Child abuse, forgery, assault among district court cases

A man will spend time on probation after a baby in his care suffered injuries while he was drinking.

Devin Little, 28, pleaded no contest to attempted felony child abuse. On Monday in Lincoln County District Court, he was sentenced to two years of probation, which includes no contact with the boy or the boy's mother.

Prosecutors said that in July, Little had been drinking when he was lying down with the victim, 13 months old at the time. The child started choking on his pacifier. Doctors later said injuries to the child's mouth and ears were "non-accidental," prosecutors said Monday.

Little was also ordered not to consume alcohol or non-prescribed controlled substances.

Also in district court Monday:

» A woman pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone to her daughter. Janis Oaks, 53, pleaded guilty to distribution of oxycodone and will be sentenced May 22.

Prosecutors said Oaks' daughter violated her probation by possessing the drug. The woman told police she obtained it from her mother, Oaks.

Oaks' bail was cut in half to $2,000, with stipulations that she undergo searches and not use drugs or alcohol. Deputy County Attorney Angela Franz requested the clauses, stating that two days after Oaks refilled her prescription oxycodone, her prescription went from 90 to 30 pills.

» Joshua Murphy, 37, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree forgery and was sentenced to 150 days in the Lincoln County Detention Center. He was given credit for 69 days served.

In December, employees at Little Caesars Pizza, 411 S. Dewey St., told police that a man and woman tried to pay for their order with a counterfeit $50 bill, North Platte police Investigator John Deal said at the time.

Police had received other reports of counterfeit $50 bills. An officer spotted Murphy's car in February, and he was arrested after a pursuit.

» James Mitchell, 29, was sentenced to one year in prison, and given credit for 70 days served, for possession of hydrocodone. At the time, prosecutors said, Mitchell was on parole from a prior prison sentence.

Mitchell told the court he fell off the wagon while struggling with a death.

"I should have talked to my parole officer," he said. "I got off track."

» Johnna Thayer, 27, was sentenced to two years' probation after violating a protection order. She was ordered to have no contact with the victim in her original domestic assault case, participate in the women's batterer program and undergo counseling for mental health and substance abuse.

» Two of the three men in an October traffic stop that led to drug and child abuse arrests took plea deals Monday. Cameron Alexander, 25, pleaded no contest to child abuse, possession of a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana. He was sentenced to 200 days in jail.

Malik Bragg, 20, pleaded no contest to attempted possession of oxycodone. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and given credit for time served, which was not immediately known in court.

The third man, Taurean Jones, 20, had his case moved to May 22, as it is not yet resolved, his attorney, Russ Jones, said.

The three men were arrested in October after police pulled over a gray Kia with no license plates. Officers found oxycodone and marijuana in the car, as well as a 3-year-old child for whom Alexander was responsible. The child was wearing a seat belt but was not in a proper car seat, according to reports at the time.

» Nathan Coco, 36, will go to trial July 18 at 9 a.m. He is charged with domestic assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony and terroristic threats.

On March 27, Coco's wife had requested to be allowed to see her husband outside of counseling but was denied. Coco's attorney Robert Lindemeier made the request again Monday.

Lindemeier said he spoke with the couple's counselor, who said they were making progress and "did not feel there was a threat of any violence."

Judge Richard Birch ruled that as long as Coco and his wife are in counseling, they can also meet to discuss matters such as visitation. They can also be at their children's extracurricular activities in the same place, Birch said.

"We do expect very strict compliance with this," he said.

» Both prosecutor and judge commended Aaron Tuenge, 29, for his sobriety efforts before he was sentenced to 36 months' probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm and being in possession of a stolen firearm.

"I think I'd have objections with that before he entered treatment and a halfway house," said Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling.

Birch agreed as he handed down the sentence, telling Tuenge that "the most promising thing about that is when you felt your sobriety was getting shaky, you sought out extra treatment."

» Courtney Lopez, 28, pleaded no contest to possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 240 days in jail, with credit for 116 days served.

» Emmett Wood, 40, pleaded no contest to second-degree assault. Prosecutors say Wood called the victim in January 2016, told him to come to his house, accused the victim of having an affair with Wood's wife and beat him with a hammer. Wood will be sentenced May 22.

» Stacy Fosbinder, 37, pleaded no contest to attempted possession of methamphetamine. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail and given credit for 41 days served.

» Victoria Arriola, 29, pleaded no contest to attempted second-degree assault. She will be sentenced May 22.

» Amy Corter, 44, pleaded no contest to theft by deception of $1,500 to $5,000, Prosecutors said she wrote fraudulent checks to Hershey State Bank. Corter was sentenced to two-years of probation and ordered to pay $5,024.24 in restitution.

» Rodelio Castillo, 50, admitted violating his probation after missing a meeting and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Castillo was also ordered not to drive for 45 days and to have an interlock device on his car for one year.