Artesia Cemetery Bandits Sentenced to 90 Days in County Jail

A man and woman pleaded no contest today to charges stemming from an early morning burglary last month at in Cerritos.

Jason Robert Fluharty, 29, of Torrance, and Jolynn Amanda Ramirez, 29, of Artesia, each pleaded no contest to one felony count of second-degree burglary and one misdemeanor count of vandalism, according to Shiara Davila- Morales of the District Attorney's Office.

Ramirez also pleaded no contest to possession of brass knuckles -- a count that was reduced to a misdemeanor.

Davila-Morales said the two were immediately sentenced to:

• 90 days in county jail
• three years probation
• ordered to stay away from the cemetery 
• to pay a total of $275 in restitution to the cemetery

Cemetery employees reported that someone broke into the grounds at 11142 Artesia Blvd. in Cerritos between 3 and 3:30 a.m. Dec. 27 and that a wooden cross bearing circular military insignia was missing from a storage yard, Lt. Geoffrey Deedrick of the  said.

During the burglary investigation, deputies learned that the overnight break-in was caught on cemetery surveillance video. A few hours later a cemetery employee notified the deputy handling the case that the same suspects were just spotted near the back fence of the property.

The pair was apprehended on Studebaker Road near Artesia Boulevard a short time later, Deedrick said. The stolen cross was found inside Fluharty's backpack, the lieutenant added. (See image carousel for a photo of the stolen cross.)