Luis Cebrero

An 18-year-old food service worker who stole more than $400 worth of jewelry from a resident at a Redwood City assisted living home and was accused of several other thefts was sentenced yesterday to nine months in jail and ordered to repay several victims.

Luis Hermelindo Cebrero, of unincorporated San Mateo County, pleaded no contest to felony residential burglary and a misdemeanor count of theft from an elder person in return for a promise of no more than a year in jail. On Tuesday, he received a lesser amount with credit of 144 days earned while in custody on $100,000 bail and ordered to repay more than $2,000.

Cebrero had worked at the Woodside Terrace Senior Living Complex for six months, during which time prosecutors say he had admitted committing at least six previously unsolved thefts. On Oct. 8, another employee reported finding approximately $425 worth of jewelry hidden in a food tray Cebrero had removed from a room.

Police reported finding several items of jewelry stolen from other facility residents inside Cebrero’s apartment and he allegedly admitted taking the goods and committing five other thefts prior to his 18th birthday in September.