Carson City DA: Convictions this week for drug trafficking, burglary
The Carson City District Attorney’s Office won convictions of two defendants charged with felony offenses this week.
Berenice De La Cruz of Carson City was convicted of two counts of Level III Trafficking in methamphetamine and one count of Conspiracy to Violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
De La Cruz was arrested at the conclusion of an extended undercover investigation in 2016 by the Tri-Net Narcotics Task Force that resulted in the recovery of more than six pounds of methamphetamine. District Judge James T. Russell will sentence De La Cruz on March 5th.
She faces maximum penalties of life in prison on each of the two Trafficking charges and up to five years for the Conspiracy. The case was prosecuted by Melanie Brantingham and Meredith Beresford, Deputy District Attorneys with the Carson City D.A.’s office.
In Department 2 of Carson City’s District Court, Sarah Krites was convicted of burglarizing a Carson City home in January, 2017. Krites will be sentenced by District Judge James Wilson and faces a potential penalty of one to 10 years in prison. The case was prosecuted by Carson City Deputy D.A. Orrin Johnson.
District Attorney Jason Woodbury said it was the first time he could remember two jury trials proceeding simultaneously in Carson City.
“With three of our six prosecutors in trial, the office had to stretch a bit to make sure everything else was covered. But two guilty verdicts coming in within minutes of each other will be quite a memory,” he said.