Long Beach

A former employee of a Long Beach firm was sentenced Tuesday to three years in state prison for stealing diesel engine parts from company stock.

The district attorney’s office said John Phillip Sanchez, 42, took about $100,000 worth of parts from Harbor Diesel and Equipment Inc. between September, 1980, and February, 1982, while employed as the company’s parts manager. Deputy Dist. Atty. Al Botello of the major fraud division said Sanchez was accused of fencing the parts through co-defendant Werner Schwenzfeier, 47, who is accused of selling them to repair shops.

Sanchez pleaded no contest to one count of grand theft. Schwenzfeier is awaiting a preliminary hearing.