Urban miner gets probation

A man who admitted being part of a gang that stripped 1,000 feet of copper tubing from the roof of the Carson Valley Plaza received a suspended sentence on Tuesday.

Eirik Josephlee Arizmendi, 35, brought a $1,500 payment toward the total $10,957 restitution.

Attorney Christopher Day said his client isn’t a career criminal, but someone who was prescribed pain killers, who developed an opiate addiction after a 2005 motorcycle wreck. Day said that the theft was a multi-person operation.

“It took a lot of work to commit this crime,” District Judge Tod Young observed. “It took a great effort to be this level of thief.”

Prosecutor Bethany Towne argued for a 2-5-year prison sentences on the charges of principal to grand larceny and willful injury to property.

Young sentenced Arizmendi to simultaneous 2-5-year sentences that were suspended for two years.

• A Stateline man admitted he was intoxicated when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon near Harvey’s Casino.

Brian Edward Cadwell, 52, appeared in Douglas County District Court on Tuesday where he admitted the felony charge.

A charge of carrying a firearm by a prohibited person will be dismissed in exchange for his plea.

Under the agreement, Cadwell will admit to defrauding an innkeeper and agree to a suspended five-year prison sentence.

Cadwell must also forfeit a 9 mm Colt Gold Cup Trophy pistol and an AR-style rifle to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

One of the issues is that the AR isn’t in Cadwell’s possession, attorney Adam Spicer said.

Cadwell was arrested Dec. 26, 2022, on charges related on an incident in Stateline.

“I was very intoxicated,” he said. “I have a serious problem with alcohol.”

Cadwell is scheduled to be sentences on Aug. 29.

• A Reno man who was convicted in Washoe County of battery by a prisoner on a protected person, admitted to violating his probation in Douglas County.

Carlos Alberto Ortiz Ramirez appeared in Douglas County District Court on Tuesday where his probation was revoked and he was ordered to serve out a 14-48-month prison sentence.

Ortiz Ramirez was on his way to prison after he failed out of drug court.

He was originally arrested in Douglas County on May 30, 2021, for possession of oxycodone without a prescription.

• A Walker man was sentenced to spend 30 days in jail after his diversion for possession of a controlled substance was revoked.

Ryan James Hannah was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in connection with a 2021 case.

Hannah was sentenced to 12-30 months which was suspended on condition he serve 30 days in jail, at which time his probation would end.

Hannah acknowledged he had a problem and said he wanted to fix it.