Victim testifies at man's sentencing for stealing cash and pot

A local man accused of stealing cash, marijuana and pipes from a Trego garage in January was sentenced on Monday, Nov. 21, in Lincoln County District Court.

Quentin Travis Henry Fish, 19, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3 to felony theft and misdemeanor criminal mischief. A charge of aggravated burglary was dismissed as part of a plea deal.

On Monday, District Judge Matt Cuffe gave Fish a 3-year deferred sentence on the felony theft charge and a six-month suspended sentence on the mischief charge. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution for a steel door he damaged during the theft. Cuffe signed an order for his release on Nov. 21 and he was told he must report to Adult Probation and Parole Officer Steve Watson as soon as he was released.

Court staff were initially told by jail guards that Fish was not going to appear for his sentencing. Cuffe nearly rescheduled the hearing before Fish showed up on video from the county jail.

The victim in the crime testified about what happened and how he and his family feel.

“I am a disabled senior with a heart condition,” the victim said. “Our home no longer feels safe. My brother-in-law now lives with us in the shop because we don’t feel safe.”

The victim said Fish had watched from outside their home when his wife undressed while getting ready for bed.

“This is a troubling case,” Cuffe said. “Primarily because of the mental health concerns and they need to be taken care of.”

Part of Fish’s sentence includes community supervision and the defendant is not allowed to have any contact with the victim. He is also not permitted to consume alcohol or drugs without a prescription.

The victim said Fish broke a steel door to enter the shop.

“It wasn’t the first time he had done it,” the man said. “It happened in January 2021, I confronted him (Fish) about it and I ended up letting him off the hook for it.”

In an affidavit, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Bobbie Noel recalled heading to the scene after a resident found Fish inside a garage about 4 a.m., Jan. 29, 2022.

The resident, who found pieces of the garage door frame on the ground and the door lock broken, took a look inside, Noel wrote. He spotted Fish standing near a table with four mason jars of marijuana, $200, four glass pipes and three small containers of dab, court documents said.

Dab, or concentrated butane hash oil, comes in a solid form and often boasts a high level of THC, the active chemical in marijuana.

Noel wrote that the resident, who owned some of the cannabis in the garage, though the rest belonged to the property owner, unsuccessfully attempted to stop Fish.

Despite the resident grabbing onto his arm, Fish broke free and ran off, court documents said.

After authorities arrived and spoke with the resident, they reached out to Fish’s stepfather. In her affidavit, Noel wrote that the older man let Fish live on his land in a trailer.