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Redding man who rammed loader into gurdwara
pleads no contest
WSN Network

REDDING: A Redding man  accused of stealing a 25-ton frontend loader and ramming it into a gurdwara in Anderson last spring is facing a maximum of 12 years in prison next month after pleading no contest last Tuesday to the charges against him.  

Forty years old Michael Benjamin Rafferty of Redding had been scheduled to begin standing trial next week. Rafferty had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. But Tuesday he changed his plea to no contest to charges including vandalism, vehicle theft and a civil rights violation. He is scheduled for sentencing March 20, said his attorney, Michael Sharpe of Redding. 

Rafferty faced about a dozen years in prison had he been convicted, but he also had three felony cases pending, including vehicle theft and methamphetamine possession. Conviction on those charges, which were dismissed as part of a plea bargain, could have netted him an additional seven years in prison, Sharpe said.  

"Mr. Rafferty had a severe drug addiction and was under the influence of methamphetamine when the acts occurred," Sharpe wrote in an e-mail to the Record Searchlight, adding that Rafferty has expressed sincere remorse for his conduct while under the influence of the drug. "If he had not been under the influence of methamphetamine, none of these acts would have occurred," Sharpe said.  

In addition, he said, Rafferty will apologize to the Sikh community at his sentencing hearing and request a sentence of fewer than 12 years in prison. Rafferty was accused of stealing a front-end loader early March 13 from Salinas & Sons Trucking, where he performed odd jobs. He also apparently did landscaping work at the temple.  

He told police he rammed the 9,000-square-foot gurdwara because it was owned by foreigners, Anderson police officer Tim York testified at Rafferty's preliminary hearing last year.

27 February 2008
 

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