Global Courant
The two men who broke into Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ Baldwin Vista home last year and stole two guns were sentenced to prison on Tuesday.
Patricio Munoz and Juan Espinoza pleaded not one count of burglary and grand larceny of a firearm, respectively, in a court hearing Tuesday morning in downtown LA, said Tiffiny Blacknell, communications director for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
Munoz was sentenced to two years in prison, she said. Espinoza, who was previously convicted of burglary, has been sentenced to 32 months, Blacknell said.
The crime took place on Sept. 9, with the burglars taking two rifles — later identified as .38-caliber revolvers — but leaving behind cash and electronics, Bass said at the time. Bass, then a congressman, said she had the guns for her protection and they were locked in a safe in her closet.
The break-in quickly became an issue in the Los Angeles mayoral race, with candidate Rick Caruso accusing Bass of not properly storing her guns.
At a Sept. 21 debate at USC, Bass said she was shocked that Caruso would blame her if she had been the victim of a crime and when she had previously called him to express her concern about a burglary at the Grove, the fancy mall. he owns.
Bass’s office declined to comment on the verdicts on Tuesday. The office declined to comment on whether Bass’s guns had been returned.
At the time of the arrest last year, Munoz and Espinoza each gave false names, police said. Espinoza was on parole for burglary and had an arrest warrant for violating parole at the time of the crime, police said.
Times staff writer Julia Wick contributed to this report.
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