Man sentenced for burglary, theft

A man who stole to support a drug habit has been sentenced to two years in prison, with credit given to the time he has already served since his arrest six months ago.

The defendant, Davis Clyde Diaz, was originally sentenced to five years for burglary but it was suspended except for two years, with credit for time served in prison.

In a court ruling released yesterday, Superior Court associate judge Ramona V. Manglona sentenced Diaz to one-year imprisonment for criminal mischief and another year for misdemeanor theft. Both sentences gave credit for the time that Diaz had already served and are to run concurrently.

The judge said the defendant shall be out on supervised probation during the suspended sentence.

He is also required to write an apology to the victim, Delia Kristobol, and pay a restitution of nearly $1,000.

Manglona said that Diaz, single and a relative minor, broke into the victim’s bedroom in January this year, proceeded to an attached retail store, and took cigarettes, liquor, beer, and butane.

“The defendant stole things not to support himself for survival, but ‘to do something exciting’ to satisfy his vices… This is unacceptable and the defendant needs to be taught a very important lesson,” he said.

The defendant got the items “to get his quick butane high and to get his alcohol and cigarettes, all addictive materials,” said Manglona.

In coming up with a decision, Manglona said she took into consideration Diaz’s “troubled upbringing.” She said Diaz comes from a broken home where both his parents are also drug users.

His father is presently in prison for a drug-related conviction and his mother’s conduct resulted in the defendant and his siblings being placed in foster homes in Idaho.

At the sentencing, Manglona said that Diaz admitted that his addiction to sniffing gas led him to commit the crime.

“The court accepts the defendant’s sincere statements as an indication of his efforts toward rehabilitation,” she said.

Manglona said, though, that Diaz is not new to the criminal justice system, saying he previously pleaded guilty to the same crime—burglary. In the prior case, he faced five years of imprisonment.

Further, Manglona said that Diaz, who committed his crime with a minor, should have known better and guided the younger relative in the right direction.

“If he cannot restrain himself for his own sake, this court must act to restrain him in order to protect the community,” said Manglona.

The judge, at the same time, said she hopes that the jail sentence would deter other people from committing such crimes.