Steve Rocco is charged with misdemeanor petty theft, after authorities say he took a bottle of ketchup from the cafeteria area at Chapman University.
Rocco is an eccentric former school board trustee, who claims he was framed.
He says he was just recycling the bottle.
Rocco's lawyer says there was no crime because the ketchup was worth "zero dollars and zero cents."
Prosecutors said they tried to settle the case by getting Rocco to promise to stay away from the university, but he refused.
If convicted, prosecutors they'll likely ask for probation for Rocco.
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