Roby Galbraith, charged with stealing irrigation pipes from a
local farm, agreed to a plea deal Thursday morning that will see
him face a maximum sentence of 32 months in state prison.
By Jessica Thy Nguyen Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – Roby Galbraith, charged with stealing irrigation pipes from a local farm, agreed to a plea deal Thursday morning that will see him face a maximum sentence of 32 months in state prison.
Galbraith, 41, was wearing forest green jail garb and made several obscene gestures at his pretrial hearing at South County Superior Courthouse of Santa Clara in San Martin, where he pleaded to charges of stealing aluminum irrigation pipe.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Galbraith June 27 at Budget Inn on Monterey Highway, after initial investigations of a theft in progress of a trailer filled with irrigation pipe from a farm on Monterey Highway.
Galbraith was suspected of another similar theft involving a trailer filled with aluminum irrigation pipe, earlier in the day, from another field on Monterey Highway, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Serg Palanov.
Galbraith pleaded no contest to one count of vehicle theft with a prior conviction and he also pleaded no contest to one count of grand theft. One count of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of petty theft with a prior conviction will be dismissed at his sentencing hearing Sept. 11.
Pleading no contest in a criminal case is treated the same by the court as pleading guilty to the charges, Deputy District Attorney Frank Carrubba said.
Galbraith does get credit for time served up until his sentence date.
Palanov said farmers need to be vigilant in securing their property, especially in Morgan Hill where burglaries of construction sites and farms where aluminum – which was selling for between .37 cents and .58 cents a pound Wednesday – and copper which was selling for almost $3 a pound.
