San Luis Obispo man convicted of possessing ammunition while on bail
Rye Daniel Wardlaw.
Rye Wardlaw pleads no contest in felony vandalism case
– San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow has announced that Rye Daniel Wardlaw, 47, was arrested on Nov. 17 by the San Luis Obispo Police Department on a warrant for failing to appear in court in an active felony vandalism case. During a search of Wardlaw’s backpack pursuant to the arrest, officers found 55 live rounds of .22 caliber ammunition. No gun was found.
Wardlaw was charged with possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. He had three prior convictions for felony vandalism and one prior conviction for felony possession of an illegal firearm.
Wardlaw pleaded not guilty and elected to have a jury trial on the ammunition charge. On Feb. 7, the jury found him guilty and also found true a special allegation that he was out on bail in a separate felony case when he was found with the ammunition.
Following the conviction in the ammunition case, Wardlaw pleaded no contest to the felony vandalism case for which he was out on bail. That case involved two incidents: in one, he threw a lock through the window of a local business, and in the other, he damaged a downtown parking pay machine with a golf club.
There was no agreement on sentencing for the ammunition case conviction and the no-contest plea in the vandalism case. Wardlaw is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5 in Department 8 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, where he faces a maximum sentence of five years and eight months in prison.
The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo Police Department and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Ashley Cevera.
