Ranchos man pleads guilty to marijuana sales

A 51-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos man faces up to 12 years in Nevada State Prison and a $20,000 fine after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of selling marijuana in an undercover sting.

Russell Tillack denied he was a drug salesman.

"I was approached by the confidential informant on a number of occasions," he said.

Finally, Tillack said, he agreed twice to get a total of 120 grams of marijuana.

"I'm really not a salesman of marijuana," he said. "I simply went out and got it. I didn't make any money, I'm not in the business of selling marijuana, I just knew where to get it."

In accepting Tillack's guilty pleas, District Judge Dave Gamble said," What you recited is exactly the crime of sales of marijuana. The real issue for me: Are you intending to continue to be a marijuana user?"

Tillack said he used marijuana for 35 years, but intended to quit.

He is eligible for probation.

"I have no objections, should I get probation, for any restraints you put on me. I intend to never use it again," Tillack said.

As part of a plea agreement, Gamble released Tillack on his own recognizance. He is under the supervision of the Department of Alternative Sentencing and is subject to search and seizure for controlled substances and alcohol.

In exchange for Tillack's plea, the district attorney's office agreed to drop other charges and won't discuss the facts on allegations that Tillack threatened a witness and smoked marijuana while out on bail.

"Everybody's mum about this?" Gamble asked. "I don't get to know about it."

Tillack was arrested April 14 by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office Street Enforcement Team, working in conjunction with the Tri-Net Task Force on a warrant for selling about 237 grams of marijuana.

Simultaneous with Tillack's arrest, a search warrant was executed at his home, the culmination of a month-long investigation into Tillack's marijuana distribution.

According to investigators, Tillack was in possession of marijuana and a large sum of cash at the time of his arrest.

A search of his home turned up packaging materials, scales and other paraphernalia associated with the sales of marijuana.

After Tillack was released, he allegedly went to the home of a witness and said he'd put the word out on him. He suggested the man lie in court.

Investigators obtained a separate arrest warrant for Tillack, charging him with felony intimidating a witness. Tillack was arrested April 15 at his home on Carbernet Court. He was allegedly smoking marijuana at the time of his second arrest.

He remained in jail on $75,000 cash bail pending Tuesday's court appearance.