On Monday, Pershing County Sheriff’s officers brought James Jay Nichols, 32, to the 11th Judicial Court. He faced a probation revocation hearing and possible prison term, his first.
“I know I messed up,” said Nichols in a soft voice. “I want to say sorry to the State, to Parole and Probation, and to my mom and grandma.”
At his Oct. 2017 arraignment Nichols admitted to using a crowbar to gain access to his grandmother’s home. He wanted her gun.
In Dec. 2017, Judge Jim Shirley handed Nichols a 36-120 month suspended sentence with five years probation for possessing the stolen firearm.
Fourteen months later, on Monday, April 1, Nichols appeared before the judge again. He admitted to violating several conditions of probation. Specifically, he failed to report to the Division of Parole and Probation as ordered on Dec. 11, 2018.
PO Markus Heimbruch tried to contact Nichols, and found the probationer had vacated his Sparks, NV, apartment leaving no forwarding address. He was on the run.
The Division placed Nichols on the Dangerous Offender Notification System (DONS). The night of January 29, 2019, Sparks PD discovered Nichols parked on the side of the road. They arrested him and found a pipe with residue in his jacket pocket, another probation violation.
Public Defender (PD) Steve Cochran represented the defendant at Monday’s hearing. DDA Todd Banks argued on behalf of the State of Nevada.
PO Heimbruch, came from Parole and Probation.
Cochran noted the significance of the underlying sentence. “We’re talking about ten years at the back end,” he said.
The PD spoke about the severity of his client’s addiction. He said Nichols needed a higher level of care, and recommended inpatient treatment followed by participation in drug court.
DDA Todd Banks disagreed.
“I understand where Mr. Cochran is coming from and the tremendous problem Mr. Nichols has,” he began. “But as I look back through his criminal history, he’s managed to dodge a bullet (prison time) for the past five years.”
“In the case for which Mr. Nichols was granted the gift of probation he took a crowbar to his grandmother’s door to get a firearm,” Banks continued. “The factual reality is that while on probation he failed dramatically.”
“We have no reasonable expectation that Mr. Nichols is a good candidate for supervision going forward,” concluded the DDA. He asked the judge to impose the original sentence.
“Mr. Nichols, I’ll hear from you,” said the judge.
The defendant explained that he panicked after being kicked out of his apartment.
“The only way I knew how to deal with my feelings was to use,” he said. “I was high and scared. I didn’t know what to do. It was my first time on probation. I didn’t know how to react.”
The judge asked Nichols why he didn’t call his probation officer. “If you had, we probably wouldn’t be having the conversation we’re having now. He would have gotten you into a program.”
The defendant replied that fear of having his probation revoked stopped him from asking for help.
“Nobody wants you to fail – not your PO, counselor or DDA Banks – nobody,” answered the judge.
“Let me read to you from an exchange we had a little over a year ago,” he continued before rendering his decision. The judge referred to a transcript from Nichols’ Dec. 2018 sentencing for the possession of the stolen fire-arm.
“I’m hoping probation can help me get back on the right path to be a law-abiding, productive, responsible member of the community and father to my children,” Nichols had told the judge. “Nothing like this will ever happen again.”
“Fourteen months ago you were saying to me that you were going to go into inpatient rehab, and- start back with NA and AA,” the judge said to the defendant. “You told me you wanted to be a better father.”
The defendant admitted to failure to get a substance abuse evaluation and abide by its recommendations for treatment, another of the conditions of his probation.
The judge revoked Nichol’s probation and imposed the underlying pris-on sentence.
“I wish you good luck,” he said as Sheriff Jerry Allen took the defendant into custody. He urged Nichols to take advantage of any programs offered by the prison. “When you come out don’t mess up like this anymore.”
