Sentencing deferred for drug treatment

Sentencing was deferred for a year for a 30-year-old Minden man who admitted unlawfully obtaining thousands of painkillers from 81 doctors in a 2-year period.

Joshua Dale Thomsen pleaded guilty Monday to one count of unlawfully obtaining a controlled substance.

District Judge Michael Gibbons deferred sentencing for one year while Thomsen participates in a substance abuse treatment program.

Thomsen said he used the painkillers following several brain surgeries. He redeemed 186 prescriptions for more than 7,000 pills.

"The pain was real," he told Gibbons. "I went about it the wrong way."

Thomsen said he took the pills, which included Percocet and Vicodin, and did not sell or distribute them.

Thomsen said he is being treated with methadone by a Reno doctor who is to refer him to a pain management specialist. He is ineligible for Western Regional Drug Court because of the methadone.

"I understand what I did was wrong," Thomsen said. "I scared myself like I've never been scared before. You will never see my face again."

Gibbons ordered Thomsen to participate in the treatment program for up to three years. He must abstain from alcohol and controlled substances unless prescribed and is subject to random search and seizure for drugs or alcohol.

-- A 25-year-old Gardnerville woman charged with child endangerment was released from Douglas County Jail on Wednesday but told she could not have custody of her infant daughter "without the blessing of Child Protective Services."

Melanie Kern and her husband, Robert Jorgenson, 26, were arrested Sept. 15 at a bowling alley and charged with child endangerment and battery. Witnesses said Jorgenson was carrying their 7-week-old daughter "like a football" and exposed her to adults who were fighting.

The baby was placed in the care of her grandmother.

"You can't take the child home unless CPS says it's OK," East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl told Kern.

"If they give you that baby, and you drink, you're not going to want that matter adjudicated here," he said.

EnEarl set a hearing Sept. 26 on the charges for both Kern and Jorgenson.

EnEarl did not release Jorgenson who has been convicted of two felonies and has a lengthy juvenile record.

He is on five years probation for his part in a burglary ring that targeted Gardnerville Ranchos residents.

Kern and Jorgenson were both participating in Western Regional Nevada Drug Court prior to Saturday's arrests.

The judge forbid Kern from having contact with Jorgenson.

"You can't call him. You can't visit him in jail. You can't write him," EnEarl said.

According to the child endangerment complaint, Kern and Jorgenson were staggering drunk around the bowling alley and battered a couple who said they were too intoxicated to care for the child.

At one point, when the fighting parties had been separated, deputies asked Kern where the baby was and she reportedly did not know. Her brother went into the bowling alley and returned with the child in a baby carrier covered with a blanket.

At the time of their arrest, Jorgenson's blood-alcohol content was .150-.160 and Kern's was .163-.168, more than twice the legal limit of .08 for driving in Nevada.