RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: A seasoned criminal who gained notoriety as the Riverside "snake burglar" pled guilty to more than four dozen felony charges on Thursday, July 27. Christopher Michael Paul Jackson, 33, was promptly sentenced to a prison term, which he was anticipated to avoid serving, as well as 12 years of probation.
Jackson, who has numerous convictions in his name, admitted to 54 counts of burglary, terminating all of his pending prosecutions in a plea deal with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Superior Court Judge Gary Polk validated the conditions of the agreement and issued the sentence agreed upon by the prosecution and defense: seven months in county jail and 12 years of mandatory supervision. Polk also ordered him to pay $158,235 in victim compensation, as reported by ABC 7.
Who is Christopher Michael Paul Jackson?
Jackson was imprisoned while his charges were being decided, and as a result, in addition to "mandatory good time" credits under the California Penal Code, his seven-month imprisonment sentence appeared to have been met, allowing him to be freed for time served. Polk mandated that the defendant wear a GPS tracking device with an ankle attachment for the rest of his 12-year probationary period, though. "Unfortunately, this case, although uniquely named, is not unique in California,'' District Attorney Mike Hestrin stated. "It is unconscionable that a habitual offender like Christopher Jackson can steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from hardworking people, admit to it and legally serve less time in jail than the time it will take his hundreds of victims to recoup their losses.''
Why is Jackson called snake burglar?
Jackson, who was on probation at the time of his arrest in April, committed up to 70 break-ins in Moreno Valley and Riverside from last November to April targeting beauty shops, health clinics, and restaurants. Detectives dubbed the convicted felon "snake burglar" due to his tendency to crawl along the floors of companies he'd broken into to dodge motion detection systems. The 33-year-old has already pleaded guilty to 23 offenses and was sentenced to six sentences of 16 months in prison, but he only served 10 days due to overcrowding in the penal system.
DA blames California's laws
The "snake burglar" has been tied to more than 70 commercial burglaries in the Riverside area since July 2021, claimed Fox 11. Riverside County prosecutors say the sentence was excessively mild. Hestrin's office faulted California's laws for the light sentence in a statement. "Despite the quantity of convictions, because of the ‘non-violent’ nature of his crimes, and as a direct result of Proposition 47 and AB109, Jackson was not eligible to receive any prison time," the statement read. "Due to California’s Penal Code section 4019, which gives county jail inmates ‘good time’ credit for time in custody, Jackson was expected to be released from custody after today’s sentencing."
'Something has to change'
Brian Perrone, whose sandwich shop D'Elia's Grinders was one of the places burgled, was outraged by Jackson's overt smile throughout the sentencing and was forced to read a victim statement in his presence. "What in this sentence being ordered today will stop this criminal and self-declared drug addict from doing this again?" Perrone asked after losing $2,500. "Something has to change, somebody has to start paying attention, the people have to start paying attention to the fact that the laws are created by lawmakers in the state and we’re allowing it," Perrone later told KTLA.
