A Topaz Ranch Estates man with a criminal history that includes involuntary manslaughter and statutory sexual seduction was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for possession of a controlled substance.
District Judge Michael Gibbons said Brian Ramsell, 42, must serve 12 months before he is eligible for parole. He gave Ramsell credit for 232 days in custody.
Ramsell pleaded guilty last August to the charge of possession of a controlled substance.
He was arrested July 22, 2005, at the home he shared with his mother prior to her death in February.
Ramsell wept Monday as he read a statement to the judge, referring to himself as a "mama's boy."
He called her death "losing my best friend."
"I feel her spirit cradling me when I walk into my cell," he said.
Lawyer Tod Young asked Gibbons if Ramsell could be sent to an in-patient treatment program called Crossroads.
Because of his criminal history and several infractions, Ramsell was terminated from the Western Nevada Regional Drug Court.
Ramsell served eight years in prison for the sexual seduction of two minors in the early 1990s.
He went back to prison in 2003 for involuntary manslaughter for injecting an acquaintance with a fatal dose of heroin.
Young said Ramsell had been incarcerated for 100 days in Douglas County Jail without any write-ups.
He said Ramsell provided information to deputies last week when he learned of an inmate's threat to batter and sexually assault a female deputy at the Douglas County Jail.
"His information may have avoided harm to this deputy," Young said.
He also said Ramsell told the deputy who arrested him in August where hypodermics were located so the officer would not be stuck with a needle.
"He cares," Young said.
He said Ramsell's relationship with his mother would be best described as "co-dependent."
"He can't have a conversation without bringing her name up," Young said.
Young also said Ramsell's fiancée, pastor and 12-step sponsor were in court Monday to lend support.
"He's not a beast, he's not inhumane, he's not worthless," Young said. "He asks for one more attempt at redemption.
"Now that his mother is not here, maybe he does have to grow up."
Ramsell said he could see no better way to honor his mother's memory than to believe him himself.
Gibbons said he believed Ramsell was sincere, but he could not grant him probation.
"You've left victims in your wake," Gibbons said. "I know your connection with your mother is strong, but the victims in your past are still there. My first priority is protection of the public.
"When somebody else died, your life should have been committed from that point. That was the second time around. What about the young girls from prior cases?
"You're not a good candidate for probation. Anybody who looks at it would have to agree. You could prove us all wrong," Gibbons said.
