Trial set for storage unit theft case

A January trial date has been set for a Carson City woman suspected in a series of storage unit thefts.

Mary Reasoner, 30, will be tried Jan. 22 on one count of burglary related to the theft of items from a storage unit on Sutro Terrace. If convicted, she faces one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

She is being held in jail on $3,000 bail on a charge of probation violation after being stopped by deputies on Nov. 18 for an alleged illegal lane change.

Her attorney on Tuesday asked Judge Bill Maddox for a hearing to determine if Reasoner's latest arrest was legal.

Defense attorney Ben Walker questioned the arrest stating after her preliminary hearing a judge put conditions of search and seizure on her although she was not arrested on the burglary charge.

Under the search-and-seizure clause enacted by the judge, deputies searched Reasoner's backpack and allegedly found a baggie with methamphetamine residue when they stopped her.

Maddox set the hearing for Tuesday.

Investigators believe Reasoner is involved in as many as a dozen storage thefts in Carson City this year.

Also before Maddox on Tuesday:

• Hugo Zambrano, 19, pleaded guilty to gross-misdemeanor conspiracy to commit a sexual act in public. He faces up to one year in jail when sentenced Jan. 16.

• Paul Allan Jennings, 36, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. He faces up to 48 months in prison when sentenced Jan. 16.

• David Smith, 47, was sentenced to 16 to 48 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act. Smith is an inmate at Nevada State Prison.

• Michael James Sorensen, 26, was sentenced to five years' probation with three years in prison suspended on a charge of uttering a forged instrument. Sorensen must also be returned to Virginia where he allegedly absconded probation on a similar charge.

• Gary Lee Troth, 50, was given five years' probation with a suspended sentence of 12 to 48 months in prison on a charge of convicted sex-offender failure to register. Troth was convicted in 1994 in Jasper County, Ill., on a charge of criminal sexual assault. The judge also ordered Troth to submit to DNA testing and have no contact with anyone under 18 years old. Troth is listed as a Tier 2 sex offender on the Nevada Sex Offender Registry Web site.

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.