Man sentenced to one month for theft

A court sentenced a man to a month in jail for stealing a cell phone charger worth P300, but then ordered the immediate release of the accused because he has been in jail since July 2004.

Jeffrey Eleccion and a certain "Takyo" were accused of stealing assorted items, including the cell phone charger, worth at least P28,000 on July 21, 2004.

Eleccion was caught holding the mobile phone charger by a barangay tanod inside the house of the complainant, Rudy Gomez. That same day, the suspect was detained.

During the trial of the case, Eleccion denied stealing the assorted items, but admitted having in his possession the cell phone charger when he was arrested.

Thus, Regional Trial Court Branch 6 judge Anacleto Caminade found the accused "responsible for the crime of theft involving only a cell phone charger," as there was "no evidence to hold him liable for the other items."

Caminade sentenced Eleccion to a month and 20 days of imprisonment and ordered him to pay P300, the value of the cell phone charger he stole.

However, the court ordered the "immediate release" of the accused as he was already detained since July last year.