District attorney says former sheriff’s sergeant engaged in ‘years of lying and false and fraudulent representations and conduct’
Former Washoe County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dennis Carry, who pleaded guilty to three felonies in December after initially pleading not guilty to seven felony charges, said in a statement to Washoe County Second Judicial District Court that his history as a cybercrime detective is part of what lead to him committing crimes.
According to the plea deal announced late last year, the three counts—forgery, bigamy and offering false evidence—could amount to four years in prison on each charge.
“For nearly 23 years, I wrote horrific reports documenting people’s horrendous and cruel physical assaults on people,” his defendant statement notes. The statement was published Thursday after being submitted to the court in late February. “I wrote extremely disturbing details of abuse to children and others and yet at this moment, I find myself writing about myself and having such difficulty writing as an observer of my actions or as the person seeking mercy for my actions. I’m not sure if I’m both.”
Carry said, from his experience, criminal defendants write letters of apologies or pleas for mercy in sentencing to “benefit themselves of their best option at the time. Knowing this, or believe this, I worry about the perception of my statement and find myself wondering, why would anyone even believe me, especially after my actions that brought me here?”
He said his actions involved “lying, deceitful conduct” he only could try to explain, adding that he had a “depressing and traumatic life, but when I compare it to the lives other people had, it’s difficult to give myself any sympathy.”
He said his actions, which included still being married to his now ex-wife while also getting married to a federal judge, were not motivated by money or to benefit his career. One of the three felonies to which he pleaded guilty is forgery, for falsifying court documents in an attempt to show he had divorced his first wife. A charge of burgling the courthouse to commit the forgery was dropped.
“There is significant public interest in prosecuting Forgery and Offering False Evidence, as well as Bigamy, particularly when committed by a public official charged with enforcing the very laws that were broken.’– Chief Deputy District Attorney Luke Prengaman
“When I made these decisions, I had already started down a dark road, not of committing crimes, but being overwhelmed with absolutely everything,” he wrote.
Since his arrest in 2021, after a two-year investigation, Carry has been building a business in Oregon. In his statement, he complained that people in local law enforcement interfered with his business.
“In at least seven incidents since my arrest in 2021, I’ve obtained various contracts for work in narrow fields I have experience with that were thwarted by someone from a local Washoe County law enforcement agency,” he wrote. “In five of the incidents I learned directly that two different people had learned I obtained the contracts and called them to get them canceled. The other two incidents involved the pure luck of Google searches in which my company name had been used in the affidavit information and is available online.”
Carry said he is not seeking sympathy but is asking the court for compassion.
“Am I offended people are doing this, yes, but it’s once again my actions that caused it,” he wrote. “Part of my punishment regardless of your decision will be accepting and dealing with it. Financially, I will end up defaulting on virtually everything if incarcerated. I believe I’ll be portrayed as some long running scam artist, but that’s just not who I was or am today.”
He said he wants to go to Oregon, where he’s lived since 2019 “and get myself through issues I was scared to admit I had. I want to sleep through an entire night and want to help others recognize it’s ok to get help when needed.”
Read Carry’s complete statement below. He is scheduled to be sentenced at district court on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
District Attorney’s office pushes back
The District Attorney’s office intends to present evidence at Tuesday’s sentencing hearing detailing Carry’s actions, including how he ended up being married to two women simultaneously. Carry’s actions include “years of lies” and plans to forge a divorce decree, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Luke Prengaman.
“There is significant public interest in prosecuting Forgery and Offering False Evidence, as well as Bigamy, particularly when committed by a public official charged with enforcing the very laws that were broken, and particularly when the resources of the public office were used to facilitate commission of the crimes,” Prengaman wrote in a sentencing memo to the court.
Prengaman noted that Carry gave false evidence to a Reno Police detective investigating the case and began “creating and issuing, under color of office in his official capacity as a law enforcement officer,” a ruse to cover his tracks.
“The Defendant also essentially attacked [his first wife’s] credibility,” Prengaman wrote. “He asserted she was not being truthful in describing their relationship, nor in her denials of having seen or signing the divorce paperwork.”
Prengaman said Carry had at least four forged divorce documents, as well as forged emails and a forged receipt from a fake company. He also lied to detectives and lied under oath about his alleged divorce, Prengaman added.
“Over the course of months, the Defendant used work equipment, used resources only available and entrusted to him because he was a sworn law enforcement officer (such as key-card access to the courthouse, police information systems and databases, administrative subpoenas and information from cellular service providers, undercover credentials), used his position with [internet crimes against children task force], and used his knowledge of police investigations to further his planned cover up,” Prengaman wrote.
“This was not the result of a momentary lapse, nor can it be attributed to an isolated, anomalous instance or period of ‘not thinking clearly,’” he continued. “The Defendant’s conduct involved long term, consistent courses of conduct—weeks, months, years of lying and false and fraudulent representations and conduct designed and intended to advance the lies and cover up his wrongdoing.
“It involved planning and substantial efforts consistently expended over significant time. It involved numerous deliberate and intentional choices, a commitment to dishonesty as a way of living, and a willingness to knowingly and intentionally break the law, that is revealing of the Defendant’s character.”
Read This Is Reno’s 2021 investigation into Carry’s charges:
