BY JOSEPH LAW
Standard Journal
REXBURG — Allen A. Hernandez, 28, of Blackfoot was sentenced Monday at the Madison Courthouse after admitting to stealing items from a storage unit in Rexburg on July 25.
As a result of a plea agreement reached Aug. 19, Hernandez pleaded guilty to burglary and a charge of grand theft was dropped.
On the burglary charge District Judge Gregory Moeller sentenced Hernandez to eight years in prison, two years determinate and six years indeterminate. However, Moeller retained jurisdiction for up to a year requiring that Hernandez go through a “rider,” Idaho’s treatment and evaluation program to determine whether he may be a candidate for probation.
Hernandez was also fined $750 and must pay restitution for a computer monitor damaged in the thefts. The other items taken were recovered intact.
According to Rexburg police, Hernandez was spotted on July 25 at a storage unit complex on Pioneer Road by the owner, who recognized many of his construction tools stacked on the back seat of Hernandez’s car.
The owner contacted police while he was following the car south on U.S. Highway 20 and got a plate number.
With the plate number Rexburg police were able to contact the Blackfoot Police Department who picked up Hernandez at a residence in Blackfoot.
At the sentencing hearing Monday, Hernandez’s attorney Nathan D. Rivera, characterized Hernandez as a young man who had grown up in a troubled home, but who has high aspirations and is now attending Idaho State University learn engineering.
“In a moment of really bad decision making, he took some items that didn’t belong to him,” Rivera said.
Moeller told Hernandez he recognized the fact that Hernandez came from a troubled upbringing, but said his criminal behavior in this case and several previous offenses is a paradox considering his obvious hard work at the university.
“I’m just disappointed that I put myself in this position,” Hernandez told Moeller. “I am in school right now. I know it doesn’t look good. My goal is not to be a career criminal.”
Moeller said the rider will give Hernandez a chance to “get out of the pattern of criminal thinking.”
The judge allowed Hernandez to continue to be free on his own recognizance to complete the current semester at the university, but he will have to report to the Madison County Jail on Dec. 26.