Prison Sentence Cut for Fan of Actress

A judge on Tuesday reduced by two years the prison sentence of an obsessed fan who barricaded herself inside the Studio City house of actress Sharon Gless.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge John H. Major reduced the sentence from six to four years after reviewing a favorable progress report prepared by the California Department of Corrections. The report stated that Joni Leigh Penn, 30, of Garden Grove has not created problems for guards or other prisoners while serving her sentence in the California Institute for Women in Frontera.

On July 16, Major sentenced Penn to six years in prison after she pleaded no contest to two counts of burglary stemming from the March 30 standoff and an earlier break-in at Gless’ house. At the time of sentencing, the judge reserved the right to reduce the jail term pending an evaluation of Penn’s prison behavior.

The sentencing arrangement was part of a plea bargain under which Penn was able to avoid being imprisoned for the maximum of nine years, eight months if convicted after a trial.

Penn’s lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Mitchell J. Bruckner, said he believes that Major reduced the sentence in part because Penn apologized to Gless during the July 16 sentencing hearing. Under the reduced term, Penn could be freed as early as March, 1992.

Penn broke into Gless’ house when the actress was away and barricaded herself inside with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition.