A Gardnerville man sentenced to 2-5 years in prison for driving under the influence probably won’t get to take his one-year sobriety chip with him.
Sean Michael Britton, 53, had a long history of driving under the influence, including two prior felonies in California.
District Judge Tod Young said that if there hadn’t been an agreement between the attorneys he might have put Britton in prison for the maximum of 15 years.
Under the agreement, if the judge had sought a longer sentence than recommended, Britton could have withdrawn his plea and gone to trial.
Attorney Max Stovall said Britton was one of his favorite clients.
“He’s sober and he has turned his life around,” Stovall said. “He knows what he is facing and he’s making the best of it.”
Britton acknowledged that he was an alcoholic but said that he’s a good person.
“You can be a good person and still kill people,” Young said. “It is a health problem until you get behind the wheel and then it’s a behavioral problem.”
Britton has three previous felonies for driving under the influence and four misdemeanors. He was arrested Dec. 27, 2021. In Nevada, any subsequent felony DUI is punishable by up to 2-15 years in prison.
“You have to stop,” Young said. “You’re a killer in waiting.”
• A man, who admitted he sold suboxin while in custody, faces a suspended 12-30-month prison sentence when he’s sentenced on March 21.
Shane Edward Bishop, 36, was on parole on a trafficking charge out of Washoe County when he was arrested for shoplifting at a Topsy shoe store on Dec. 14, 2022.
Two days later he was charged with supplying the substance used to treat opioid addiction to another inmate.
Bishop is subject to a warrant issued by Parole and Probation and will likely go back to prison for the offenses, attorney Martin Hart said.
• A March 6 trial has been vacated after the case of a woman accused of raiding mailboxes was remanded down to East Fork Justice Court on Tuesday.
Mei Seen Wong was allegedly seen by a deputy removing envelopes from mailboxes along Centerville Lane on Feb. 21, 2022.
Wong appeared in court on Tuesday where the case was sent back down to East Fork after negotiations.
