Caldor fire looter receives another eight years in prison

Two members of a Lake Tahoe theft ring were sentenced to prison on Tuesday.

Joseph Donald Dykes and Kyleigh Nicole Dykes appeared in Douglas County District Court for five separate cases between them, all involving credit cards stolen from vehicles.

Joseph Dykes, 39, is serving a six-year prison sentence in California in connection with his arrest in South Lake Tahoe after he was found with significant amounts of stolen property looted during the Caldor Fire evacuations.

Because the Nevada charges dealt with credit cards taken during the California burglaries, attorney Brian Filter sought three 12-30-month prison sentences to run the same time as Dykes’ California prison time. Dykes was sentenced in July 2022 and will have to serve 85 percent of his time, Filter said.

Mazza pointed out that Dykes victimized people that were evacuated as a result of the fire. She said he had nine prior felonies and several instances where he’d failed probation and parole.

Dykes apologized to the victims, blaming his drug addiction.

District Judge Tod Young said that Dykes could end up spending the rest of his life in prison at the rate he’s going.

Young sentenced him to 38-96 months in prison to be served after he finishes his time in California and ordered him to pay $1,113.24 restitution.

He was convicted of two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and possession of a credit card without the owner’s consent.

Changes in California’s sentencing rules resulted in Kyleigh Dykes having two felonies reduced to misdemeanors, so the only felony left on her record was one in 2022.

Kyleigh, 30, had other people’s credit cards and a list of credit card numbers and expiration dates when she was arrested.

“She was stealing from people to pay for her addiction,” Prosecutor Chelsea Mazza said.

She was convicted of possession of a credit card without the permission of the owner.

“You resorted to being a criminal to deal with your addiction,” District Judge Tod Young said in sentencing her to 17-48 months in prison.

She was also sentenced to a simultaneous 17-48-month prison term for principal to fraudulent use of a credit card in connection with an Aug. 10, 2021, purchase at the CVS in Stateline. She was involved in the same case as Kody Shyan and Christopher Monroe Whitehead, both of whom received probation last year.