The Region - News from July 22, 1985

C. Arnholt Smith was released from jail after serving most of his sentence for stealing $8.9 million from one of his companies, officials said. Smith, 86, left the San Diego County Work Furlough Center after serving two-thirds of his one-year jail term. He was freed three months early because of his good behavior and the center’s long waiting list, facility supervisor Doug Aebischer said. Smith, a close friend of former President Richard M. Nixon, once ran a $1-billion business empire that included the San Diego Padres baseball team, Yellow Cab Co. of San Diego and the now-defunct U.S. National Bank. He was convicted in May, 1979, on one felony count of grand theft for stealing $8.9 million from his securities firm, Sovereign State Capital.