Ex Haven Humane Society CEO released from Jail

Convicted felon and former Haven Humane Society CEO Norman Ray Ryan has been released from the Shasta County jail.

But, Ryan, 47, is not free from the county's supervision, said Erin Dervin, the Shasta County Deputy District Attorney who prosecuted him. She said a check of county records shows that he has been transferred to the electronic home monitoring program.

He will be required to wear an ankle bracelet for 110 days, she said.

Reached by cell phone this morning Ryan said he had no comment.

Ryan had to pay $20 per day that he'll wear the bracelet - about $2,200 - and is required to regularly check in with probation officials, said Capt. Don Van Buskirk, the jail's chief administrator.

"If not he'll be picked up and brought back to jail," he said.

A Shasta County jury convicted Ryan in May of five felonies - embezzlement by a public officer, two counts of identity theft and two counts of grand theft - for taking $1,400 from his former employer.

Saying there was not enough evidence to prove that Ryan was a public officer or that the funds he stole were public monies, Superior Court Judge Monica Marlow dismissed the embezzlement count during his Sept. 29 sentencing. She sentenced him to six months in the Shasta County jail.

She also ordered him to perform six months in an adult work program, pay back the money and pay fines, go through counseling and be on formal probation for three years.

The jury found that Ryan used a work credit card to pay for a personal trip to San Francisco and a trip to a Chicago conference that never existed.

Fired as Haven Humane's top executive in April 2008, Ryan was arrested by police two months later following contact by Haven officials.

Jail records show Ryan was released Thursday at 4:07 p.m., Dervin said.

Dervin had pushed for prison time during his sentencing hearings. While his 10-day stay at the Shasta County Jail was brief, she said, for someone like Ryan, who had never been to jail before, it likely left an impression.

"I hope that it got his attention," she said.