C. Arnholt Smith Leaves Jail in Dark of Night

Behind a blaze of light to blind television cameras and a curtain of coats covering his car windows, convicted financier C. Arnholt Smith rode away from jail minutes after midnight Sunday after serving less than eight months of his one-year term.

Smith, the former “Mr. San Diego” convicted of stealing $8.9 million from one of his companies, left the county Work Furlough Center in San Diego at 12:45 a.m., said Doug Abischer, a supervisor at the center.

Smith rode off in a car driven by a man identified as a bodyguard by one county official. Another bodyguard shone a light into the cameras of television crews that had turned out for the event, shielding Smith from view, television stations reported.

Neither Smith nor his lawyer could be reached Sunday for comment.

Smith, who is 86, was once one of San Diego’s most powerful men. He owned the San Diego Padres, the Yellow Cab Co. of San Diego, and the now-defunct U.S. National Bank. He was a friend of Richard M. Nixon and was named “Mr. San Diego” in 1966.

But he was convicted in 1979 on one count of felony grand theft for stealing $8.9 million from his securities company, Sovereign State Capital. He also was convicted of four felony tax fraud charges, later reduced to misdemeanors.

Smith’s original sentence of three years on an honor farm and five years’ probation was reduced to 365 days through appeals that kept Smith free for five years. He finally served 42 days in the County Jail downtown and six months in the Work Furlough Center.

County officials last week called Smith “a model inmate” and said he was being released early for good behavior. They said every inmate gets a third of his sentence off if he breaks no rules; those in crowded facilities get an additional five days off.

The Work Furlough Center is used mainly for men convicted repeatedly of drunk driving. They work their regular jobs, sleeping at the center. Smith was sent there because of his age: the center is closer to hospitals than are the county’s honor camps, so it is used for inmates in fragile health.

Smith did not work outside the facility. Instead, he was the center’s gardener.

Abischer said inmates at the center may leave at any time on their day of release. Some, like Smith, leave shortly after midnight, he said.