XPost: alt.california, alt.politics.democrats, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   ul. 27—Victims of Christopher Michael Jackson are outraged that the so-   
   called Snake Burglar, who admitted to stealing from dozens of Riverside   
   County businesses, has apparently managed to slither away one more time —   
   from a jail sentence.   
      
   Jackson, who turns 33 next week, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in   
   Riverside on Thursday, July 27, to 54 felony burglary counts. He was   
   sentenced to seven months in jail, but with credit for time served, was   
   freed before sunset.   
      
   Jackson was ordered to wear an ankle monitor for almost 12 years, pay more   
   than $150,000 in restitution and stay away from a list of 54 businesses in   
   Riverside and Moreno Valley that he admitted burglarizing. Jackson was   
   also ordered to participate in a six-month residential drug treatment   
   program at the Coachella Rescue Mission.   
      
   "I can't believe they are going to release him like that. Fifty-four   
   felonies!" Lori Hajj, the co-owner of Rustic Roots Salon in Riverside and   
   one of Jackson's victims, said Thursday. "I don't feel like there's a   
   justice system anymore."   
      
   Jackson found a way to repeatedly defeat security systems by breaking into   
   stores through roofs or adjacent businesses and avoiding detection from   
   motion sensors by crawling on his belly along the floor.   
      
   At Rustic Roots in November 2021, he stole hundreds of dollars of   
   merchandise, cash from the register and a safe containing $8,000 — money   
   that Hajj planned to use to upgrade the business.   
      
   "After COVID, just to get our doors open was a struggle. And for him to   
   steal that much cash, it really set us back," Hajj said.   
      
   In January 2022, Jackson burrowed his way from a neighboring business into   
   Crown Gold Exchange in Riverside to steal $15,000 worth of silver. Co-   
   owner Cesar Meyer said Thursday that he not only lost the silver, but he   
   also had to pay for repairs and to upgrade his security equipment.   
      
   "I think the sentence for the types of crimes he's committed, how many   
   crimes he's committed, is extremely lenient. It's ridiculous," Meyer said.   
   "It's just catch and release what we are doing now? We are fishing for   
   criminals?"   
      
   The District Attorney's Office said the judge in Jackson's case was bound   
   by state laws governing where and how much time Jackson could serve. One   
   of the laws, Prop. 47, was approved by voters when it was on the ballot as   
   the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.   
      
   Prop. 47, enacted in 2014, aims to keep what are described as non-serious,   
   non-violent and non-sexual offenders out of state prison by reducing   
   certain felonies to misdemeanors. The money savings is intended to go to   
   victim services, K-12 schools and mental health and drug treatment.   
      
   Additionally, AB109, passed by the state legislature and signed into law   
   by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011, requires many of the "three nons" to serve   
   their sentences in county jails instead of prisons. And it is those "nons"   
   who are typically released first when jails become overcrowded.   
      
   "Unfortunately, this case, although uniquely named, is not unique in   
   California," District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a written statement.   
   "It is unconscionable that a habitual offender like Christopher Jackson   
   can steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from hard-working people, admit   
   to it, and legally serve less time in jail than the time it will take his   
   hundreds of victims to recoup their losses."   
      
   Attempts to change incarceration laws have largely failed, and law   
   enforcement leaders have walked away from hearings at the state Capitol   
   feeling frustrated that lawmakers, seeking to avoid adding to the prison   
   population, failed to heed their pleas for tougher sentences.   
      
   One of those leaders is Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez, who is   
   serving as the president of the Association of Riverside County Chiefs of   
   Police and Sheriff.   
      
   "It's disheartening to witness the current state of law in California   
   regarding serial thieves and the lack of appropriate punishment they   
   receive," Gonzalez said Thursday. "The suspects continue to exploit the   
   system, and they are causing chaos and havoc in the community. We need   
   stricter penalties. The current leniency allows them to operate with   
   impunity and undermine the efforts of our police officers, and that leaves   
   our citizens feeling vulnerable and unprotected."   
      
   Police have arrested Jackson many times over the years and obtained   
   convictions, yet he has only briefly been behind bars.   
      
   Riverside police burglary detectives, in a December interview about the   
   rise in thefts from businesses that were numbering in the hundreds each   
   week, expressed frustration with the system that allows Jackson to walk.   
      
   "It's breaking our hearts because we don't have any teeth anymore to stop   
   these guys," Detective Scott Levesque said.   
      
   Levesque said at the time that Jackson had recently been sentenced to 16   
   months in jail for committing 21 burglaries during which he netted from   
   $20 to $20,000. Jackson served seven days, the detective said.   
      
   Detectives even tried filing one charge at a time against Jackson in an   
   effort to slow him down. It didn't work.   
      
   "We put a lot of time and effort into these cases. We write search   
   warrants, we spend hours and hours on this and a person like that gets out   
   within a few hours. There's no consequences for him, and he knows that,"   
   Levesque said.   
      
   "We need something to change in the law for us to be able to actually have   
   success in stopping these people," he said.   
      
   (c)2023 Daily Breeze, Torrance, Calif. Distributed by Tribune Content   
   Agency, LLC.   
      
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   admits-to-54-felonies-walks-out-of-jail/ar-   
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