Mayor’s request results in leniency

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2000 | 4:05 a.m.

The man who broke into Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's Mercedes-Benz - netting him 26 cents and two months in jail - is free.

A Clark County district judge gave Fred Eugene Hogan, 34, three years' probation Monday after Goodman asked the court to be lenient on the four-time felon provided he tries to turn his life around.

"He picked the wrong car to break into," said Goodman. "As far as I was concerned, I told the judge that if he had a job, and that was part of his probation, that it would be much more significant to society (than sending him to jail)."

All four of Hogan's previous felonies were related to a 1986 incident in California, for which Hogan served prison time before being paroled in 1991. Since then, the only blemish on his record was a 1998 misdemeanor conviction for petty larceny.

Under terms of his probation, Hogan must repay the $500 it cost to replace a smashed windshield on Goodman's 1978 convertible Mercedes, plus the 26 cents he stole from the car's front seat in mid-September.

Hogan said his only motive was to get enough money for a bus ride across town. He said he had no idea he was breaking into the mayor's car.