SCV restaurant owner sentenced to 90 days in jail in battery case

A Newhall restaurateur found guilty Friday of two counts of simple battery and two counts of sexual battery on a former employee was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in county jail and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Sam Albert Gardian, 48, co-owner of the Southern Smoke BBQ & Brewhouse in Newhall, was also ordered to stay away from the victim in the case, former employee Jessica Castillo, a clerk for Courtroom No. 3 at the Santa Clarita Courthouse said.

“Given the charge it’s an appropriate sentencing,” Gardian’s attorney David Diamond told The Signal after Tuesday’s court hearing.

“But, given the facts of the case, I don’t believe any incarceration time is warranted,” he said.

About 45 people showed up at court for the sentencing, Diamond said, to show support for his client.

Before sentencing was made, a victim impact statement written by Castillo was read in court.

Late Friday afternoon, a jury issued their verdict of guilty, having found him responsible for the four incidents of battery against Castillo.

Gardian, who was out on bail during his weeklong trial, was taken into custody Friday after the jury delivered its verdict. Court records show he was placed in custody at the Sheriff’s Station, a short walk across the courtyard of the Santa Clarita Courthouse.

Gardian was also sentenced to:

three years summary probation

not harass, threaten or annoy other witnesses in the case.

pay a $500 fine, plus penalty assessments possess no weapons pay restitution go to 26 anger management classes