Thief Gets 6-Month Term in Own Home

A former district supervisor for the Southern California Gas Co. was sentenced Wednesday to 182 days of house arrest and three years’ probation after pleading guilty to grand theft for billing the company for construction work at his home.

James R. McCormick, 45, of Sunland was also ordered by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert T. Altman to pay $9,000 in restitution to the company and perform 400 hours of community service.

While under house arrest, McCormick must stay inside his home and is only allowed to leave to go to work or seek health care, a court official said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard A. Lowenstein said he requested that McCormick serve prison time and “was not thrilled” with the more unconventional house-arrest sentence.

But McCormick’s attorney, Jack L. Rudofsky, called the sentence “a very just decision.” He said his client, a self-employed construction worker, “does not belong in state prison” because he has no prior criminal record and suffers from high blood pressure.

“He is guilty of very bad judgment,” Rudofsky said. “But he did not line his pockets with silver.”

In April, McCormick pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft for billing the gas company for about $13,000 worth of materials and labor for work performed at his home and horse stable between August, 1983, and March, 1986. He was arrested in September, 1987.

McCormick had directed crews to erect fences, install gates and build corrals at his property, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office said.

McCormick had worked for the gas company for 23 years, supervising crews operating out of a facility in Glendale. He was fired in June, 1986, after the company investigated allegations in an anonymous letter about his activities.

A former assistant to McCormick, Gary Robbins, 33, of Sylmar, has pleaded innocent to charges that he forged receipts and other documents for his boss.

Robbins’ trial is scheduled to begin next month, Lowenstein said.