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Posted By: Byron Tripp
Tuesday March 2nd, 2010 - 3:37PM
Robert Ferguson who stole a bag of shredded cheese from a 7 Eleven was sentenced to 10 years, of which he will have to further serve 7 years and 8 months. Mr. Ferguson has already spent 829 days in the county jail awaiting trial. Yolo County Prosecutors had originally sought a life sentence for Ferguson, this incident being his third of the State's 'three strikes' program. Mr. Ferguson's prior record included 13 prior convictions, 6 for burglary and 1 with assault for throwing a soda can at one of his siblings when he was a minor. Psychologists say Mr. Ferguson has kleptomaniac issues or phases of stealing. Mr. Ferguson will be eligible for parole in three years.
Written by Hudson Sangree - Courtesy of: www.sacbee.com
Woodland cheese shoplifter gets 7 years 8 months in prison
A Yolo County judge on Monday sentenced a man who walked out of a store with a package of cheese in his trousers to seven years and eight months in prison.
Prosecutors had originally sought a life sentence for Robert Ferguson under the state's "three strikes" law. They dropped that bid last month, saying a psychological report had convinced them that a life sentence wasn't warranted.
At Monday's hearing, Deputy District Attorney Clinton Parish urged Judge Thomas Warriner to consider at least one of Ferguson's prior strikes – one for burglary and another for assault with a deadly weapon – and to sentence him to a lengthy term.
Parish said Ferguson was a career criminal who wouldn't change. He had 13 prior convictions and had spent 22 of the past 27 years behind bars, yet still would not obey the law, the prosecutor said.
