WHEN THE TRUTH COUNTS!

Burglar shortens sentence with video
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- A notorious Los Angeles serial burglar has made a deal to have time taken off his prison sentence in exchange for creating a training video for the police.

Ignacio Pena Del Rio, who was sentenced Tuesday to seven and a half years in prison for stealing more than $16 million worth of merchandise from multiple locations in the California cities of Burbank, Glendale, Los Angeles, Pasadena and Simi Valley, made a deal with the Los Angeles Police Department to have six months taken off his sentence in exchange for the burglar revealing the secrets of his success in a 70-minute training video for cops, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

LAPD Detective Bill Longacre said Pena Del Rio shared information in the video that could hopefully lead to more burglar arrests and prevention. He said the convicted burglar shared insights into how he chose victims and how he was able to talk his way out of tight spots on occasions when he was nearly caught.

"We let him ramble," Longacre said. "And he gave up a lot of good information."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International