A former Douglas County commissioner candidate could face up to a year in jail after he was found guilty of harassing a member of a yoga class, a county official and driving an unregistered vehicle in three separate misdemeanor trials conducted on Friday in Tahoe Township Justice Court.

Jason Garrett Gibson, 55, took the stand in his own defense in all three cases.

In the first case, Gibson was arrested on Jan. 20, 2024, at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center in Gardnerville after a fellow participant said Gibson threatened to “kick his ass if he ever talked to him in that fashion, again,” in front of witnesses.

The victim and three other participants in the yoga class testified that Gibson was disruptive and after he complained about the class, a man suggested that if he didn’t like the class he should leave.

“I said if you don’t like this yoga class, you should go to another one,” the man testified, “because enough was enough.”

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Testimony indicated that Gibson replied he’d paid the $5 fee, and the man said he’d refund Gibson.

“It’s not every day you get confronted in a yoga class,” he said “You go to yoga class to stretch your bones and muscles. Nobody likes confrontation.”

As it turns out that exchange was with someone other than the victim, who testified he suggested that the other man not escalate the incident.

After the class, Gibson came up to the victim, possibly thinking he was the one involved in the exchange.

Gibson opened his testimony by claiming to be the “longest standing practitioner of yoga in Douglas County.”

He said he was in the class while gathering signatures for a candidate as part of a “zombie insurrection nerf war.”

During his testimony he said he planned to sue the victim, which Prosecutor Chelsea Mazza said was another example of the threats that Gibson made.

Defense attorney Chris Day argued that the incident didn’t rise to the legal definition of harassment.

Day said that if the court had any doubt about what Gibson said to the victim, the court should find him innocent.

But Justice of the Peace Mike Johnson said that while the comment might have been misdirected, it met the elements of Nevada’s harassment statute and found Gibson guilty.

The second trial occurred as the result of a Nov. 21, 2024, complaint against Gibson stemming from a county commissioners meeting.

According to the victim, Gibson came up to her and when he learned she was leaving her employment, said “Congratulations, don’t worry we will you hunt you down,” and started to laugh.

“The meeting was a powder keg,” Gibson testified, saying it was his first meeting after being jailed for 42 days, which was ordered after he failed to follow orders regarding mental health treatment.

He said emails to the county were being bounced and he wanted to contact the person to discuss that.

“I meant, ‘I’ll find a way to get through to you to provide my product,'” he testified. “I probably came across wrong.”

Day argued that while in the first trial, the incident could be construed as a threat, the second trial was the opposite.

Johnson also found Gibson guilty in that case, too.

The traffic case involved Gibson’s pickup, which was cited for not being registered. In that case, a deputy ran a check on Gibson’s pickup and found that it wasn’t registered. The deputy left a citation on the windshield and took the plates.

Gibson claimed that the plates were checked because he was targeted for his statements at county commissioner meetings.

Day argued there wasn’t any evidence that Gibson had driven the Ranger to the location next to the courthouse.