Category: Court News

Invasive touching of an eight-year-old girl brings a six-year prison term for a Lake Havasu City man. The punishment imposed during an April 1 sentencing hearing for Michael Lane, 60, was stipulated in a plea agreement convicting him of the reduced charge of attempted child molestation.    The victim’s mother told the Court that Lane has caused her family much grief.   “This has 100 % ruined my daughter’s life, my son’s life and my life forever,” she said. “Our lives will never be the same. I do not trust anybody with my children.”    Mohave County Superior Court judge Rick Lambert told…

Criminal charges in two drug cases are being resolved in a plea agreement entered for a Bullhead City woman. Debra Couch, 53, pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of dangerous drugs for sale.    Deputy Mohave County attorney Reed Weisberg said 5.5 grams of methamphetamine were found in September, 2017 in a bedroom Couch shared with co-defendant Edward Darling at 1923 West Robson Circle. Darling’s case is still pending.    The plea deal for Couch dismisses a paraphernalia charge in the 2017 case. It also dismisses other drug related charges involving a traffic stop during which officers seized 3 grams of meth earlier…

Bullhead City residents await sentencing after entering plea agreements resolving their drug cases. Police reportedly seized 19 grams of heroin, five grams of methamphetamine and about 12 grams of marijuana during a search last August of a home that the defendants shared in the 2100 block of Swan Place. Ryan Newsom, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge of attempted possession of a narcotic drug for sale. Methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges are dismissed in the plea agreement. Newsom faces a two- to seven-year prison term when sentenced May 7. Co-defendant Desiree Castaneda, 23, also pleaded guilty to…

A Bullhead City man faces at least a century-long prison sentence following convictions at the first of his two sex offense trials. A Mohave County Superior Court jury deliberated 20 minutes Wednesday, April 4, before finding Michael Barrett, 42, guilty on all ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Law requires imposition of consecutive prison terms of at least ten years for each conviction at sentencing scheduled May 8. Prosecutor Jacob Cote told jurors that Mohave County Sheriff’s office detectives found 47 images of screen shots of child pornography downloaded from websites on Barrett’s cell phone in October, 2017….

A mandatory six-year prison punishment is mandated in a plea agreement convicting a Kingman man of trafficking stolen property and fraudulent use of a credit card. Robert Fox, 53, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 15 by Judge Billy Sipe. Prosecutor Jonathan Robinson told the court that the victim, when examining her bank records, discovered that her credit card was used by another party to effect about $1,400 in purchases at Kingman businesses including JC Penney, Big 5, Home Depot, Smiths and Walgreens last October. He said that Fox used the victim’s credit card to buy a gold crucifix…

The first of five defendants charged through an investigation of suspected drug sales from a home in Bullhead City avoided further jail time during a March 28 sentencing hearing in Kingman Thursday. Michael Furrow, 35, was placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to perform 60 hours of community work service. Furrow was initially charged with possession of dangerous drugs for sale, possession of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia when he and four others were arrested when police executed a search warrant on December, 28, 2018 at a home in the 700 block of River Gardens Drive….