La Mesa
Michael Bang, former Grossmont College student body president, could be sentenced to three years in prison after admitting Wednesday that he violated probation by fleeing to Texas instead of reporting to a work furlough program.
Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz scheduled a Nov. 4 sentencing for Bang, 27, who admitted stealing $20,500 in student funds when he and three other student leaders embarked on a $30,000 Beverly Hills spending spree in 1987.
Domnitz also authorized a psychological study of Bang, requested by his newly appointed attorney, Patricia Ulibarri, which could present the judge with reasons to impose a sentence of less than three years.
The request was prompted primarily by Bang’s adverse emotional reaction to being returned to jail, where he was first housed in a protective, isolated area.
“He seemed to be in perfectly good mental health until he was arrested,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Sally Williams said outside court.
When Bang pleaded guilty to grand theft in June, he was placed on five years’ probation and ordered to serve one year in jail. Two months later, Domnitz agreed to let Bang serve the balance of his jail term in the San Diego work furlough program, but Bang never showed up.
He was found by Texas authorities in Houston three weeks ago, and was returned to the downtown San Diego County Jail.
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