Santa Clara Co. DA makes personal plea in Home Depot sentencing case
Santa Clara Co. DA to make personal plea in Home Depot sentencing case
In a rare move, District Attorney Jeff Rosen plans to speak to the judge himself at the hearing.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge will take more time to decide on the sentencing for a group of thieves who pleaded guilty to organizing a retail theft ring targeting Home Depot stores in several Northern California counties.
According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, four men robbed Home Depot stores in at least 11 counties in more than 200 incidents, stealing merchandise worth more than $90,000. The men are accused of selling the stolen goods at flea markets in Oakland and San Jose.
In a rare move, District Attorney Jeff Rosen spoke before what was supposed to be sentencing day for the defendants, to send a message to the court system.
"The previous indication has been a probation sentence," said Rosen, speaking about potential sentencing for the defendants. "I don't know if that's what the court is going to do, but it's wrong. This case says prison."
Santa Clara County DA speaks on Home Depot retail theft ring
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen spoke Wednesday morning on a case involving a man who pleaded guilty to organizing a retail theft ring where he and others targeted Home Depot stores.
Rosen believes the defendants - Adolfo Duarte-Herrera and Wilmer Ayala – are the most culpable offenders and either directly stole, or worked as the getaway drivers in most of those cases.
They're asking for five to six years in prison.
Representatives from Home Depot spoke outside the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice.
"It's about protecting people who shop, work and protect our communities," said Larry Caylor, the Director of Asset Protection for Home Depot's Western Region.
The judge presiding over the case continued the sentencing hearing to another date, likely pressured by the district attorney's office to reconsider a more strict punishment.
Rosen said that gives the judge more time to evaluate how to sentence the defendant.
"I'm encouraged that the sentencing will be put off for some time in order for a more appropriate sentence to be given," he said.
A special retail theft task force busted the ring in April using state grant money. And then, another state-funded task force within the district attorney's office prosecuted the cases, pushing for strict penalties.
"Given the severity of the cases, in terms of the number of incidents these individuals are involved with, the number of thefts that occurred, the fact that this was in multiple jurisdictions, over 10 counties, involving over 200 incidents, we hope the court will ultimately sentence these defendants to an appropriate sentence, which we believe is prison, instead of probation," Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Edward Liang told KTVU.
Rosen says a new law allows the Santa Clara County DA's office to combine all the crimes into one and prosecute them together, rather than in each individual jurisdiction.
"Now we're using a new law, specifically created by our state legislature to allow us to band together across county lines to bring a crew that terrorized more than 30 Home Depots in cities across the Bay Area, to bring them to justice in one place, here in San Jose."
All four men were charged and plead guilty to grand theft, retail theft, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy. Herrera was also wanted for a probation violation and has a prior history of retail theft.
Liang and Rosen say anything less than prison time will send the wrong message to organized retail theft criminals.