Robert Frederick Wollert, dubbed Fresno's top auto thief last year by police, won't serve a day in prison for his crime spree -- thanks to a new state policy that sends non-violent convicts to local jails instead of state prisons.

The 32-year-old Fresno resident got five years probation Wednesday -- the same day that Fresno police released a new top-five list of car thieves. The department said a new list was needed because the likes of Wollert and Tino Tufono are no longer on the streets.

If Wollert had been sentenced before the new state policy went into effect last October, he almost certainly would have been sent to state prison for nine years, both the prosecutor and his attorney agreed.

But Wollert's several misdemeanor and felony convictions in six criminal cases no longer qualify for prison under Gov. Jerry Brown's realignment plan. Instead, any time given to him Wednesday by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Houry Sanderson would have been served in the Fresno County Jail.

So Sanderson instead gave Wollert probation -- and one more chance to turn his life around. Had she given Wollert the maximum, he would have served, after time credits, around 41/2 years of the nine-year sentence in the jail.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the light sentence could only serve to embolden career criminals like Wollert.

"Often, the lack of consequences not only sends a message to the offender, but to other criminals, saying that they're able to continue a life of crime without facing serious consequences," Dyer said.

Neither Sanderson nor prosecutor Jeff Hill seemed particularly happy about the outcome, either.

Hill said it was his "opinion that Mr. Wollert should be going to prison for the crimes he has committed." Hill added that he wanted to "make it clear" that he felt the nine-year sentence was appropriate.

Sanderson actually imposed the sentence, but then put it on hold. If Wollert trips up once, she said, he'll go to jail. And Sanderson suggested time behind bars might be appropriate to "keep the community free of your menacing behavior."

Given this latest chance, however, she added: "The ball is basically in your court now, Mr. Wollert. You have caused much grief to people."

Sanderson ordered Wollert back March 6, and she promised to make him check in often during his probation.

Last June, Fresno earned the dubious distinction as the nation's auto-theft capital, and at the time Fresno police highlighted Wollert during a news conference.

When Wollert was arrested Oct. 20, police said, he bragged about having stolen 1,000 vehicles in the Fresno area since December 2010, though both his attorney Glenn LoStracco and Hill, the prosecutor, agreed that was probably hyperbole.

Dyer said that, despite Sanderson's ruling, police will continue to arrest career auto thieves through the department's Career Criminal Auto Theft team.

On Wednesday, Fresno police put out a new list of the city's top car thieves, which was topped by Gabriel Osorio, a 21-year-old man who was arrested 13 times in 2011. As in the case of other suspected car thieves, Osorio was often quickly released because the Fresno County Jail was over capacity.

That was Wollert's case as well. Last year, he was released from jail without having to post bail because sheriff's officials released him early in February, April and May when the jail was at or near capacity. He then failed to appear at several court hearings. Wollert's six criminal cases include two alleged violations of probation, one misdemeanor case involving burglary tools and three felony cases involving stolen cars and possession of stolen property and drugs, LoStracco said.

But after one of those early releases, Wollert made a move that helped him earn probation Wednesday: He entered a drug and alcohol treatment program at the Fresno Rescue Mission.

Earlier, LoStracco had described Wollert as an addict who steals to support a heavy-duty drug habit.

On Wednesday, LoStracco said Wollert has been sticking to the program and was "very, very aware" that the early jail release gave him the opportunity.

"He has not disappointed as of yet," LoStracco said.

Keep it that way, Sanderson said.

She told Wollert he can't veer from the program, even for a family tragedy.

"This is the price you are paying, Mr. Wollert," she said.