COURT NEWS

The following cases were heard in the Tenth Judicial District Court by Judge Thomas Stockard.

Regina Swartzbaugh pleaded guilty to two charges, one for sale of secured property without notice and a second for unlawful transfer or assignment of right or interest in a motor vehicle. According to court documents, she sold a vehicle while it had a title lien on it without telling the buyer. Sentencing has been scheduled in January and Swartzbaugh may be be ordered to pay approximately $2,000 in restitution.

Christopher Gelineau was sentenced to 12 to 48 months in prison for driving under the influence on a third or subsequent offense. The charge is not eligible for parole, and the defense did not pursue the DUI divergent program. Gelineau was given four days credit for time served.

Shawn Crystal was placed on probation with a suspended sentence for charges of grand larceny of a motor vehicle. The suspension was granted so he could complete a drug court program.

Steven Wolfson was sentenced to 17 to 48 months in prison without a chance for probation for charges of attempting to sell drugs. Chelsea Sanford, deputy district attorney, noted he had prior charges and convictions on similar charges, but the defense argued that they were over a decade old and should not be counted. Wolfson was granted a credit for 14 days time served.

John Guillen pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking a controlled substance after being caught with methamphetamine in his possession. Probation cannot be given for this charge and the sentence ranges from two to 15 years in prison, although the defense requested a sentence of 20 months in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for mid-January.

Kolbie Heaverne pleaded guilty in two cases with a charge for possession of a controlled substance and a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle. According to court documents, she was found with oxycodone, a schedule 2 narcotic, and it was determined beyond reasonable doubt that she was illegally in possession of a stolen vehicle.

The controlled substance charge has a possible prison sentence of one to four years, and the stolen vehicle charge has a possible sentence of one to five years. Sentencing for these charges was combined with Heaverne’s scheduled sentencing for an unrelated case in December.

The sentencing of Gregory Baltazar was continued for two weeks to allow the state and defense to finalize their recommendations for the court.