Trial canceled in Tahoe drug trafficking case
khildebrand@recordcourier.com
STATELINE, Nev. — A jury trial for a man facing up to life in prison in a drug trafficking case was canceled after he failed to appear Tuesday in Douglas County District Court.
A $100,000 nationwide warrant has been issued for the arrest of Joseph Allen Cudia, 46, after alternative sentencing officials said a GPS monitoring bracelet has gone dead.
District Judge Tod Young ordered forfeiture proceedings to begin against Cudia.
“I am loath to bring in 75-80 members of the community to have him simply not show up for trial,” Young said. “Until he’s apprehended the trial should be vacated.”
Defense attorney Adam Spicer agreed, saying he has not heard from Cudia.
Prosecutor Matthew Johnson asked for a little more time to find Cudia before vacating the trial.
Young told Johnson that if Cudia is brought back for trial, he would clear his calendar to expedite a trial.
Cudia, 46, was arrested in a May 14, 2020, drug raid on a Stateline vacation rental where investigators found more than a pound of methamphetamine.
Cudia was arrested in the raid along another man and a California woman who admitted to possession of heroin.
A second man arrested in the May raid, Diego Corralles, has yet to appear in district court.
Meagan Rene Turkington was granted a diversion on condition she pay $1,000 restitution to the owner of the property.
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