Drug sale results in probation

A 59-year-old man, whose house on East Valley Road was the base of a methamphetamine sales operation, was sentenced Tuesday to five years probation and ordered to stay away from his ex-wife.

Thomas B. Murray, who now lives in Silver Springs, told Judge Dave Gamble he paid $110,000 to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in lieu of forfeiting his house and lost a pickup truck as a consequence of the January 2007 drug bust at his residence.

Murray pleaded guilty to attempting to maintain a place for the unlawful selling of a controlled substance.

Gamble sentenced him to 32 months in Nevada State Prison, suspended, and ordered him to abstain from drugs and alcohol.

Murray asked to be excused from attending drug court.

"He's been clean and sober for 22 months, and he lives in an isolated area," said lawyer Mark Saggese of Las Vegas.

He said Murray was willing to be tested randomly.

"I am 100 percent positive this part of my life is over," he said.

Murray lives with his sister-in-law in Silver Springs, and Gamble warned him that he can't associate with his ex-wife, Nadine Murray, when she is released from prison where she is serving a sentence for the same offense.

Gamble said Murray had asked to be paroled to Silver Springs.

Murray said he stopped smoking and using drugs without any outside help.

"I did it myself," he said. "I've always helped myself do everything."

He told Gamble he'd learned his lesson.

"This should convince you to never use controlled substances again," Gamble said.

"This has, by losing everything," Murray said. "I know I gave it away."

The Murrays were arrested with three other people at the conclusion of a month-long investigation prompted by neighbors who complained about traffic at the 2861 East Valley Road residence 24 hours a day.

The sheriff's office Street Enforcement Team investigation included several controlled purchases of methamphetamine at the home after officers concluded that the house was being used to store and sell controlled substances.

In 1989, the Murrays were arrested for cultivation of marijuana at the residence, and in 2001, the couple was arrested in connection with a methamphetamine lab, according to sheriff's reports.

Nadine Murray was sentenced in February to seven years in prison. She must serve a minimum of two years before she is eligible for parole, and was given credit for 288 days served.