Habitual Offender Sentenced

20 Year Sentence Secured for Financial Forgery Lab Charges

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has released the results of a forgery lab prosecution that involved a defendant with a lengthy criminal history who was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm.  Following the defendant’s plea, this office successfully argued for a habitual criminal sentence.  The defendant was subsequently sentenced to two concurrent 20 year prison terms, with parole eligibility beginning after 5 years has been served.

Shane Lee Likes, 34, from Sun Valley was sentenced to 20 years in prison on each count of Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person and Possession of a Financial Forgery Lab.  Likes pled guilty to the charges against him in June after being arrested in January following an investigation by the Regional Crime Suppression Unit (RCSU).  RCSU detectives had information that Likes was wanted and had prior felony convictions when he was spotted at a local casino.  When contacted, he was found to be armed and a subsequent search of his hotel room uncovered financial forgery documents and equipment.  Likes was arrested and this office filed formal criminal charges against him.

Likes had been previously convicted of Uttering a Forged Instrument in 2004, Establishment or Possession of a Financial Forgery Laboratory in 2008, Being an Ex-Felon in Possession of a Firearm in 2012, Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Sale in 2012, Possession of a Stolen Credit Card in 2014, and Conspiracy to Violate the Uniform Controlled Substance Act in 2014.

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Dianne Drinkwater argued Likes had committed each offense while being supervised by parole, out on bail for additional charges, or shortly after his release from custody on other charges, and that based on the prior six felony convictions and Likes’ unabated criminal activity, it was appropriate for the court to sentence Likes as a habitual criminal to protect the community.