Neligh woman reconsiders delay in starting jail sentence

A Neligh couple, whose June 29 argument became physical, were each sentenced to seven days in jail for counts of third-degree assault, by mutual consent.

Plea agreements had been negotiated with Antelope County Attorney Joe Smith by the respective court-appointed attorneys for Melissa A. Murberger, 48, represented by Martin Klein of Neligh, and Ronald E. Murberger, 48, represented by public defender Pat Carney of Norfolk.

The agreement included staggered jail sentences so one of them would be available to care for their children and Smith’s agreement to file no further charges related to the incident.

Klein requested Melissa Murberger’s sentence begin the following morning. She told the Honorable Donna Taylor that she had a doctor’s appointment Wednesday afternoon, to get her medications and those of her mother-in-law refilled.

Taylor said it had been her policy for 21 years that when someone is sentenced to jail, they go right away. However, she reluctantly agreed to make an exception.

She ordered the woman to appear at the jail at 9 a.m. Thursday, with a warning - if she tested positive for alcohol or drugs “at all,” she would be sentenced to six months.

“If you think you will test positive, maybe you should just say, ‘I will just go to jail today,’” Taylor said.

Mrs. Murberger took the advice and opted to go directly to jail.

Taylor ordered Ronald Murberger’s jail sentence to begin Nov. 9, allowing an extra day between “in case Mrs. Murberger wants to sit out court costs” and he was given the same lecture and option as his wife. He said it wouldn’t be an issue for him.

They were each assessed $50 costs.

Melissa Murberger also appeared for arraignment, without counsel, on a count of littering, alleged July 15. She pleaded not guilty. Taylor set pretrial hearing Dec. 6.

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Five Austin, Minnesota, residents, who were traveling home Sept. 13, through Antelope County on Highway 14, were back in Nebraska last week to face the county judge for possession of marijuana.

Taylor fined them each $350 and ordered two days in the Antelope County Jail, with credit given for two days already served, for Class 3 misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, more than one ounce but less than one pound; $50 each for infraction count of possession of drug paraphernalia; and $50 costs apiece.

Each was originally charged, by Smith, with a felony for possessing more than one pound of marijuana. However, the charges were amended by Smith on Wednesday, to Class 3 misdemeanors, possession of more than one ounce but less than one pound, as indicated on citations written by Nebraska State Patrol troopers at the time of their arrest.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, filed by one of the troopers, they found numerous dispensary bags labeled marijuana, THC wax and pre-rolled cigarettes, totaling more than one ounce.

The driver, Nickolas S. Oldenkamp, 25, told the officers the drugs belonged to himself and a male passenger, Able J. Cifuentes, 23. They and three female passengers, Carmen Cifuentes, 18, Ariana L. Estrada, 18, and Estrella C. Mensch, 19, were all arrested and booked into the ACJ. The men were released on 10% cash bonds Sept. 15, while the women were released on personal recognizance bonds.

Oldenkamp was represented by Joel Carlson of Norfolk; Abel Cituentes, by Luke Henderson of Norfolk; Carmen Cifuentes, by Martin Klein of Neligh; Estrada, by Bradley Easland of Norfolk; and Mensch, by Nathan Stratton of Norfolk.

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Adalberto Sanchez, 34, of Tornillo, Texas, appeared electronically for sentencing on crimes he committed in 2016, including Count I, driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class W misdemeanor, and Count II, no operator’s license, a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Taylor placed him on a six-month term of probation to the court on counts I and II, along with a $500 fine on Count I. A probation enrollment fee was waived and he was ordered to pay an additional $1 in costs.

Sanchez was arrested June 26, 2016, at a sobriety checkpoint on the Antelope/Holt county line and failed to appear in court Aug. 17, 2016. An August 2016 warrant was reissued in October 2021. He had been imprisoned in a federal Arizona prison and was released in June 2019. The late Joe Abler, then Antelope County Attorney, declined extradition on the misdemeanor counts at that time.

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Donneceia D. McFarland, 38, of Tilden appeared for arraignment on two counts. Count I, driving under suspension, a Class 3 misdemeanor, and Count II, speeding, 111-15 miles per hour over the posted limit, an infraction.

McFarland waived her right to counsel and pleaded guilty to both counts. Taylor fined her $100 on Count I and $75 on Count II. She was taxed $50 costs.

She was arrested Sept. 30 by a NSP officer near mile marker 50 on Highway 275.

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Michael C. Miller, 42, of Omaha pleaded guilty, by waiver, to fishing without a permit, a Class 2 misdemeanor. He was fined $100 and $49 costs. Miller was cited Oct. 14, by a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission officer, at Grove Lake’s south bridge.