WINNEMUCCA — A defendant hoping for probation and drug rehabilitation will not be getting either due to his extensive criminal history and recent arrests.

Anthony Jimenez, 26, was sentenced on Wednesday (Jan. 18) to serve 16-72 months in prison for felony possession of a stolen firearm.  The defendant had 17 previous criminal convictions, all of them misdemeanors and four of them traffic offenses, but was charged with multiple  serious offenses, including drug trafficking, since his July 2011 arrest on the gun charge.

Judge Richard Wagner told the defendant there comes a day when a person’s history catches up with them.

Jimenez was represented in court by Pershing County Public Defender Steve Cochran, who acts as the Humboldt County conflict attorney.

In arguing for probation and substance abuse treatment for his client, Cochran told the court Jimenez’s criminal history was reflective of his drug addictions.

He added the defendant always “manned up’ to the charges, didn’t waste taxpayer dollars fighting the charges, and served his time.

Cochran pointed out the defendant was always honest, and had been honest about his addiction to drugs, which made him a good candidate for substance abuse treatment.

Jimenez’s day in court was the result of a negotiated settlement with the state and a plea bargain was in place.

However, Humboldt County Deputy DA Roger Whomes successfully argued Jimenez violated the terms of the plea bargain by being arrested four more times since the plea bargain went into effect in October.

For that reason he was allowed to argue freely, without the constraints of the plea bargain, and he asked the court to send Jimenez to prison.

Whomes pointed out the stolen firearm was taken during the burglary of a home, was loaded, and could have been used against someone – especially since the individual who ended up with was involved in the drug trade.

Allowed to speak on his own behalf, Jimenez acknowledged being a drug addict.  In asking the court for probation and rehab, he said he had been unable to quit on his own and needed help.

In reviewing the defendant’s criminal history, Judge Wagner pointed out while it was true this was the defendant’s first felony conviction, Jimenez had actually been arrested on felony charges in the past that were plea bargained down.

Wagner told the defendant he had been skating by and while the gun charge was his first felony conviction, it was long overdue.

The defendant has other criminal charges pending and remains in the Humboldt County Detention Center where bail has been set at 146,427.