Gaining Credit
An inmate of the County Jail since his arrest last March 6 in El Segundo on charges of robbing a water dispensing machine at a Ralphs supermarket, Mr. Vera will receive credit for time served.
This has been computed to be 288 days, which is 9 months-plus.
He actually has been incarcerated for only a little over 6 months, less than 200 days.
Not 1-for-1
But Dep. District Atty. Belle Chen explained to the newspaper that under the penal code, prisoners receive 6 days credit for every 4 days they serve. The concept is called good time/work time.
This will leave about 7 months of hard time still to be fulfilled, bringing Mr. Veras expected release to late winter or early spring.
Ms. Chen judged the sentence to be fair.
A Not-Unusual Plea
Mr. Vera, a 41-year-old former reserve police officer, pleaded no contest to 3 felony counts that covered robberies of a Motor Avenue entertainment business that he apparently had become familiar with through business dealings by his father. He also pleaded no contest to the Ralphs robbery.
Rehabilitation
Since going to jail at the end of last winter, Mr. Vera has been involved in a drug rehabilitation program, officials said.
This is by far the longest time Mr. Vera ever has been jailed, and it is the first time he has been sentenced to prison.
