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Man who broke into lawyer’s car gets 30-day prison term
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Posted on Nov 07 2006
A man who burglarized a car belonging to a lawyer pleaded guilty yesterday in the Superior Court.
Antonio I. Sablan, 44, signed a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to theft.
Associate judge David A. Wiseman accepted Sablan’s plea and sentenced him to one year in prison, all suspended except for 30 days.
Wiseman gave Sablan credit for 10 days that he already served in jail.
The judge placed the defendant on one year of probation and required him to pay a $250 fine, $25 in court assessment fee, plus probation fee.
Wiseman directed Sablan to perform 80 hours of community work service and write a letter of apology to the victim, assistant public defender Douglas Hartig. During the probationary period, Sablan is barred from drinking alcoholic beverages.
A review hearing was set for April 5, 2007, to determine whether the defendant has complied with the terms and conditions of the sentence.
The Attorney General’s Office charged Sablan with burglary and theft. For pleading guilty to theft, the burglary charge was dismissed.
The agreement stated that Sablan took $37 from Hartig’s car on June 1, 2006. Hartig’s wife, attorney Heather Kennedy, called the Department of Public Safety that same day to report the burglary. Police arrested Sablan in July.
Detective George F. David said investigation showed that Hartig parked his Toyota Tercel near a bus stop on the shoulder of the main road in San Vicente. Hartig then went jogging at Laulau Bay.
When Kennedy passed the area, she saw Hartig’s car with somebody inside it so she pulled over. She, however, realized it was not her husband inside the car.
Kennedy approached the car and told the man that she would call the police. The suspect walked away and jumped into another car.
Police later found out that the vehicle was registered to Sablan’s girlfriend. The girlfriend told police that she gave her car’s key to Sablan when she went off island.
On June 19, 2006, Kennedy identified the defendant in a photo line up as the person who broke into Hartig’s vehicle.
