It’s prison for this turkey

The man who invaded a 71-year-old woman’s home, tied her up and took her keepsakes, Ford Bronco and Thanksgiving turkey got the short end of the wishbone on Wednesday - eight years in state prison.

Yuba County Judge James Curry also ordered Scott Conrad Herrera, 35, to pay $4,348 restitution to the victim, Janice Laurence of Marysville.

The restitution - if she ever receives it - won’t begin to cover her losses, a still-angry Laurence said after the unremorseful Herrera was sentenced.

Herrera, who pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and elder abuse, entered Laurence’s Ahern Street apartment Nov. 21 as she was beginning to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for relatives, bound her with plastic ties and put her in a closet before leaving in her Bronco with his girlfriend.

“The turkey was the least of my worries. I feared I would be killed,” Laurence told Curry.

Herrera also took a 100-year-old-plus violin once owned by her grandfather that had an appraised value of $2,000, Laurence said, as well as her late mother’s and husband’s jewelry.

The Bronco was returned but had been damaged, Laurence said in an interview.

Curry assured Laurence that the “lion’s share” of Herrera’s meager prison earnings will go toward restitution. When Herrera is released, the restitution order will still be in effect, the judge said.

“Don’t let this ruin your life,” Curry said.

Herrera’s public defender, Brian Davis, told Curry that insurance will cover all but about $1,949 of Laurence’s losses and asked that restitution be reduced to that amount. Laurence should not receive “a windfall,” Davis said.

Curry refused and told Laurence to resolve the matter with the insurance company.

Herrera and his girlfriend, Ruth Jael Votaw, were arrested in December in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Votaw did not enter the apartment with Herrera, said Laurence.

Votaw was convicted of being an accessory and was sentenced earlier to a year in jail and three years’ probation, according to Yuba County Superior Court records.

Laurence told Curry she was “very disappointed” that a charge against Herrera of using a gun in the robbery was dropped. The weapon that Herrera held on her was real, not a starter’s pistol, she said.

Herrera had previously been in her apartment while working as a handyman’s assistant and apparently thought she is wealthy, which she isn’t, said Laurence.

“I’m as broke as the Ten Commandments,” she said.

Since the crime, she always keeps her doors locked, said Laurence.

“It changes your life completely,” she said. “I’m like a prisoner in my own home.”

Herrera still faces two charges of second-degree burglary in Sutter County Superior Court.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young can be reached at 749-4710. You may e-mail him at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.