Rapist Singleton Begins Serving Year in Florida Jail for Shoplifting
A man who gained notoriety by raping a California teen-ager and hacking off her arms was sentenced Wednesday to 364 days in jail for stealing a $4 hat, his second shoplifting term since moving to Florida.
During a brief arraignment, Lawrence Singleton, 63, pleaded guilty to charges of petty theft and resisting arrest without violence.
Hillsborough County Judge James Dominguez sentenced him to two consecutive terms totaling 364 days. Singleton was taken from the courtroom to begin the sentence immediately.
He was arrested on Nov. 23 at a Wal-Mart store in Seffner and had been free pending Wednesday’s hearing.
A security guard said Singleton smuggled the white fabric hat out of the store by rolling it up and wedging it between a shopping cart handle and a box of diapers he had paid for.
It was Singleton’s second shoplifting arrest in less than a year. He served two months of a six-month sentence for stealing a $10 camera.
Singleton served eight years of a 14-year sentence in California for raping a 15-year-old girl, cutting off her arms and leaving her to die in the desert. The girl survived.
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