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Man Pleads No Contest to Stalking Actress Halle Berry

Richard Anthony Franco is placed on five years' probation and prohibited from coming within 200 yards of the actress or her home.

A man who showed up at Halle Berry's Hollywood Hills home for three days in a row last July pleaded no contest Thursday to a felony count of stalking the Oscar-winning actress.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dennis Landin handed down a 386-day jail sentence for Richard Anthony Franco, 28, of Commerce, but he won't have to spend any more time in custody.

Franco has already served 193 days of his jail term and was given credit for another 193 days, according to Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Wendy Segall.

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Franco was placed on five years' probation and ordered to undergo one year of psychological counseling, Segall said. The judge also issued a 10-year criminal protective order barring him from coming within 200 yards of the actress or her residence, the prosecutor said.

As a result of his plea, a residential burglary charge was dismissed.

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During a hearing last October in which Franco was ordered to stand trial, LAPD Detective John Gregozek testified that he spoke to Berry a day after Franco's arrest.

"She was afraid for her safety and that of her daughter, as well," Gregozek said. "She hired armed security to stay at her residence 24 hours."

Berry said she had initially seen the intruder while she was in her kitchen with her manager last July 9 and her manager went outside and told him to leave, the detective testified. She saw him again the next day after she went into her kitchen to get something to drink, he said.

"She saw the defendant standing at the kitchen door," Gregozek said, noting that Berry told him that she had locked the deadbolt on the kitchen door and ran upstairs to call 911.

The detective testified that Berry told him she realized that a key that had been attached to a keychain in a door was missing, and that she showed him a key and keychain that were similar to the ones later recovered from Franco following his arrest.

Another prosecution witness, Joseph Vach, testified that he was working as a contract guard at Berry's residence July 11 when he saw a man he identified as Franco trying to climb over a fence, fall backward and then vault over the fence on his second try. He said police were called and Berry was notified to get to a safe place.

Berry was asked to walk outside the home to identify Franco, which she did, the security guard testified.

"As being at the home on previous occasions?" Segall asked him.

"Yes," the guard said. Franco was carrying a notebook that mentioned the actress by name, Vach further testified.

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