Jared Alan Holm, 26, was sentenced Tuesday to a minimum of 38 months in prison for charges stemming from an incident when he struck a law enforcement officer with his vehicle and then fled the scene on foot.
Holm was attempting to avoid submitting to law enforcement for a warrant at the time, his public defender Steve Cochran said.
Holm was in Sixth Judicial Court for sentencing on three charges: possession of a controlled substance for sale; possession of a stolen motor vehicle; and assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded guilty to all charges Dec. 17.
Holm was arrested in March on the drug charge and was found to be in possession of a stolen dirt bike in June. The incident leading to the assault with a deadly weapon charge occurred in August when Holm attempted to evade law enforcement officers who were trying to arrest him on a warrant. During the incident, Holm was shot at and struck by an officer.
Cochran asked Judge Michael Montero to sentence Holm to three concurrent sentences while the state sought consecutive sentences. Holm's sentence was in the middle, with two sentences concurrent and the assault with a deadly weapon charge running consecutive.
Cochran boiled the case down to Holm being a low-level drug offender who stole a dirt bike and then tried to avoid being picked up on a warrant.
"What you see is not someone who was trying to hurt someone," he said. "It was essentially a very slow-moving game of chicken."
The incident was a case of poor decision making, Cochran said. He argued while Holm may be a danger to himself, his is not a danger to others.
"He is somewhat of a poster boy of how (amphetamines) can ruin you," he said.
But Deputy District Attorney Richard Haas argued when Holm decided to use his car in an attempt to get away he became a threat to others, not just himself.
"It was not a game of chicken," he said.
Haas said Holm has 17 prior convictions and nothing seems to work to get him on the right track. Prison is the only thing that will work, he argued.
"There must be punishment in this," he said.
Holm apologized for "everything that occurred" and acknowledged he needs to take responsibility for his actions.
"Getting shot at was a wake-up call," he said.
Montero said it was an unfortunate situation because Holm had been involved in drug court but did not benefit from the program. He said he hopes Holm uses his time in prison to make some changes.
"I hope you will be able to take advantage of this opportunity while in prison to improve your life," Montero said. "We need to see a different Jared Holm."
Holm was sentenced to 14 to 36 months in prison with 208 days credit for possession of a controlled substance for sale; 14 to 36 months in prison for possession of a stolen motor vehicle to run concurrent to the previous sentence; and 24 to 60 months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon to run consecutive to the previous charges.
In other Sixth Judicial District Court cases:
• Torry Bradley Twedt, who was found guilty in December on three counts of burglary, was sentenced to 28 to 72 months in prison for each count to run concurrent. Twedt's public defender Matthew Stermitz did not argue for probation, because he said his client "just wants to do the time."
Contact Jessica Powell at j.powell@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
