Drunk drivers off to prison after Tuesday's sentencings

In Nevada, third-offense drunken driving is a felony and felony DUI is a mandatory prison sentence. Two men on Tuesday learned there was no way around that law and two others were told their fate would be the same when they appeared before Judge Bill Maddox.

The following people were in Carson City District Court on Tuesday:

• Drue Garrett Anderson, 38, was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison and a fine of $2,000 on a charge of third-offense drunken driving.

• Sabino Vargas-Rangel, 35, was sentenced to 12 to 48 months in prison and a fine of $2,000 on a charge of third-offense drunken driving.

• Edward Scott Cater, 45, pleaded guilty to third-offense drunken driving. He will be sentenced March 27.

• Donnie Roy Johnson, 23, pleaded guilty to third-offense drunken driving. He will be sentenced March 27.

• Ronald Dixon, 25, pleaded guilty to battery by a prisoner for striking a corrections officer at Northern Nevada Correctional Center in December 2004. He will be sentenced Feb. 20. Dixon is serving sentences for robbery and attempted robbery out of Clark County.

• Fidencio Gonzalez, 33, pleaded guilty to trafficking. His bail was also reduced from $200,000 to $10,000. He will be sentenced March 27. Gonzalez was arrested in November by the Carson City Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Team.

• Javier Noriega Ochoa, 45, was sentenced to five years of probation with 12 to 48 months in prison suspended on a charge of trafficking.

• Michael Douglas Lowe, 55, pleaded guilty to unlicensed gaming for operating an unlicensed sports pool in the 2200 block of California Street between February and June of 2006. He will be sentenced March 22.

• Tommy Dean Bridges, 36, pleaded guilty to escape and will be sentenced March 27. He walked away from the Stewart Conservation Camp in South Carson City on March 6. He was being held on a burglary conviction.