Carl Odoms was sent to prison to serve 12-34 months in prison on an underlying charge of possession of a controlled substance after admitting to several probation violations. Torri Hinkey and Hugo Lopez-Trujillo were given the opportunity to complete drug court and probation to avoid a felony conviction and prison in a recent court hearing.
Carl Odoms
Odoms pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, a category D felony; a charge for which he was arrested for in November 2018. Odoms appeared in court in February and told the court he had a new family and life that he was eager to get back to rather than going to prison.
The court ordered a 12-34 month sentence in prison for the felony conviction and suspended the sentence, placing Odoms on probation for 36 months on the condition that he successfully complete the 18-month adult drug court program.
During the sentencing hearing, Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Michael Montero mentioned that Odoms had been down a similar path before and had failed to complete a DUI court program, sending him to prison.
In a recent court hearing, Odoms admitted to six separate violations of his probation conditions, including failure to resolve several warrants throughout Colorado, Idaho and Oregon.
Alternate Public Defender Maureen McQuillan represented Odoms in court and said that when he was sentenced, Odoms was not fully committed and didn’t want to give up prescription medications but that he wanted to be reinstated on probation and would gladly accept drug court as a condition of probation reinstatement.
Odoms told the court he thought he could overpower his drug addiction on his own but was unable to. He asked the court to give him the chance at completing drug court.
“I want more than anything to quit for my wife, for myself and my family and I can do it if somebody would just show me how,” said Odoms. “I’m standing here today begging for that chance.”
Montero said that considering seven months had passed since the ordering of his probation and that Odoms had argued for probation without drug court and had not since cleared any of his outstanding warrants, the sentence would be revoked and Odoms was sent to prison to carry out the underlying 12-34 month sentence with credit for time served of 44 days.
Torri Hinkey
Hinkey pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a controlled substance, both category E felonies for which probation is mandatory in most cases.
The potential sentence for each of the category E felonies is one to four years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
Hinkey who is 24 years old, asked the court for the chance to go through a program of rehabilitation from using drugs, which she admitted to doing for two years straight without the desire to stop. Hinkey has been participating in pretrial drug court services, which she said have been difficult living in McDermitt without a car.
Montero expressed concern with Hinkey living over 70 miles away from the contracted drug court treatment center and from drug court testing. He advised Hinkey that although he doesn’t want to deny her the opportunity for treatment, she may need to relocate in order to be successful in the program.
The application for a diversion program was granted and Hinkey was given the opportunity to avoid both felony convictions on her record if she successfully completes the Humboldt County Drug Court program and 36-months of probation.
The terms of Hinkey’s probation include prohibition from using, possessing or consuming controlled substances, narcotics without a prescription, alcohol, inhalants, chemicals, etc. and she is not allowed to be in bars, liquor stores, vape shops, smoke shops, casinos or any establishment where alcohol is the primary source of revenue. She was also ordered to pay a $3 DNA collection fee, $25 administrative assessment, $60 forensic fee and $250 public defender fee.
Hugo Lopez-Trujillo
Hugo Lopez-Trujillo pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, a category B felony in which he admitted to entering a restaurant with the intent to commit grand larceny at the end of May 2019.
Potential penalties for the felony include 1-10 years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine, with the eligibility for probation.
Considering that Lopez-Trujillo is a 21-year old highschool graduate, both Public Defender Matthew Stermitz and Deputy District Attorney Richard Hass recommended a diversion program.
Lopez-Trujillo said he would be happy to take drug court rather than go to prison and apologized for what he did. Stermitz asked Lopez-Trujillo if he thinks he needs help (with drug rehabilitation) and he said yes.
Montero said that Lopez-Trujillo’s adult arrest record was somewhat concerning with several traffic offenses and some other issues, but that there were no felonies or gross misdemeanors on his record.
“I think Mr. Stermitz probably said it best that as a young man he (Lopez-Trujilo) probably doesn’t fully comprehend the mess that drugs and alcohol are having on his life, at 21 years old you think you are invincible” said Montero. “The fact that you were breaking into a business taking money out of a cash register and took a bottle of Tequila; impacting a small business owner in Winnemucca is probably one of my larger concerns with this case and it’s too bad she isn’t here to tell me today how it impacted her business.”
Based on the finding that Lopez-Trujillo was reported to have a severe substance stimulant use disorder and alcohol use disorder, meeting the requirements to be eligible for a diversion program, Montero suspended the court proceedings and granted a formal probation and diversion program with drug court.
Lopez-Trujillo was also ordered to not enter Mariscos for the duration of his probation.
If Lopez-Trujillo successfully completes the 18-month Humboldt County Adult Drug Court program and all other requirements of his probation, he will be able to return to court, rescind his guilty plea and avoid a felony conviction on his record.
Montero said that with is young as he is, there is also the possibility of Lopez-Trujillo being sent to boot camp for six months if he’s unable to successfully complete the requirements of his probation and diversion program.
