Fuentes jury to get case today

Fidel Fuentes' attorney Kay Ellen Armstrong tried unsuccessfully Monday to have the evidence against her client tossed out of court.

During the first day of trial on drug trafficking charges, Armstrong asked newly elected Judge Jim Wilson to not allow testimony about 7.6 grams of methamphetamine allegedly found on Fuentes when he and Samuel Person, 26, were arrested Sept. 22.

The five-women, seven-men jury is expected to begin deliberations today after testimony from at least one defense witness.

Armstrong argued that officers only patted down Fuentes after another deputy witnessed Persons toss away a bag of methamphetamine when he saw police approaching.

It was during that pat-down search, Armstrong said, that Deputy Mike Fischer came across a lump in the waistband of Fuentes' pants.

Asked what it was, Fuentes allegedly indicated that it was "just cut," the term for a substance used to dilute a drug and increase the quantity for sale.

Armstrong said that "cut" itself is not illegal and that Fischer's continued search of Fuentes was illegal.

But Judge Wilson disagreed, and denied a motion to suppress the evidence.

"I find that the officers have articulated reasonable suspicion to contact Mr. Fuentes," said Wilson. "He had reasonable cause to do a frisk."

Testimony on Monday included Deputies Don Gibson and Fischer, who arrested Fuentes and Person, and Washoe County Criminologist Diane Marchen, who testified that the substance taken from Fuentes tested positive for methamphetamine.

District Attorney Neil Rombardo rested the state's case Monday.

Today, Person is expected to testify on behalf of the defense. Person is serving a prison sentence of one to four years after pleading guilty to a charge of sales in this case.

If convicted, the trafficking charge against Fuentes carries a penalty of one to six years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

It is not a a crime for which probation is a sentencing option.

Fuentes, a self-proclaimed gang member, has been arrested numerous times over the last five years for offenses including domestic battery, kidnapping, accessory to attempted murder and possession of stolen property or dangerous weapons. Almost all of the charges against him have been either been dismissed or reduced.

He most recently served 10 months in the Douglas County Jail for a charge of possession of stolen property in connection with a high-speed police chase in Indian Hills.

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

Fidel Fuentes, standing trial on a charge of trafficking methamphetamine, has a long history of criminal activity in Carson City, but very few convictions.

Here is a sampling of some of Fuentes' run-ins with the law:

2008

- Fuentes arrested after police stop him and another man and allegedly recover trafficking levels of methamphetamine. The other suspect pleads guilty. Fuentes is standing trial on the trafficking charges.

- While awaiting trial for the trafficking case, Fuentes was booked on suspicion of felony battery after allegedly assaulting a jail inmate. Preliminary hearing pending.

- Fuentes was a passenger in a vehicle that fled tribal police and struck an officer. Fuentes pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy to possess a stolen firearm. He served nine months of a one-year jail sentence.

2006

- A trespassing charge was reduced to disorderly conduct.

2005

- Fuentes and another man robbed a Silver Springs preacher who tried to buy meth from them. The preacher received a grazing gunshot wound to the head. Fuentes was charged with robbery. It was later dismissed.

- Fuentes and friend Juan Carlos Alegria went to Fuentes's ex-girlfriend's apartment on Eighth Street. Fuentes allegedly broke through the door after seeing another man there. The man shot Fuentes in the leg, and a bullet struck and killed Alegria. Fuentes was arrested on a warrant for home invasion. Charges were later dismissed.

- Fuentes was arrested on failure to appear warrants and was found with a switchblade. He pleaded guilty to possession of a dangerous weapon. Charges of probation violation were dismissed. He was sentenced to time served.

2004

- Fuentes was arrested on suspicion of felony probation violation and misdemeanor failure to appear on a traffic citation. Disposition not available.

2003

- Fuentes was arrested on kidnapping, domestic battery and first-degree burglary charges in a case in which he allegedly beat his girlfriend, kidnapped her and her daughter, and attacked a couple who tried to help them. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to three years probation. A sentence of 12 to 30 months in prison was suspended.

- Fuentes was arrested after he allegedly elbowed his girlfriend in the head at a casino. Disposition not available.

- Fuentes was charged with gross misdemeanor principal to a felony in April. Charges dismissed that same month.