Man gets 4 years in drug case

WCSO

SKINNER: He handed out ecstasy at the Burning Man festival.


A federal judge Monday ordered an Oklahoma man to spend four years in prison and complete 250 hours of community service for handing out the drug ecstasy at the Burning Man festival last summer.

Gordon Todd Skinner, 39, also must remain under supervision for three years after his release under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge David Hagen.

And he must seek and complete drug treatment and submit to searches and drug testing, Hagen said.

“Your father didn’t do you any favors when he turned you on to drugs as a young kid,” the judge told Skinner after issuing the sentence.

Skinner said he was sorry to take up the judge’s time.

“I would like to apologize to the court for the inconvenience” his charge caused, he told the judge in a brief statement before sentencing.

While Skinner also faced up to $1 million in fines, Hagen declined to impose any such punishment. A report on Skinner’s financial situation showed that he “has no potential for any resources to pay a fine,” the judge said.

His lawyer, federal public defender Vito de la Cruz, had told the judge that Skinner has “essentially been in bankruptcy proceedings for a number of years.”

Skinner was indicted Sept. 3 by a federal grand jury on a single charge of possession with intent to distribute the drug ecstasy at the counterculture festival in the Black Rock Desert in August.

A search of his vehicle found about 10 ounces of ecstasy, U.S. Attorney Craig Denney said. He had been handing the pills out for free, Denney said.

Skinner pleaded guilty in March to the single count. In return, federal officials agreed to argue for a mid-range prison term instead of the maximum 57-month sentence.

Denney said four years was an adequate punishment.

“We believe that sentence will protect the community and hopefully deter Mr. Skinner from this type of conduct,” the prosecutor said.

Skinner isn’t expected to stay in the Nevada prison long, however.

The assistant district attorney for Tulsa County said Monday that he plans to extradite Skinner to Oklahoma as soon as possible to face kidnapping and assault charges.

Skinner is accused of tying up and torturing with chemical injections an 18-year-old man for six days in retaliation for sleeping with Skinner’s wife.

Assistant District Attorney David Robertson said Skinner faces charges of kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

The deadly weapon, in this case, is a surgical needle, he said.

The kidnapping charge carries a maximum 15-year sentence, the conspiracy charge 10 years and the assault charge another 10 years, he said.


Copyright © 2004 The Reno Gazette-Journal