MURRIETA -- Former Murrieta City Councilman Warnie Enochs will spend 119 days in home detention rather than spend weekends in jail.

Enochs, 59, reported on Feb. 27 to a work-release program at the Larry Smith Detention Center in Banning and will be fitted for an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet on May 1, said Sgt. Steve Thetford, chief deputy of corrections for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Enochs will be required to wear the ankle bracelet for 61 days less than his sentence of 180 days. He was given credit for one day of jail time during his initial booking and was given an automatic 60-day credit for presumed good behavior.

Thetford said that if Enochs does not abide by the terms of his home detention, the 60 days will be added back to his sentence.

Per the terms of the agreement, Enochs will be allowed 12 hours of free time every day during which it is presumed he will continue working as an electrical contractor. If he stops working during his period of home detention, his daily allotment of free hours will be reduced to eight hours, Thetford said. He will not be allowed to travel outside California and must return to his home every night, the sergeant added.

Reached by phone Thursday, Enochs declined to comment.

Enochs' attorney, Virginia Blumenthal, said that even if he hadn't requested the home detention program he would likely have spent his weekends performing community service rather than sitting in a jail cell.

"You have various ways in which you are allowed to serve weekends," Blumenthal said. "Because of our (jail) crowding conditions, they have alternative means for serving."

Enochs was convicted on Dec. 17 of 12 felony counts of conspiracy, preparing and filing false documents and forgery. Enochs was found guilty of conspiring with a local roofer to inflate two mechanic's liens on a home he owned with his wife, whom he was divorcing. The liens, which a contractor can place on a home if services are not paid for, were an attempt to lower the value of the home to reduce the amount his wife would receive in settlement of their assets.

He also was found guilty of forging documents to defame his wife and signing the name of a nonexistent Murrieta police officer on a "fix it" ticket he received for failing to register a boat.

Enochs' conviction came weeks after he lost his bid in the November election to a fourth term. Enochs served on the council for 13 years and holds the distinction of being the longest-tenured elected official in the city.

Contact staff writer Nelsy Rodriguez at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or nrodriguez@californian.com.