.

n A Gardnerville man received a suspended 12-36-month prison term and ordered to pay $2,125 in a forged check scam that targeted the Washoe Tribe.

Maleek C. Robertson was ordered to drug court and to abstain from alcohol for the duration of his probation.

"This is your one chance," District Judge Dave Gamble told Robertson. "If you want to go back to prison, drink a beer."

Matthew Ence, Robertson's attorney, told Gamble that his client had a place to stay and work if he were given probation.

"The better justice would be to have him at liberty to pay restitution," Ence said.

Gamble pointed out that Robertson had just ended a prison sentence in February 2004.

"When Joreen George presented you with the opportunity to make some money by stealing from the tribe you took it," he said. "Try and think of a reason why I should give you a chance."

Robertson replied that he was ready to make a change in his life.

"I'm tired of living the way I've been living," he said.

n A $10,000 bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Unyque M. Alley, 26, of Oakland, after she failed to appear in Douglas County District Court for sentencing.

Alley's attorney, Tod Young, attempted to get a continuance when he found his client was not in court.

Alley was arrested in May after she tried to purchase a juicer at Bed, Bath and Beyond with forged traveler's checks.

n A California man who said he was just looking for a cigarette when he tried several car doors in a Stateline casino parking garage faces up to four years in prison for attempted grand theft.

Kevin R. Burnie, 33, of South Lake Tahoe, told District Judge Dave Gamble that he got drunk and kept trying car doors on Aug. 10 until he found an open one. He got inside the open car and looked around.

He was detained by casino security. Burnie admitted going inside the car, which he said didn't have any cigarettes. He faces a charge of attempted grand larceny and may be sentenced either to a felony or a gross misdemeanor. He was ordered to return to court on Oct. 10 for sentencing.

n A Sacramento man who said he paid $5 for a fake $100 bill earned 60 days in the Douglas County jail for passing the counterfeit bill at a Stateline casino.

Dushone L. Whitaker, 32, told District Judge Dave Gamble that he didn't intend on spending the fake bill at the casino.

However, Gamble said he had trouble believing that Whitaker didn't intend to spend the bill.

"I'm not magic and I can't always tell when someone is telling me the truth, but I can tell when they are lying to me," he said. "I don't know how many times you lied about it, but I know you lied."

Defense attorney Terri Roeser told Gamble she advised her client that the judge would want to know what really happened.

"I can tell you that I told him that you would have a bigger problem with the untruthfulness than the crime," she said. "The gain in this case is essentially $10 that he spent on a couple of beers. He never denied he had it or that he passed it at the casino."

Another man caught with a fake $100 bill carrying the same serial number had earlier been sentenced to nine months in jail, according to prosecutor Dina Salvucci.

"I've been looking for a reason why this defendant should be treated differently than the other defendant," she said. "I believe this case deserves active jail time."

Gamble allowed Whitaker to wait until the end of the day to report to the jail.