Phillip Paul Heers Jr.
A tussle in the jail’s kitchen resulted in a man who was serving a year in jail to add on a four-year prison sentence.
Phillip Paul Heers Jr., 46, would have been out of jail on Aug. 29, but an altercation with fellow cook Eric Alexander Hartmann in July resulted in a new conviction.
Attorney Brian Filter said that Heers has been in custody of one sort or another for three years.
“He knows what jail’s like, and he knows what prison is like,” he said.
“He wants to return to Sacramento and either work for CalTrans or for family.”
Hartmann said he didn’t even consider what Heers did to be an actual battery. Because of the issues, Hartmann was transferred out of the kitchen, which meant he lost 10 days of good time on his jail sentence.
Prosecutor Chelsea Mazza said that part of the plea agreement the state didn’t charge Heers with cheeking his suboxone prescription to give to other inmates.
She said Heers had 10 prior felonies. She asked the judge not to put too much stock into Heers’ status as a trusty.
Heers apologized to Hartmann.
“I let a bad situation get out of control,” he said.
District Judge Tod Young sentenced Heers to 17-48 months in prison.
“People in custody cannot commit acts of violence,” Young said.
• A man who said he moved away from Lake Tahoe to get away from drugs was sentenced to 2-5 years in prison on Tuesday for high level possession of methamphetamine.
Paul Edward Baum, 39, was taken into custody after his sentence was pronounced.
Baum was arrested July 30 after deputies recognized him from prior incidents and was found in possession of 77 grams of methamphetamine.
Baum said he didn’t realize how much of the drug he had and that he was spiraling after the death of his girlfriend and his father.
In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to seek more than eight years in prison.
The charge carries a 2-15-year sentence and a $50,000 fine.
Baum received a suspended 12-32-month prison sentence in June 2020, which was reinstated two years ago.
• A woman who failed to appear for her sentencing in district court on Tuesday was arrested the next day.
Leonna Lynn Mortimer, who was the subject of a no bail, nationwide warrant, is in custody.
She admitted to writing $1,725 in bad checks to Sharkey’s and failure to appear in court. Before she failed to appear in court, prosecutors wouldn’t oppose diversion on the two counts which carry four years in prison, each.
• A $25,000 nationwide warrant was issued after one of four men accused in a series of e-bike thefts failed to appear in district court on Tuesday.
Victor Vasquez Anguiano, 29, was arrested May 26 after a series of thefts across Douglas County.
He waived his preliminary hearing in East Fork Justice Court in September.
