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Crime Beat

Dylan Thomas, Minot, sentenced for reckless endangerment, theft of firearms

Dylan Gene Thomas, 18, was sentenced to 360 days in jail, with all suspended but the 21 days he has already served, for stealing two firearms and driving a car from which shots were fired in a residential neighborhood on Nov. 27, 2017.

Thomas will be on two years of supervised probation and will not be allowed to own any weapons. He must also pay $1,100 in court costs. Restitution will be reserved for 90 days. If he successfully completes probation, the two Class C felony theft of property charges will appear on his record as misdemeanors. The reckless endangerment charge is a Class A misdemeanor. The city of Minot agreed to dismiss a Class B misdemeanor charge of discharging a firearm within the city limits.

A bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of Malik Sharon Sturgis, 18, of Stateville, N.C., who is accused of firing the shots outside the window and is also charged with Class A misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Ward County Assistant State’s Attorney Ashlei Neufeld had argued for a stiffer sentence that would have required Thomas to serve an additional nine days in jail. Neufeld pointed out to Judge Todd Cresap that it was sheer luck that no one was injured when the shots were fired between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. that afternoon in the street full of houses. She also said more jail time would send a message to Thomas and to the community at large that this sort of crime will have serious consequences. Neufeld said it wasn’t a mere mistake; Thomas deliberately stole a gun from his father and also stole another gun. She said the state’s attorney’s office decided to offer him a lighter sentence and the chance to earn misdemeanors by disposition because he is so young, but the circumstances probably warranted more jail time than 30 days.

Thomas’s attorney, Donald Sauviac, said Thomas, who has no serious prior criminal record, is a follower and associated with Sturgis, another teen with a troubled past, and no one proved that Thomas ever fired one of the guns even though he was the driver. Thomas now has a full-time job detailing cars at an auto dealership and wants to become a welder. Thomas said he feared he might lose his job if he had to serve more jail time.

“What are we accomplishing with these nine days that we haven’t already accomplished?” asked Cresap.

He said studies show that additional jail time isn’t actually much of a deterrent for other potential criminals and if Thomas loses his job, he might not be able to pay court costs. He also reminded Thomas that he could sentence him to the maximum allowed for a C felony if Thomas doesn’t follow probation conditions.

According to court records, a caller reported hearing gunshots while she was in her garage in southwest Minot on Nov. 27, 2017. When she looked out she saw a gold car traveling through the neighborhood and someone firing shots from a passenger window. Police couldn’t locate the car then but an officer heard shots coming from the area around 28th Avenue SW sometime later and spotted the gold Mercury Sable heading east toward South Broadway and followed the car. He stopped the vehicle. Police found numerous spent ammunition casings throughout the vehicle, as well as spent yellow 20 gauge shotgun shells in the vehicle. Most of the casings were on the driver’s side of the vehicle. A Smith and Wesson .357 revolver and a Browning 22 caliber rifle were on the floorboard on the driver’s side. The Browning had been stolen from Thomas’s father; the other weapon had been reported stolen from Minot.

Mitchell Holbach, Minot, sentenced for simple assault

Mitchell Holbach, 52, Minot, pleaded guilty to Class A misdemeanor assault on Tuesday, July 10.

North Central District Court Judge Todd Cresap sentenced him to 10 days in jail, with all suspended but the four days he has already served, and 360 days unsupervised probation. Holbach was also ordered to pay $825 in court costs.

Holbach had originally been charged with Class C felony aggravated assault in connection with a March 29, 2017, incident. Holbach had been accused of beating his female roommate in a dispute over a car. According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, the woman had been out all night with Holbach’s car. When she returned the next morning, she offered to drive him to work and he became angry and said she wasn’t using his car while he was at work. She said Holbach then started throwing things at her, hit her in the arm, knocked her to the ground, tried to choke her and banged her head on the ground. When he stopped, she ran to hide in a neighbor’s yard and called the police.

Kyler Kaylor, Minot, sentenced for criminal trespass, drug charges

Kyler James Kaylor, 20, Minot pleaded guilty on Thursday in district court in Minot to Class C felony criminal trespass and possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, both Class A misdemeanors.

Judge Todd Cresap sentenced him to a year in jail on the trespass charge, all suspended but the 42 days he has already served, and ordered him to serve two years supervised probation and pay $1,291 in court costs. If he successfully completes probation, the C felony charge will be reduced to a Class A misdemeanor on his record. He was given a deferred imposition of sentence on the two drug charges and ordered to get a chemical dependency evaluation. He was also sentenced to 360 days supervised probation on those charges. A possession of stolen property charge was dismissed against Kaylor.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Kaylor and Daniel Dumas, 27, went to a family member’s apartment without permission in March. They were arrested after a friend of the relative drove by the apartment and saw Kaylor on the balcony smoking. Dumas and Kaylor were arrested on outstanding warrants. A search of the residence turned up drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Dumas has already been sentenced on the criminal trespass and possession of a controlled substance charges.

