Man faces at 6-15 years in prison in trafficking

An April 3 jury trial was waived after a California man pleaded guilty to trafficking a controlled substance.

David Henry Wright, 56, appeared in Douglas County District Court on Dec. 20 to change his plea.

Under a plea deal, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 6-15 years and a $1,000 fine.

District Judge Tod Young said the maximum penalty in the case could be up to 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Wright’s co-defendant in the case, Sung Soo Lee, 56, pleaded guilty in the case on Oct. 4 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 3 on one count of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

Under a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend 2-5 years in prison. The maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years and a $10,000 fine.

Lee’s sentencing has been delayed twice. He was due in court on Dec. 20, but attorney Brian Filter said his flight from San Jose was delayed. Both men were arrested July 7 by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Street Enforcement Team, Tri-Net Task Force and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force after a drug bust was conducted at the Grant Avenue Walmart in Gardnerville.

According to the sheriff’s office, the team made a buy with Wright, who allegedly delivered 462 grams of methamphetamine. Another 82.3 grams of methamphetamine and 8.7 grams of suspected psilocybin mushrooms were found in the duo’s possession.

• A man who allegedly flagged down deputies during a high-speed chase south from Pine Nuts to Mono Lake on Jan. 11 received a Dec. 20 suspended sentence.

Charles Qoroya Evanson, 39, appeared in district court where attorney Roger O’Donnell said he had been in treatment since his release and would be in residential treatment in South Lake Tahoe.

“He’s spent a lot of time in treatment,” O’Donnell said. “He’s trying to get his life back on track.”

Evanson was convicted in Mono County on a similar charge in Nevada on April 26 and given probation.

Douglas deputies followed Evanson onto Highway 395 and California, where California Highway Patrol officers used a roadblock to stop him near Mono Lake before Mono deputies tackled him.

• A 34-year-old man faces a new drug-dealing offense in addition to violating his probation and serving time in prison.

Michael Thomas Miller said he was sentenced to 14 to 48 months in prison after being arrested on multiple warrants in mid-November.

Miller was arrested on June 17, 2020, driving a stolen rental car.

In January 2021 he admitted to heroin and ecstasy and requested drug court. Simple possession carries a mandatory proof.

A January 17, 2023 hearing was set to determine if he violated his November 2021 probation sentence.

Miller is also being held on a first offense charge of possession of a controlled substance for sale.

Attorneys said they hope to have a resolution in all of Miller’s cases. Meanwhile, he was told he would have to return to Carson City to be transferred to the prison.

• A 21-year-old Dayton man waived a preliminary hearing Friday on felony charges of sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 and lewdness with a child under the age of 14.

Julian Amador has been held in lieu of $25,000 bond since his Sept. 19 arrest on the charges.

Amador is accused of assaulting a girl during the three years he lived in Minden around 2016. The girl would have been 6-9 at the time and Amador would have been 15-18.

The waiver is not an admission of guilt, and Amador will be free to enter a not guilty plea in district court.

• A convicted car thief is back in Douglas County to be sentenced.

Richard Skyler Common, 30, was arrested on Dec. 28, 2021, after he and Winnemucca resident Celia Doyal abandoned an orange Jeep in Pine Nuts. The Jeep had been stolen from a Fernley gas station.

Common pleaded guilty to an auto theft charge in April and was allowed to return to Humboldt County to face the charges there.

He had his probation revoked for a previous theft charge and was sentenced to 2-5 years in prison.

He is scheduled for sentencing on January 30.