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This morning District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez sentenced Jerry Gomez to four to 10 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections. The sentencing came after Gomez entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill to one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon. The charge stemmed from a March 2007 knife attack at a North Las Vegas grocery store, which left four people injured. The “guilty but mentally ill” plea will allow Gomez to be treated in prison for mental health problems.

District Court Judge David Wall sentenced Ronald Jayne Jr to 15 to 45 years in the Nevada Department of Corrections for his involvement in an accident that left five people dead and injured three others in May of 2007. Jayne entered a plea of guilty in February to eight counts of causing death or substantial bodily harm while driving under the influence. In addition to the prison time, Judge Wall ordered Jayne to pay $200,000 in restitution to the families of the victims.

District Court Judge Lee Gates sentenced Raven Navajo to 10 years to life in prison following a conviction by a jury of second degree murder in the January 2007 death of Brenda Schmalfeldt.

This afternoon in a Reno courtroom Judge Douglas Herndon sentenced Darren Mack to a total term of 36 years to life in the Nevada Department of Corrections. Mack will be immediately released into the custody of prison corrections officers. A set sentence of 20 years to life must be served for the murder of Charla Mack. In addition, Judge Herndon determined Darren Mack must serve a sentence of 8 to 20 years for the count of attempt murder followed by an equal and consecutive sentence of 8 to 20 years for use of a deadly weapon. Mack will receive 595 days of credit for time served.

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Judge Jackie Glass sentenced former school teacher Mark Zana today (Dec. 20) to a maximum term of Life in Prison with the Possibility of Parole after 20 years for his conviction on counts of Lewdness with a Minor under the Age of 14 and Possession of Visual Presentation Depicting Sexual Conduct of an Individual under the Age of 16.

Judge Glass noted that Zana presented himself as an outstanding teacher, yet also demonstrated he has a predatory nature targeting young girls for sexual pleasure. “He put himself in positions of trust with children. He worked at gymnastics, he had pool parties, he was a teacher because he had this need to be around these children at this particular age,” said Judge Glass.

Sentencing Detail:

Count 1 - Sentence of 12 months in the Clark County Detention Center

Count 2 - Sentence of Life with Parole after 10 Years, to be served concurrent to Count 1.

Count 6 - Sentence of Life with Parole after 10 years, to be served consecutive to Counts 1 and 2.

Count 7 - Sentence of Life with Parole after 10 Years, to be served concurrent to Count 6.

Count 11 - Sentence of 12 to 36 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to Count 7.

Count 13 - Sentence of 12 to 36 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to Count 11.

Count 14 - Sentence of 12 to 36 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to Count 13.

Count 15 - Sentence of 12 to 36 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to Count 14.

Count 16 - Sentence of 12 to 36 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to Count 15

Count 17 - Sentence of 12 to 36 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to Count 16

A Clark County District Court Jury found defendant Scott Dozier guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon and robbery with the use of a deadly weapon in the death of Jeremiah Miller. Miller’s body was dismembered and his torso was found in a suitcase behind an apartment building in 2002. A penalty hearing in the case begins today (Sept. 26) in District Court Department 9. Jurors can choose to sentence Dozier to death, life in prison without the possibility of parole, or 40 years to life in prison.

District Court Judge Donald Mosley sentenced Donald Schuster to Life in Prison with the possibility of parole after ten (10) years and an equal and consecutive term of Life in Prison with the possibility of parole after ten (10) years for use of a deadly weapon. In addition, Schuster was sentenced to a concurrent sentence of 35 months to 156 months. He must also pay $54,665.41 in restitution. The sentencing follows Schuster’s conviction in July of Second Degree Murder with Use of a Deadly Weapon and Battery with Use of a Deadly Weapon for the death of JonMichael Ginolous and the shooting of Nicholas Errichetto.

Saying “I can’t be like a normal kid,” a young man told District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt this morning how he feels now in the aftermath of a 2006 kidnapping and rape that left the teen with a lack of trust and a fear of police. The testimony came in the sentencing for Shawn Shelton who was convicted earlier this year on four counts including, First Degree Kidnapping, Sexual Assault with a Minor under Sixteen Years of Age, Battery with Intent to Commit Sexual Assault with a Minor under Sixteen Years of Age and Use of a Minor in the Production of Pornography.

During Shelton’s trial the 14-year-old victim took the stand and described how he was approached by Shelton, who told him he was a policeman. The victim then described how he was taken to an area of the desert and was forced to perform fellatio on Shelton.

Today, Judge Leavitt sentenced Shelton to a sentence of 35 years to life in the Nevada Department of Corrections. If he is paroled, Shelton must register as a sex offender and will be placed under lifetime supervision. Shelton did not address the court.

District Court Judge Lee Gates sentenced Osvaldo Lopez Jr to a Life Sentence in the Nevada Department of Corrections with the possibility of parole after 20 years for the murder of two-year-old Jada Southall in 2005. Additionally, Lopez Jr was sentenced to a minimum of 24 months to a maximum of 60 months concurrent to the life sentence for two counts of Child Abuse and Neglect.

This morning District Court Judge David Wall sentenced Jody Kenneth Thompson to a maximum of sixty (60) months and a minimum of twenty-four (24) months in the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDC), to be served concurrent with 06-C-219049-C and
consecutive to 04-C-200176-C. Thompson received no credit for time served awaiting sentencing.

Thompson, a U.S. Marshals Service Top 15 Most Wanted Fugitive, was arrested November 29, 2005 in Las Vegas by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s SWAT Team and Robbery Detail. Thompson escaped from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) in Lovelock on August 25, 2005. Before his escape Thompson was serving 12 consecutive sentences of 30 to 150 months each for charges of kidnapping, robbery with a deadly weapon, and burglary.