Carson City couple bound over in stolen-property case

A Carson City couple were bound over to district court Friday afternoon on 10 counts each of possession of stolen property.

Jeira Polanco and Timothy Sparacino were originally each charged with 22 counts of possession of stolen property following a December surprise visit by their probation officer, which uncovered $300,000 or more in stolen property, Sheriff Ken Furlong told the Nevada Appeal at the time.

Jeira Polanco, 24, and Timothy Sparacino, 27, will be arraigned in Department II in district court on April 29.

In a daylong preliminary hearing, 31 people testified about items of theirs that had been recovered.

The first nine counts, possession of stolen property valued at $3,500 or more, carry a penalty of one to 20 years in prison each with a fine up to $10,000. The last count, possession of stolen property valued at $650 to $3,500, carries a penalty of one to five years in prison with a fine up to $10,000.

Sparacino’s defense attorney, William Murphy, argued that many of the victims’ estimates about the value of their property were just guesses and that the reasonable standard the court is held to would not allow mere guesses to bind the defendants over. Justice of the Peace Tom Armstrong said each witness had enough reasoning behind his or her estimations to make them valid.

Sparacino and Polanco were on probation for three theft charges each and had been ordered to pay $22,000 in restitution. Their probation officer told the Nevada Appeal she had a gut feeling something was wrong and conducted a surprise home visit.

The stolen property included paintings worth thousands of dollars each, jewelry, electronics, a 55-inch TV, silverware, china, furniture, Christmas presents and a suitcase.

Sparacino faces an underlying sentence of two to nine years on his theft convictions. Polanco faces three underlying prison sentences adding up to between three years, eight months, and 10 years, eight months.