Avanti defendant may work during one-year jail term

Avanti defendant may work during one-year jail term
SAN MATEO, Calif. — Mitch Igusa, who plead no contest late last month to charges of stealing source code from Cadence Design Systems Inc. for use by Avanti Corp., has been sentenced to one year in county jail, according to The San Jose Mercury News.

Judge Conrad Rushing ruled Friday (June 22) that Igusa will be able to participate in a work release program while serving his one-year sentence, which will enabled Igusa to leave the Santa Clara County jail to work at Silicon Perspective Corp., where he is currently employed as an applications engineer.

Avanti (Fremont, Calif.), Igusa and five other current or former Avanti employees pled no contest last month to trade secret theft and other criminal charges. Igusa was the only defendant in the case who did not agree to the terms of his sentence as part of his plea.

Judge Rushing is in the process of determining the damages Avanti defendants should pay to Cadence. Sentencing for the other defendants in the case is expected to begin on July 16.