A Gilroy local man accused of stealing from people
’s homes while they slept has a substantial rap sheet. Not only
had he tried his hand at burglary before, but he served more than a
year in jail for cumulative driving-under-the-influence
convictions. Now Robert Heredia is in jail on three felony charges,
and he could face more if fingerprints lin
k him to four other cat burglaries in south Gilroy on Oct.
16.
A Gilroy local man accused of stealing from people’s homes while they slept has a substantial rap sheet. Not only had he tried his hand at burglary before, but he served more than a year in jail for cumulative driving-under-the-influence convictions.
Now Robert Heredia is in jail on three felony charges, and he could face more if fingerprints link him to four other cat burglaries in south Gilroy on Oct. 16.
Heredia faces two counts of burglary for sneaking into two homes on Santa Theresa Drive between 4:30-5 a.m. Nov. 2. He also faces a grand theft charge for a separate incident, in which police say he paid his family’s $933 phone bill with a blank, voided check from an employer who had just fired him.
Heredia and his attorney, Public Defender Jennifer Green, put off entering pleas to these three charges in court in San Martin on Tuesday. He will appear again on Jan. 5 to enter pleas.
If convicted of all three, he could face a maximum of 18 years in prison. The burglaries would also count as his second and third strikes according to California law, making him eligible in the future for a 25-years-to-life sentence for any serious felony.
Several crimes and punishments, as well as a drug problem, stain the recent past of Heredia, 44, a former barber and truck driver who grew up in Gilroy.
On June 6, 2001, Heredia was convicted of attempted burglary in Monterey County and sentenced to 200 days in jail, a $200 restitution fine and three years of formal probation, according to court records there.
Heredia will violate that probation if he is convicted of any new crimes, including those he now faces. Monterey County district attorneys have the option of pressing a probation-violation charge against him, although they haven’t yet. If they do, and if Heredia is convicted in Santa Clara County, he would appear in Monterey County court after the case here closes but before he serves further incarceration time.
In Santa Clara County, Heredia served more than a year behind bars in the mid-1990s for DUI-related offenses. On May 15, 1994, a judge sentenced him to 12 months in jail for multiple DUI convictions. After his release, he violated his probation and was sentenced to another 16 months. He probably served much less than that, however, due to prior jail credits, Deputy District Attorney Mark Hood said.
Heredia also had some sort of drug problem when he was arrested this latest time. His attorney noted in court Tuesday that he is participating in a drug-treatment program in jail.
Meanwhile, Morgan Hill police were investigating Heredia in the grand-theft case, as well as a man named John Soriano, whom Heredia was letting live in his garage at the time.
Morgan Hill police filed the charge against Heredia Nov. 20 while he already was in jail for burglary.
