Credit card thief gets 90 days in jail

A 29-year-old Gardnerville woman was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in Douglas County Jail after she admitted committing the same offenses that originally placed her on probation.

District Judge Dave Gamble told Jennifer Alexander he thought she was "full of nonsense."

"You have yet to identify the truth of your life," Gamble said.

She admitted the parole violations and pleaded guilty Tuesday to a new charge of possessing a credit card without the cardholder's consent.

In that case, Gamble suspended a 12-32-month prison sentence and placed her on probation for three years.

She must successfully complete Western Regional Drug Court.

Alexander pleaded guilty in December 2008 to conspiracy to utter forged instruments.

She was working with Miranda Jones, 25, to forge checks and steal identities. Jones was sentenced in July to 30 months in Nevada State Prison after she completes a six-year sentence in California and any sentence for a probation violation from a 2006 federal charge of mail theft.

Gamble said Alexander would be discharged from probation once she completes the 90 days straight time in the 2008 case.

Alexander was arrested Sept. 21 at a traffic stop. Deputies discovered several Social Security cards and student IDs in her vehicle. She claimed they were the property of someone else who left them in her car.

They also found a scale and Alexander admitted her continued addiction to methamphetamine.

"I know I'm guilty. I know I have a problem," she told Gamble. "I want to apologize to my mom and my dad and my kids. It's just hard."

"How hard was it when you were using crank and putting scales in your car to go buy more?" Gamble asked.

Alexander's attorney, Kris Brown, said her client was clean for more than a year, reunited with her children and earned a nursing assistant's certification before her September arrest.

"When she's not using drugs, she's able to live a productive life," Brown said.

She said Alexander spiraled downward after her husband was deported for domestic violence toward her.

Gamble pointed out that Alexander owed $30,000 in child support and $54,000 in student loans.

"She appears before me and gives every impression of being this pious person that things happen to. She needs to realize she's the bad guy in this story. She has met the enemy and it is Ms. Alexander," he said.

He said as long as she blames others, she won't recover.

"She's more than a user of meth, she's a user of the system," Gamble said.

Prosecutor Laurie Trotter said Alexander deserved prison, but this was her first opportunity at drug court. She also said the defendant provided substantial assistance in prosecuting codefendant Jones.

"It was a very complicated scheme of creating bad checks that was taught to Ms. Alexander and she explained it to me. She spent a lot of time with me incriminating herself and Ms. Jones. That's why she received this benefit," Trotter said.

Following her most recent arrest, Jones again admitted her guilt, Trotter said.

"If I see you again, you're going away," Gamble said. "There will be no hesitation."

He ordered her to begin attending drug court sessions while she is in custody.