An anti-fur activist will be sentenced Jan. 17 after pleading guilty to causing great damages to the East County homes of the owner of a fur business and her parents is facing up to 18 months in federal prison plus paying $423,477 in damages.
Nicole Kissane, 29, formerly of Escondido, pleaded guilty Dec. 27 before by U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns, who sentenced her boyfriend May 2, 2016 to two years in prison for the same activity.
An anti-fur activist will be sentenced Jan. 17 after pleading guilty to causing great damages to the East County homes of the owner of a fur business and her parents is facing up to 18 months in federal prison plus paying $423,477 in damages.
Nicole Kissane, 29, formerly of Escondido, pleaded guilty Dec. 27 before by U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns, who sentenced her boyfriend May 2, 2016 to two years in prison for the same activity.
Her boyfriend, Joseph Brian Buddenberg, 32, of Oakland, has a projected release date of Jan. 26, 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Both Kissane and Buddenberg spray painted “animal murderer” and other slurs on homes belonging to Kimberly Graf and her parents in Spring Valley and Lemon Grove.
Kissane will be ordered to pay $30,000 in damages to Graf and her parents. At Buddenberg’s sentencing, Kimberly Graf said “the attack was so personal because they came to my home. It has really damaged our businesses.”
Paint stripper and acid were used along with glue put into locks. Someone got a hose and put it threw a window and turned the water on, flooding one home.
Kissane pleaded guilty once before, but withdrew her plea after Burns said the 6-month prison term that both sides had agreed upon was not sufficient enough given the amount of damages. She was given the option of having a Jan. trial or plead guilty and face a longer sentence.
The U.S. Attorney’s office will seek an 18-month sentence for Kissane, while her lawyers will ask Burns for a 15-month term.
Burns said there were 14 separate incidents of vandalism that also included tire slashing on meat truck distributors, release of thousands of minks from farms, an Oakland restaurant vandalized, in incidents in Idaho, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Both Buddenberg and Kissane pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Kissane is free on $100,000 bond.
The vandalism occurred in 2013 and 2014 and the pair was arrested in July 2015. Kissane formerly worked in a coffee shop and Buddenberg worked at a book store. It’s not known if they can come up with such a large restitution order of $423,477.
They were not members of any animal rights organizations.
Former Santana High School coach sentenced, has to register as a sex offender
A former track coach at Santana High School was sentenced Jan. 4 to one year in jail after pleading guilty to arranging an illicit meeting with a 16-year-old former student in which she was touched inappropriately.
Keith Alan Silvia, 50, was to surrender Jan. 11 to begin his term, and will have to register as a sex offender. Silvia is working in another field and it is possible he could serve the rest of the term in a work furlough project if his job qualifies for that, said Deputy District Attorney Aidee Bruner.
If so, Silvia could work days at his new job and would be incarcerated at nights and on weekends. El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein placed him on five years probation. Silva was fined $1,674, and received credit for one day spent in jail.
Silvia will lose his teaching credential as a result of his felony conviction. Bruner said the charge cannot later be reduced to a misdemeanor.
Silvia did not have sexual intercourse with the girl, but he had inappropriate contact with her during a 3 a.m. meeting on June 12, 2016, in the parking lot of a store in Lakeside. The other sex counts were all misdemeanors and were dismissed.
The parents of the girl learned of the relationship after they found notes from him in her backpack. Silvia was her track coach. He also worked at the Santee school as a football coach and campus supervisor. He later resigned after being placed on administrative leave from the Grossmont District.
El Cajon man sentenced for grand theft and auto theft
An El Cajon man has been sentenced to two years in jail and ordered to pay $21,143 to victims in a grand theft and auto theft scheme.
Jonathan Elijah Pasco, 24, has served most of his sentence already, and has a projected release date of April 1, according to the sheriff’s department.
Pasco is serving concurrent sentences from three separate cases filed in El Cajon Superior Court. Judge Daniel Goldstein denied probation and he was fined a total of $2,088 from all three cases.
Pasco was ordered to pay restitution to victims of several businesses. He pleaded guilty to three counts of grand theft in one case. Pasco pleaded guilty to stealing a van from an El Cajon man on April 1, 2016, and to receiving stolen property in another case.
He is serving his term in the George Bailey Detention Facility.
