Four men received prison terms Sept. 16 for the home-invasion robbery of La Jollan cookbook author Jeanne Jones, but two of them smiled and smirked during the sentencing and one began eating a candy bar before a sheriff’s deputy took it away. The disrespectful behavior caused San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Smyth to say, “We had some smirking and idiocy in the box” where the men were seated. Thomas Walter Clark, 42, was given the longest term — 45 years in prison — because he had a prior record for robbery. Aaron Jacob Espinoza, 24, and Hector Guerra, 31, were each handed 26 years and four months in prison. Miguel Ocegueda, 24, the getaway driver who did not enter the philanthropist’s home in the Nov. 5, 2010, incident, was sentenced to 14 years and four months in prison. Smyth ordered all four men to pay Jones more than $13,000 in restitution, which represents the loss of two rings not recovered, damage to a third ring and a broken bedroom door that the robbers tore down. All four were given credit for 362 days already spent in jail and each was fined nearly $10,000. The restitution and fines will be taken from a portion of any prison wages they earn. Neither Jones, 74, nor her husband, Don Breitenberg, were in court. The husband of a nurse who was with Jones that night told the judge about how it affected his wife, and asked that his name not be used. “The recurring nightmares and feeling of anxiousness are only some of the things you are responsible for,” he said to the men. Smyth then noticed that Espinoza was eating a candy bar the defendant smuggled into the courtroom. Food is not allowed to be carried by prisoners. A sheriff’s deputy quickly took it away and Guerra and Espinoza smiled and smirked afterward. They were all dressed in jail clothing and sat in the jury box. Smyth then said the husband’s comments “may or may not have gotten through. We had some smirking and idiocy in the box during the proceedings, but hopefully, it will have some effect.” Deputy District Attorney C.J. Mody said this afterwards: “They have a long time to think about it, so hopefully something will sink in.” All four men pleaded guilty July 8 to two robberies, false imprisonment and felony assault. They took about $30,000 in jewelry from Jones’ home, but all but the two rings was recovered by police. A caretaker saw a man holding a single rose outside the door at 6 p.m. and heard him say, “I have a flower for Jeanne Jones.” She opened the door and was punched in the face as the robbers ran inside. The men tied up Jones and her husband with zip ties at gunpoint. Jones writes “Cook It Light,” a syndicated column and has written 32 books, with her first one in 1972. Jones’ elderly mother was in a back bedroom but wasn’t injured. A UPS driver on the block saw the 6 p.m. incident and called police. Officers followed the car, and the robbers threw out their ski masks and gloves during the chase. They were arrested after being pulled over on state Route 52.
