By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
A Yolo County judge today sentenced a man who put cheese down his pants to 7 years, 8 months in prison.
Judge Thomas Warriner accepted a probation department recommendation to forgo a life sentence for Robert Ferguson, of Woodland, under the state's "three-strikes" law and to give the man a state prison sentence based on two felony counts of petty theft with prior convictions.
Late last year, Jurors convicted Ferguson on charges that he stole a woman's wallet from a convenience store counter and put a package of shredded cheese worth $3.99 down his pants at Woodland's Nugget Market.
Prosecutors, who charged the petty theft counts as felonies, had initially sought a life sentence under the three-strikes law. They backed off last month, saying a recent psychological evaluation of Ferguson shed new light on the case.
At his sentencing hearing today, defense lawyer Monica Brushia described Ferguson as bipolar, and said his decision to steal the package of Tilllamook cheese was an uncontrollable impulse during a manic episode. He'd paid for other groceries the same day, she said.
Deputy District Attorney Clinton Parish urged the judge to consider at least one of Ferguson's half-dozen prior convictions for first-degree burglary as a strike and to sentence him accordingly.
The man's lengthy criminal history, and the fact that he had reoffended after spending 22 years in prison, qualified him as a "career criminal," Parish told the judge.
Warriner rejected the prosecutor's recommended course of action, as well as defense argument that Ferguson should receive a lesser sentence because of the petty nature of his most recent offenses.
Previous coverage:
Yolo DA drops life sentence bid for cheese thief - Feb. 12, 2010
Cheese in pants may draw life term for Yolo man - Feb. 10, 2010
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