- The Fresno Bee
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 | 11:38 PM
Fresno's No. 1 car thief, who has bragged to police that he stole 1,000 vehicles, could avoid prison after agreeing to a plea deal.
Robert Frederick Wollert, 32, pleaded guilty to stealing six vehicles and won't go to prison if he completes a drug rehabilitation program, his attorney said Thursday.
The arrest Wednesday of Tino Tufono – one of Wollert's associates – on a murder charge helped convince Wollert to plead guilty and take his drug rehabilitation seriously, defense attorney Glenn LoStracco said.
"It was a wake-up call," Lo-Stracco said.
Tufono, listed by Fresno police as among the city's top five car thieves, was released from Fresno County Jail on Nov. 28 because of overcrowding. Police say Tufono, 30, shot and killed Jacob Ramirez, 27, early Tuesday.
Tufono is in jail without bail.
Word of Wollert's plea agreement rubbed Fresno police Sgt. Timothy Tietjen wrong.
"You're kidding, right?" Tietjen said Thursday. "He should go to prison. He's a career criminal. He told us that he steals cars for profit."
Tietjen is in charge of the police Career Criminal Auto Theft team that arrested Wollert in October on several warrants for auto theft, receiving stolen property and drug possession. Wollert told police that he stole vehicles almost every night and delivered them to brokers operating chop shops.
But a month after his arrest, Wollert was released from jail as a result of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office's early release policy to avoid overcrowding.
Tietjen said Wollert's plea deal surprised him because the District Attorney's Office has been a key player in cracking down on car thieves. But if the agreement has a stipulation that will put Wollert behind bars if he reoffends – which it does – then Tietjen said he can live with it.
In exchange for Wollert's guilty plea in Fresno County Superior Court, prosecutors dismissed about 15 charges of receiving stolen property, possession of drugs and possession of burglary tools.
He still faces up to nine years behind bars when he's sentenced on Jan. 25, LoStracco said. But if Wollert successfully completes a 12-month in-patient drug treatment program and a six-month outpatient program, he won't have to serve time in prison, LoStracco said.
Since his release from jail, Wollert has been participating in drug rehabilitation because his addiction to methamphetamines has fueled his stealing habits, LoStracco said.
"If he does what he's supposed to do, he'll be all right," LoStracco said. "But if he doesn't, he might catch a charge that will keep him behind bars a long time."
