Richer, Wiser Winner Returns to Jail

One day after winning $50,000 in the California lottery, Salvador Valencia Rodriguez was back in the Orange County Jail--this time for at least four months.

Rodriguez, 20, who had been released from jail to spin the lottery wheel, raised some concern Tuesday when he arrived late at Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach, but eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of possessing PCP, marijuana and stolen property, stemming from an Oct. 31 arrest.

Before going back behind bars, the Santa Ana man said he wanted to concentrate on putting his legal troubles behind him. “I will celebrate later,” he added.

Judge Christopher Strople sentenced Rodriguez to 90 days in jail, to run consecutively with at least 150 days of jail time Rodriguez owes for guilty pleas in two other misdemeanor cases. Even with credit for time served, he faces at least four months incarceration.

Rodriguez had failed to turn himself in to jail officials on the two previous cases, but was in jail when he learned his name had been chosen to spin the lottery wheel. The county public defender’s office, with help from a probation officer, persuaded a judge to let Rodriguez out in time for the big spin.

After winning the $50,000 on Monday, Rodriguez said it would change his life, drastically. “From now on, I’m going to stay out of trouble,” he said.

When Rodriguez failed to make his scheduled 9 a.m. court appearance, Strople threatened to issue a bench warrant. But the judge decided to give him until the afternoon, after Deputy Public Defender Shari Leininger said her client might not have understood what time he was to appear.

Rodriguez arrived shortly before court convened at 1:30 p.m., explaining that he had been to a civil court hearing in Santa Ana with his mother, and did not know his Newport Beach court appearance had been set for the morning.

Strople immediately ordered him into custody. The judge told Rodriguez he would allow him to leave the jail to cash his lottery check (which is coming in the mail), but only in the company of a county marshal, and only if Rodriguez agreed to pay whatever expenses are involved.

Strople also ordered Rodriguez to pay restitution in the earlier burglary case, about $600. The judge’s order did not include a bill for Rodriguez’s representation by the public defender’s office. Leininger said she expected an assessment would be made later.

A trial date for Rodriguez was to have been set Tuesday. But after a conference in Strople’s chambers, Leininger told Rodriguez what kind of sentence he could expect on a guilty plea to the charges in his Oct. 31 arrest.

“He looked at all the circumstances, and decided to take it,” she said.

Rodriguez’ mother, Evelia Delgado, who accompanied him to court Tuesday, said her son knew he was going to jail. Asked if she thought her son’s lottery windfall would keep him out of trouble, she responded: “I think so. He promised me it would.”