Local News in Brief : Ex-Staffer at Jackson Home Pleads No Contest in Thefts
A former member of the cleaning staff at singer Michael Jackson’s Encino home pleaded no contest Wednesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to a charge of grand theft.
Arthur Lee Stewart, 21, was charged in July with the theft of $17,000 in jewelry and cash belonging to the singer’s mother and sisters.
Jackson’s mother, Katherine, 56, and sisters Janet, 20, and LaToya, 30, told police that several items, including a $7,500 Rolex watch, three diamond rings and a diamond necklace, were taken from the family’s home on Hayvenhurst Avenue from January through June, prosecutors said.
Stewart admitted that he took the watch, two rings and $300 in cash, but denied any other thefts, police said.
Prosecutors said that, in exchange for the no-contest plea, they would seek a sentence of no more than 16 months in state prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lloyd M. Nash said. Stewart could have been sentenced to three years on the charge, Nash said.
Stewart first came under suspicion in June after he gave Janet Jackson only one of two $100 bills that she had left in the glove compartment of her Mercedes-Benz, prosecutors said. He was fired from the household staff later that month.
Stewart is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10 by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Richard A. Adler.
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