People v. Reyes CA6

Filed 10/15/14 P. v. Reyes CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H039847 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. B1154841) v.

MARIA VIRGINIA REYES,

Defendant and Appellant.

THE PEOPLE, H039975 (Santa Clara County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. B1154841)

v.

CHRISTINE REYES,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendants Maria Virginia Reyes and Christine Reyes (Maria’s daughter)1 each pleaded no contest to grand theft from a person (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. (a)2), arising from their theft of over $1.6 million from their former employer, Dr. Joann Blessing- Moore. Defendants admitted the high dollar amount of the theft, resulting in a sentence

1 For clarity, and meaning no disrespect, we will refer to the defendants by their first names. 2 Unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code.

enhancement (§ 12022.6, subd. (a)(3)) and ineligibility for probation (§ 1203.045, subd. (a)). On appeal, defendants argue the trial court illegally modified their sentences months after imposing them by deeming defendants ineligible for “custody alternative programs” in lieu of serving their entire sentences in county jail.3 For the reasons stated here, we will affirm the judgments. I. TRIAL COURT PROCEEDINGS According to defendants’ probation reports, which contain identical offense summaries, in 2000 Maria began working as an office manager at Dr. Blessing-Moore’s medical office. In 2001, the doctor hired Christine as a part-time employee. In 2007, Dr. Blessing-Moore began investigating the office’s finances when the United States Internal Revenue Service informed her of overdue business taxes. As a result of an investigation by an outside accountant, Dr. Blessing-Moore discovered that defendants had reportedly stolen over $1.8 million from her between 2000 and 2007 through several methods, including giving themselves unauthorized raises, bonuses, and overtime payments. Dr. Blessing-Moore reported the theft to the police in 2007. In July 2011, the People charged defendants with grand theft (§ 487, subd. (a)) including excessive taking (§ 12022.6, subd. (a)(3)) and probation ineligibility (§ 1203.045, subd. (a)). Christine was arrested later that month; Maria was arrested in October 2011 while serving a federal sentence for tax evasion. In October 2012, defendants signed open plea agreements where they pleaded no contest to grand theft, admitted both special allegations, and acknowledged their maximum term of confinement was six years. Defendants’ probation reports included a victim’s statement from Dr. Blessing- Moore. She stated that the theft had forced her and her husband to spend all their retirement savings to keep the business from going bankrupt. She also asked the court to impose “significant periods of incarceration” because she thought it was unlikely that