Parolee pleads no contest in theft from church donation boxes
A parolee accused of stealing from church donation boxes in Glendale and Burbank has pleaded no contest to two counts of burglary, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Wednesday.
Peter Manuel Galindro, 52, was apprehended earlier this month at his mother's home by a law enforcement task force made up of Glendale and Downey police as well as the U.S. Marshal's Service.
Burbank Superior Court Judge Patrick Hegarty immediately sentenced Galindro to two years in state prison and ordered him to pay $200 in restitution to Holy Family Catholic Church in Glendale and St. Finbar's Catholic Church in Burbank.
The charges include thefts on Sept. 7 and Dec. 27, 2010. Galindro also admitted half a dozen previous offenses, including five theft convictions between February 1990 and January 2008, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Galindro, who was on parole for burglary at the time of his arrest, pleaded "open" to the court, "meaning the plea was not a negotiated settlement with the district attorney's office."
Glendale police officials said the donation boxes had been opened with a pick device. The money stolen included funds earmarked for Haiti relief efforts, said Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz.
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-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Peter Manuel Galindro. Credit. Glendale Police Department
EDITOR'S PICKS:
Isn't anyone else going to mention that this man looks a lot like Speaker Boehner? Okay, I'll say it.
Posted by: Evan Gore | January 26, 2011 at 05:39 PM
Sounds like a fair sentence.
Posted by: Alex P. Gomez | January 27, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Gee, a task force. How mch did law enforcement spend catching this henious criminal?
Posted by: Nelson Corn | January 28, 2011 at 07:59 AM