Troy Nelepovitz, Lilliann Ray charged with intent to deal heroin, meth, possession of counterfeit money

Troy Steven Nelepovitz, 24, and Lilliann Emma Ray, 24, are both charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possession of heroin with intent to deliver, both Class B felonies, in district court in Minot.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court, police responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at a northwest Minot apartment late on July 11.

Nelepovitz and Ray told police they had a verbal argument which had been resolved. They refused to let the police enter the apartment, but Nelepovitz stepped out into the hall to talk with officers and Ray talked with them from the doorway.While Officer Peter Lindman was speaking with Ray, he observed a bag full of suspected meth residue on a shelf in the kitchen. He notified dispatchers and learned that Ray is currently on probation. Her probation officer gave him consent to search the apartment. The search turned up additional suspected methamphetamine and about one to two ounces of suspected “China White” heroin. The search also turned up drug paraphernalia, including spoons with drug residue, used and unused hypodermic needles, about a dozen straws with suspected drug residue and several pieces of tinfoil with suspected drug residue, and a small digital scale. The search also turned up several dozen pills in the apartment, some loose and others in containers. There was also a large amount of counterfeit money.

Officers arrested the two and transported them to the jail. They obtained a search warrant for Nelepovitz’s vehicle and the search turned up additional suspected meth, drug paraphernalia including a digital scale, and a counterfeit $100 bill. In all, the search turned up approximately 14 grams of heroin and 40 grams of meth. There was $3,760 in counterfeit currency.

Ray is also charged with Class C felony forgery or counterfeiting and Class C felony possession of drug paraphernalia. Nelepovitz is also charged with Class C felony forgery or counterfeiting and Class A misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Lawyers work out agreement for evaluation of man who hasn’t pleaded guilty to sex offense

Lawyers for the state, the Ward County State’s Attorney’s office and the defense have reached an agreement that will allow the Department of Human Services to evaluate Timothy James Sprenger, who has not pleaded guilty or been found guilty by a jury, according to statements made at a court hearing on Friday.

Assistant Attorney General Nici Meyer, representing Human Services, had filed a motion last month objecting to Judge Todd Cresap’s court order for the evaluation.

Sprenger has been charged with sexual abuse of a baby and a toddler over a decade ago.

Meyer had asked Cresap to vacate or amend his order for an evaluation. DHS does not have a secondary process for evaluating a person under these circumstances, wrote Meyer. Both the Ward County State’s Attorney’s Office and Sprenger and his defense attorney, Kyle Craig, had objected to the Department of Human Services motion and wanted the evaluation to be done. Ward County Assistant State’s Attorney Marie Miller wrote in a response to Meyer that her office asked for the risk assessment to be done ahead of trial to determine whether or not Sprenger qualifies as a dangerous special offender under state law – specifically whether he is dangerous and mentally abnormal and his behavior makes him a serious risk to the public.

At the hearing on Friday before Cresap, attorneys for the three sides said they had reached an agreement and Craig will file something with the district court indicating that by late next week.

The filings in the case had mentioned in passing another case that is currently on appeal before the North Dakota Supreme Court.

Miller had said in her motion that the Department of Human Services had conducted an evaluation in a luring a minor by computer case last year before the defendant, William Wallace, had entered a guilty plea. In a brief in response to Miller’s, Meyer wrote that the evaluator, Dr. Zongjan Wu, did evaluate Wallace but Wu thought that Wallace had been found guilty of the offense.

“I would not have conducted the secondary process of the risk assessment if I would have known the individual was not found guilty or plead guilty,” wrote Wu in an affidavit filed with the court.

Wallace, who was caught in a Minot Police Department online sting operation, reportedly thought he was meeting a 16-year-old girl for sex in July 2016. In reality, there was no girl; he had been chatting with former Minot Police Department Detective Krista Cousins. Wallace ultimately pleaded guilty to the luring a minor by computer charge and Cresap sentenced him to five years in prison, with a requirement he serve 18 months. He must also register as a sex offender. He is appealing his case to the North Dakota Supreme Court, with various complaints, including the length of probation that was ordered. One of his complaints is that Wu would not let him answer the questions on the evaluation the way that he wanted to. Wallace has said he has no sexual interest in children.

Sprenger, 31, is charged with gross sexual imposition and continuous sexual abuse of a child, both Class A felonies. He was arrested after he allegedly wrote an account of the alleged abuse in a journal that was discovered by his brother when he was taking out the trash in Georgia. Sprenger had also reportedly written in the journal that he is aroused by images of babies and toddlers. A jury trial in the Sprenger case is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Jacob Hayes, St. Augustine, Fla., accused of stowing away on BNSF train

Jacob Tyler Hayes, 22, St. Augustine, Fla., is accused of stowing away on a Burlington Northern Railroad train on Friday.

Hayes is charged with a Class A misdemeanor in district court in Minot.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Minot police stopped Hayes as he was walking near the railroad tracks at 6th Street and 4th Avenue NE. Hayes allegedly told authorities he had ridden the train from Montana, stopped in Minot to see a friend, and had intended to get back on the train to head back east.

Hayes was scheduled to make an initial appearance in district court in Minot on Friday before Judge Todd Cresap.

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