Man gets prison for hitting pregnant girlfriend

A California man was ordered to prison for 1-3 years on Monday after he admitted hitting his girlfriend.

Joel Moncibaz, 51, was on probation for a previous domestic battery when he struck the woman on May 21 at Lake Tahoe.

The woman testified she was pregnant at the time.

“He doesn’t care about this child,” she said. “I trusted him and loved him and all he did was hurt me.”

In Nevada, a third domestic battery in seven years is punishable by 1-6 years in prison.

Moncibaz had previously been convicted of a felony domestic battery in Stanislaus County in 2018.

Negotiations led to Moncibaz admitting a count of felony domestic battery with two priors.

“I’m sorry to all the loved ones I hurt,” he said, stressing he wasn’t a gang member.

Under the agreement both sides recommended the sentence and District Judge Tom Gregory agreed.

He was given credit for 81 days time served.

The prison term will be served consecutive to any time he receives as a result of a probation violation from his California case.

• A Winnemucca woman received probation on two felonies despite being offered a chance at deferral for at least one on Monday.

Celia Doyal, 26, was arrested Dec. 28, 2021, after she and Richard Skyler Common, 29, made off with an orange Jeep from a gas station and then abandoned it in the Pine Nuts near Ray May Way.

The couple managed to hitchhike their way from one end of the county to the other before being arrested in Minden after Doyal swiped a cell phone.

Common remained in custody but Doyal was released on Jan. 5, according to jail records.

She then left the state and was arrested in Plumas County. She was returned to Douglas County on March 23.

“I’ve never been in trouble before,” Doyal told Gregory. “I have three kids and I’d like to get back to them.”

Doyal was also sentenced Monday for attempted battery by a prisoner in connection with an attack on another inmate in the Douglas County Jail on July 21.

Doyal received two suspended 12-30-month sentences to be served simultaneously.

Her probation will last two years. She received 49 days time served on the second sentence.

A condition of her sentence is that she obtain a mental health evaluation.

Common also admitted to a stolen vehicle charge in the case but is being held for trial in Humboldt County.

He faces a hold from the Department of Parole and Probation on a suspended 2-5-year prison sentence on a theft charge out of Humboldt.

When Common does return to Douglas for sentencing, he will need a new lawyer.

• Prosecutors said they’ll seek a felony in the case of a woman who had someone else’s credit card when she was arrested on March 1.

Masami Christina Sato, 33, entered a no-contest plea of attempted possession of someone else’s credit card on Monday.

The charge may be treated as either a felony or a gross misdemeanor at sentencing.

A no-contest charge is treated the same as a guilty plea and is subject to the same penalties.

A Capital One card was found in Sato’s vehicle when she and another person were arrested at the Home Depot.

The card had been stolen on Jan. 22, prosecutor Patrick Ferguson said.

Under an agreement, Sato is responsible for $338 in restitution and could face up to four years in prison if the judge chooses to sentence her on the felony.

Should she be sentenced under the gross misdemeanor, she could receive up to 364 days in jail.

Gregory advised her to have some of the restitution when she returns for sentencing on Sept. 26.