A Stateline man was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison on Monday for trafficking methamphetamine.
Jamaal Mansoor Eslami, 28, is already serving a prison sentence in California where he was arrested a few days after he rammed an unmarked Douglas County patrol car during a drug sting.
Judge Michael Gibbons ordered that the sentence be served concurrently with the last year of Eslami's California sentence.
Defense attorney Derrick Lopez said Eslami was having trouble dealing with the severity of his sentence.
"It's difficult for him to comprehend that what he did was akin to murder," Lopez said. "The penalty is so much compared to the state he was living in that he was not prepared for the significant block of time he faced."
Gibbons acknowledged that the penalty for trafficking was substantial.
"It's higher than any other penalty except for certain other Class A felonies," he said.
Gibbons said he hoped Eslami realized how much damage he was doing to himself and others by selling methamphetamine.
In addition to his prison sentence, Eslami will have to pay $7,335 in restitution to the sheriff's office for money used in the drug buys and another $1,060 for the damage to the patrol car.
Eslami was ordered to appear in court the first Monday after he's released to establish a payment plan.
Eslami was the subject of a Sept. 21, 2009, drug sting in which he had sold 130 grams of methamphetamine on three occasions starting on Sept. 14.
When he realized the fourth buy was a set-up, Eslami rammed an unmarked police car during his escape. He was arrested in South Lake Tahoe two days later for possession of a controlled substance. He was convicted and sentenced in December 2009 to two years in prison.
Lopez said Eslami wanted the court to know that he took responsibility for ramming the unmarked patrol car, but insisted he didn't know there was an investigator behind the wheel.
Eslami claimed the vehicle's lights and sirens were not activated and his client was trying to get away.
"It (the crime report) gives the perception that Eslami was accelerating toward the officer. That's not quite accurate," Lopez said.
Prosecutor Laurie Trotter said officers told her Eslami drove directly at them and struck the vehicle.
Eslami was extradited to Douglas County from California State Prison in Avenal in May.
On Sept. 27, he appeared in Douglas County District Court as part of a plea agreement.
