Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Robert Lavon Cray, 43, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after entering a plea of nolo contendere to grand theft. Cray was charged with stealing $1,400 from Keke’s Breakfast Cafe on his first day on the job.

In January 2024, an employee of the restaurant told a Gainesville Police Department Officer that Cray was left unattended inside the office, where the safe is located, on his first day of work. She said she learned at the end of her shift that the safe was short $1,400. She said she checked the business cameras Tuesday morning and saw Cray taking money out of the safe. She said she confronted him when he showed up for work on Tuesday and that he left when she said she was calling the police.

An officer found Cray a short distance away. Post Miranda, Cray reportedly said he saw that the safe door was open and told the employee it was open because he did not want to be accused of taking money. He denied taking any money from the safe.

Cray entered a plea of nolo contendere to a charge of grand theft on April 16, and yesterday Judge David Kreider sentenced him to 15 months in prison, with credit for 17 days served.

Prior to the arrest, Cray had 11 felony convictions (two violent) and eight misdemeanor convictions (none violent). He previously served five state prison sentences for convictions out of Alachua, Columbia, and Suwannee Counties, with his most recent release in June 2022.