Kariem McFarlin, the man who burglarized the home of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was sentenced to seven years in state prison by a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge, according to the deputy district attorney in charge of the case.

McFarlin, 35, of Alameda, was arrested last year after he entered the residence on Waverley Street on July 17. Jobs had lived in the home until his death from cancer on Oct. 5, 2011. At the time of the burglary, the home was under renovation and Jobs' wife was not living in the residence.

McFarlin stole a key hidden in a storage shed that was used by the contractor to gain access to the home. He took at least two Apple computers, an iPad, a host of other electronic equipment, Tiffany jewelry and other personal items, including Jobs' wallet and driver's license.

According to a police report, McFarlin told investigators that he threw several furniture cushions over the cyclone fence installed around the house because of renovations and dropped the stolen property on to the cushions to protect the items from breaking.

He was arrested Aug. 2, 2012, after Palo Alto officers and investigators from the regional Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) Task Force used data obtained from Apple and AT&T to track the stolen computers, which were connecting to the Internet and Apple servers from McFarlin's home in Alameda, according to a report from REACT Agent Marshall Norton.

McFarlin is a former San Jose State University football player. He admitted to burglarizing the Jobs residence and to being involved in several other burglaries of private residences in San Francisco, according to a police report.

He explained during the interview that he had been homeless and was living in his car, according to the report. He said he targeted the house because it appeared to be under construction and dark inside. He parked the car on a side street, approached on foot and climbed the scaffolding to get over the fence surrounding the house.

McFarlin pleaded no contest to the charges on Nov. 21. He did not dispute his involvement in a four-county burglary spree that included four other homes in the city of San Francisco and Marin and Alameda counties, according to Deputy District Attorney Thomas Flattery.

McFarlin admitted that he kept "hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property from those burglaries" at his home and storage locker in Alameda. His cache of stolen items included computers, jewelry, furniture and a solid silver bar.

In addition to the seven-year sentence, McFarlin must pay restitution to all of his victims in what Flattery called "a substantial sum," although he did not recall the exact figure. McFarlin will receive 169 days of credit, and he could see his sentence cut to 3.5 years for good behavior after which he could be paroled, Flattery said.