Cocaine trafficker gets 13-year prison sentence

A 31-year-old South Lake Tahoe resident was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in Nevada State Prison for two sales of cocaine to a confidential informant.

District Judge Dave Gamble told Enrique Rojas-Guzman he must serve a minimum of 35 months before he is eligible for parole.

"I'd like to say I am sorry for everything that happened and everything I've done," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "I'd like to go back and never return to this country again."

Gamble told Rojas-Guzman, who entered the country illegally, that he probably would be deported.

The defendant, who has served 195 days in jail since his arrest Oct. 11, 2006, at a Stateline casino parking lot, sold more than 28 grams of cocaine in two transactions.

According to reports, as officers closed in on Rojas-Guzman, he ran, throwing $1,700 in cash and bindles of cocaine as he fled.

Gamble also ordered Rojas-Guzman to forfeit $7,467 in cash and pay a $5,000 fine.

Lawyer David Houston said his client hoped to take advantage of substance abuse programs in prison.

"He wants to get the underlying problem of addiction cleaned up," Houston said. "He knows he has to pay the price."

-- A 42-year-old Gardnerville man who admitted breaking into his elderly neighbor's residence while she was visiting her husband in a nursing home was sentenced Tuesday to four years in Nevada State Prison.

"This is about as mean a crime as I can think of," District Judge Dave Gamble told Scott David Crapo.

Crapo also was ordered to pay $7,000 restitution.

The 74-year-old victim told Gamble she no longer felt safe in her home.

"What about me?" she asked the judge. "I feel like I've been raped. My privacy has been taken from me. How can you give me confidence of my safety in my own home?"

Crapo, who has no prior felony, apologized to the woman.

"I am very, very sorry," he said. "If given a chance I will live a drug-free life and pay her back."

The break-ins occurred while the victim was visiting her husband.

"This was premeditated," said prosecutor Kris Brown. "He kept track of her schedule and entered her house twice. Her personal items have been recovered, but it could have been a devastating loss."

According to lawyer Derrick Lopez, Crapo committed the offenses under the influence of methamphetamine.

Gamble said he doesn't usually send first-offenders to prison, but he believed Crapo already had received a significant break because the penalty was not enhanced due to the victim's age.

-- A long-time employee of Scotty's Hardware at Stateline who admitted stealing from the store was sentenced Tuesday to five years probation and ordered to pay $10,000 restitution.

Ryan Armstrong, whose family owned the store, said Randy Wayne Carter, 58, had been a valued employee for 10 years.

"We trusted him and gave him a lot of responsibility," Armstrong said. "It's real hard when it's somebody you trust. He had no concern for me or my family and should get what he deserves."

Carter apologized.

"I know I was wrong," he said. "I am very sorry and I shouldn't have done it. I would like to publicly apologize. I feel terrible about what I did. It's not my character. I got caught up in the moment," Carter said.

District Judge Dave Gamble suspended a sentence of 32 months in Nevada State Prison.

"The fact that someone is put on probation doesn't mean they don't have a consequence," Gamble said. "You will live your life under very stringent conditions."

He ordered Carter to pay $150 a month toward restitution and forbid him from gambling or using drugs or alcohol.

"That means you can't play poker for matches," Gamble said. "You will go to prison if you violate any of these conditions."

He told Carter he can't contact the victim and must write a letter of apology.

The amount of missing money was in dispute, but an insurance company paid a $10,000 claim to the victim.

-- A 27-year-old Stateline woman who admitted punching her ex-boyfriend in the eye twice causing permanent damage was sentenced Tuesday to a suspended jail sentence and placed on two years probation.

"I am truly remorseful for my actions," said Kristin Olsen.

She pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit battery with substantial bodily harm.

District Judge Dave Gamble warned Olsen not to treat the offense lightly.

"It was a really unfortunate, unusual set of circumstances. With the level of support you have, there is no excuse for you to abandon that life for the life you were living with the victim," he said.

Gamble forbade her from contacting the 55-year-old victim and ordered her to continue counseling and abstain from drugs and alcohol during probation.

Olsen said she struck the victim, who was recovering from eye surgery, after they had been drinking and he tried to force her out of the house.