San Diego
A man who fatally beat a 79-year-old man in his Southeast San Diego home has been sentenced to 12 years in state prison.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Gordon Davis said Thursday that Jose Antonio Olivera, 43, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the Feb. 25 death of Harry L. Budd, whose badly beaten body was found Feb. 27 in his home in the 4400 block of Ocean View Boulevard.
Davis said Olivera also pleaded guilty to robbing Budd and requested immediate sentencing Wednesday from San Diego Superior Court Judge Allan Preckel, who also fined Olivera $1,000.
A murder charge was dismissed.
Davis said Budd was a conservator to a woman who knew Olivera. The woman wanted to replace Budd as the conservator and thus be able to cash her government checks, Davis said.
“It was a very brutal clubbing,” Davis said, adding that the weapon was not recovered.
Olivera is a Cuban national who will likely be deported to Cuba after he finishes his sentence, Davis said.
Budd was a retired U.S. Postal Service employee.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
