Drug Prosecution Conviction

WCDA Sentencing Result in Drug Trafficking Case

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has announced that Jacob Belford, 35, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison following convictions in two cases that occurred in 2016. Belford pled guilty in March and based on the sentence, he will not be eligible for parole until a minimum of 10 years has been served.

On September 9, 2016, after being released from federal prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Reno Police Department (RPD) patrol officers conducted a traffic stop on Jacob Belford for driving erratically. The officers discovered that Belford’s driver’s license was revoked and attempted to place him under arrest. Belford fought and at one point reached for one of the officer’s duty belt. After striking that officer, the RPD officers gained control of Belford and three bags of a white crystal substance fell from the Defendant. Officers searched Belford’s car and found 89 grams of cocaine, over $13,000 in cash in the center console, over $3,000 in cash on Belford, and a loaded handgun.

After bailing out of jail on October 27, 2016, RPD again located Belford in connection with an active federal warrant connected to his release in the federal case. When contacting Belford, the RPD officers found 18 grams of cocaine, a digital scale, and a knife in his possession. Belford was returned to federal custody and when released again from federal prison in 2018, he was extradited to Washoe County to face charges in the two 2016 cases. Once again, while out on bail and awaiting disposition of the 2016 cases, RPD detectives began an investigation into Belford after obtaining information that he was trafficking large amounts of narcotics. Detectives subsequently arrested Belford after he hid two pounds of methamphetamine and 16 grams of cocaine in the front yard of a Reno neighborhood.

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Hoppe highlighted the Defendant’s violent criminal history, the involvement of firearms in his crimes, and the fact that his crimes are repeatedly committed in Washoe County. This case represented the Defendant’s fourth and fifth felony convictions.

DDA Hoppe is assigned as the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) prosecutor, which focuses on the disruption and prosecution of drug traffickers in Washoe County. For more information on the WCDA’s Office HIDTA Prosecutor Program, please contact the PIO.