A man was sentenced to two years in prison for three counts of eavesdropping and two counts of invasion of privacy after he installed hidden cameras in a restroom at a Walnut Creek Starbucks.
Steven Novelli, 54, was a Walnut Creek resident when he installed small cameras underneath a sink in the unisex bathroom at the Starbucks at 1340 N. Main St. An employee found cameras on two separate occasions.
Walnut Creek police were contacted both times and an investigation was opened, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
One of the cameras showed Novelli checking the camera angle while he was seated fully clothed on the toilet. Other footage showed multiple people using the toilet.
Novelli, who was in custody, reached an agreement with the DA’s office in August. By then, he only had 120 days left on the negotiated two-year term.
Novelli also must register as a sex offender for 10 years and has stay-away orders from that Starbucks branch and one of the victims. After he’s done with prison, he’ll be on parole anywhere from three to 15 years, with the exact number being up to his parole officer.
11 comments
Why in the heck did case drag on for almost two years?
Seems case was a slam dunk, flush it and move on.
How many other cases are there over a year or more old yet to be resolved?
Things take time. Court calendars, trying to keep it from going to trial (which is costly and further time consuming) his own lawyers probably asking for delays etc…the backlog of cases post pandemic, and so much of it handled via Zoom which does not substitute in-person meetings which lend themselves to more urgency. As they say “the wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine.” And so they did here too. He gets two years in prison and his life is completely changed in his mid fifties.
stupid games… stupid prizes. sucks to throw your life away.
After the two years in prison he belongs in a mental institution. The sick blighter needs a better hobby.
Passed in 2011 by state legislature, AB-109.
Prior to AB-109 felony sentences in excess of a year and a day were served in state prisons.
That changed and now there are inmates serving multi year sentences in county jails.
Costs state roughly $128,000 per year to house an inmate in a state prison.
DEM’s favorite solution to problems is to shove them and their costs down onto CA’s counties, which caused jail overcrowding in all 58 counties.
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Panicked liberals invented Prop 47 to help ease jail overcrowding by making it harder for criminals to be charged with felonies. They spent $10,306,082 on a massive advertising campaign to con voters to bail them out of a problem liberals created in the first place.
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Simple fix to DEM created problems,
STOP ELECTING DEMs
How much extra are YOU willing to pay in taxes to fund additional jails?
Why are people so ‘effing gross? Rhetorical question.🙋♂️
Could it be DA’s resources are geared and directed at going after deep pockets for high dollar fines?
Nice idea and I am in favor of it. However these losers do not have big money.
Never underestimate the depravity of the webs. There is a market for such footage and it is possible that he sold or traded his.
This is one sick Puppy!!! Sorry to disparage puppies.
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