Ex-Janitor at Senior Complex Sentenced to 1 Year in Jail

A former maintenance employee at a San Mateo seniors’ condominium complex who burglarized six residents last year avoided state prison time when he was sentenced Wednesday, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Eric Gamboa, 38, pleaded no contest in June to six counts of residential burglary on the condition of serving no more than four years in prison. But Judge Leland Davis sentenced him to only a year in county jail and 5 years’ probation, according to Wagstaffe.

In addition to the jail sentence, he was ordered to pay more than $46,000 in restitution to five victims, Wagstaffe said.

Gamboa was a maintenance worker at the Versaille Condominiums at 10 Crystal Springs Road. He was arrested on Oct. 21, 2014, after building management discovered he had been using his spare keys to enter units and steal from residents there, prosecutors said.

During the burglaries he stole jewelry, wristwatches and cash from the residents’ rooms. When Gamboa was arrested, police found some of the missing items in his possession and in his car, prosecutors said.

Gamboa’s sentence is contingent on completing a residential drug treatment program. He must pay $9,000 to one victim, $9,570 to another, $150 to a third and $27,559 to a couple who lives in the complex, Wagstaffe said.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock