Andrew Guilford

[UPDATED with Jury Rules FOR Douglas Zerby Family:] Long Beach Police Officers Negligent

See the update at the end of this post about the jury ruling for the dead man's family.ORIGINAL POST, APRIL 3, 2:13 P.M.: A $21.5 million civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Long Beach over cops fatally shooting a guy holding a gardening water nozzle on a friend's Belmont Sho ... More >>

Igor Olenicoff of Laguna Sued by Ex-Banker Who Helped Billionaire Hide $200 mil from IRS

It's getting so you can't keep track of the Igor Olenicoff lawsuit related to his investments with UBS AG bank without a scorecard.In the latest twist, the billionaire who lives in Laguna Beach and oversees Olen Properties real estate in Newport Beach is being sued by the bank employee who helped hi ... More >>

Kiddie Porn Case Wrecks Newport Beach Lawyer's Career, Sends Him to Prison

Carlton Neil Morse grew up in Tustin with a loving family, joined the Boy Scouts, became an Eagle Scout and eventually graduated from USC Law School, which helped him land a great job at a Newport Beach law firm.Life was outwardly great for Morse.But he couldn't handle his attraction to other men, t ... More >>

Igor Olenicoff, Billionaire Tax Felon, Has UBS Influence Excuse Confirmed by Whisteblower

Bradley Birkenfeld helped the wealthy dodge taxes, went to prison and is now reportedly getting $104 million from the IRS for whistleblowing on some clients. Among them: billionaire Igor Olenicoff, who lives in Laguna Beach and oversees Olen Properties real estate in Newport Beach. Interestingly, Ol ... More >>

County of Orange Gets Federal Judge's Blessing to Restrict Retiree Benefits

The County of Orange has won another victory in its five-year legal war with retired government workers. Santa Ana-based U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford, in a ruling filed Monday, granted the county's Motion for Summary Judgment in Retired Employees Association of Orange County, Inc. v. Count ... More >>

Matthew Walker, Former OC Banker, Sentenced to Prison For Embezzlement

A source who used to work with FBI agents and county prosecutors on complex financial cases once told me that white collar rip-off schemes were so widespread that only thefts involving $1 million or more were likely to be investigated, much less prosecuted.Translation: as long as you're smart enough ... More >>

Jeanne Rowzee is This Blog's Second Federal Prison-Bound Irvine Swindler of the Day

One good federal prosecution of an Irvine swindler . . .Richard H. Nickles Gets 12 Years in Federal Pokey for Brazen Ponzi Scam That Took Seniors. . . deserves another: United States District Judge Andrew J. Guilford in Santa Ana has sentenced Jeanne Rowzee, 53, of Irvine, to 87 months in federal p ... More >>

High Yield Investment Scammer Learns His Fate: Federal Prison

A federal judge in Santa Ana has sentenced a New Jersey restaurant owner for his participation in a fraudulent, high yield investment scheme that promised no risk and a 20 percent weekly return.In league with several other men, Ralph Divino--the owner of Steffano's Wood Burning Restaurant in Branchb ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Review Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's Corruption Conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused a request by Mike Carona, Orange County's onetime mighty sheriff turned federal-prison inmate, to review and possibly overturn his January 2009 corruption conviction.The high court's April 30 decision essentially leaves Carona in his federal-prison cell in Colorado ... More >>

Igor Olenicoff, OC Billionaire, Has Suit Tossed Against Swiss Bank That Hid His Money

Billionaire Igor Olenicoff, who lives in Laguna Beach and oversees Newport Beach-based Olen Properties, lost his bid in federal court to blame Swiss bankers for his guilty plea to felony tax evasion. In a 28-page decision tossing Olenicoff's suit against Zurich-based UBS AG, Judge Andrew J. Guilford ... More >>

Mike Carona's Excellent Big House Adventure

[Moxley Confidential] OC's incarcerated dirty ex-sheriff is enjoying his Rocky Mountain view and ridiculously favorable court rulings

Matthew Walker, Whose Family Founded Farmers & Merchants Bank, Pleads Guilty To Stealing Almost $2M From Customer's Account

​A high-profile Orange County banker has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $2 million from a customer's account at the bank founded by his relatives. Matthew J. Walker, 34, of Orange, stole the money from a customer's account at Farmers and Merchants Bank, where he was vice president and br ... More >>

The Fullerton Police Department Are the Bullies In Blue

Long before officers beat Kelly Thomas to death, the city's cops ran roughshod over anyone and everyone

Ex-Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo Spotted at Hooters?

George and Mike: Partners in crime​It's safe to say that Orange County wasn't the same once George Jaramillo became second in command at the sheriff's department in 1999 and it certainly became more boring after Jaramillo was sent to federal prison a decade later for public corruption.The 51-year- ... More >>

[UPDATED with More Nuttiness:] Birthers Queen Orly Taitz Pisses Off Yet Another Federal Judge

​UPDATED, JULY 26, 4:15 P.M.: Another day, another federal judge Queen of the Birthers Orly Taitz has managed to piss off.The latest is District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who wrote of the Laguna Niguel dentist/lawyer/real-estate saleswoman--in a ruling dated Monday--"Plaintiff is either toyi ... More >>

John Arthur Walthall, Accused of Defrauding Elderly Couple Out of Nearly $5 Million, is a Wanted Man

​The search is on for John Arthur Walthall, who failed to appear at a June 27 court hearing concerning the 55-year-old La Habra resident allegedly exaggerating a medical condition to avoid trial on charges of defrauding an elderly Laguna Niguel couple out of nearly $5 million.The FBI released ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Clubs Getting Schooled?

The Montessori center next door is part of Lake Forest's latest effort to boot medical-marijuana dispensaries

[UPDATED] Linda Rose Gagnon Accused of Defrauding Nuns Out of $285,000 to Pay for Lingerie, Pet Sittings and More

​UPDATE, MARCH 7, 5:40 P.M.: "Absolutely not guilty" is how Linda Rose Gagnon pleaded this afternoon to three federal wire-fraud counts alleging she defrauded nuns out of $285,000.The 57-year-old Tustin resident appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert N. Block, who set her bond at $10,000. ... More >>

[UPDATED] Mike Carona Heads for Prison . . . in Colorado

​UPDATE, JAN. 25, 1:17 P.M.: "America's Sheriff" turned himself in at the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Littleton, Colorado, today to start serving his 5-and-a-half-year sentence, according to Victoria Joseph, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman."I believe justice has been do ... More >>

Mike Carona: No More Excuses

[Moxley Confidential] Federal Appeals Court upholds the ex-sheriff's conviction, and he's finally headed to prison

Ninth Circuit Upholds Sheriff Mike Carona's Corruption Conviction

Teflon Mikey loses his magic​Orange County's long, disgusting law enforcement nightmare is finally over.Disgraced ex-Sheriff Mike Carona, once absurdly hailed as "America's sheriff" by CNN's Larry King, is going to federal prison.This morning an all Republican panel of federal judges at the Ninth ... More >>

OC Federal Judge Rebuked in Defective Land Rover Cases

Bad geometry?​Bad news for Land Rover.A federal appeals panel this morning reversed the ruling of an Orange County-based federal judge who had denied class action status in a consumer protection case against the British manufacturer, which allegedly sold defective vehicles.According to the Ninth C ... More >>

Growing Pains at Otherside Farms

Chadd McKeen helps medical-pot patients grow their own, while openly bashing some weed dispensaries

Earth Cann, a Casualty in OC's Medical Pot War

Illustration by Simon Davidson​While new fronts have opened in the legal war to keep the doors open at local medical marijuana dispensaries (more on that after the jump), there is one casualty to report.Yet to be determined is whether it is a fatal blow or merely a flesh wound. Earth Cann Wellness ... More >>

Mike Carona On the Mic

[Moxley Confidential] The convicted ex-sheriff says he should have been warned that his buddy was wearing a wire

James Halstead, Once Accused of Slipping Date-Rape Drug to an Olympian, Gets 10 Years

James Halstead, off to do a dime.​Sure, James Halstead was sentenced last night to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a Ponzi scheme that took in more than $61 million before it crashed and caused around 140 investors to suffer more than $20 million in losses.But, a ... More >>

Feds Join OC Officials' Cuckoo Cannabis Campaign of Lameness

Flickr user Marxchivist"Marihuana, 1936"​What is it lately with all the bad news coming out of Lake Forest and Costa Mesa when it comes to medical marijuana? Both cities have been the location of several recent, high-profile raids targeting pot dispensaries. In Lake Forest, two clubs were busted, ... More >>

Ex-Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl Gets Slap; Dirty Cops Get Threat

Don Haidl, from his assistant sheriff days.​Even during the five years that he held the unearned rank of assistant sheriff thanks to illegally funding Mike Carona's 1999 campaign for sheriff, Don Haidl hated public speaking. Reporters could ask questions of Haidl--a wealthy Newport Coast used car ... More >>

[Year In Review] OC Weekly's News Blog, Navel Gazing, Gazes Back at 2009

Mike Carona Savior Hospitalized

Rawitz (L) saved Sheriff Carona's sorry ass​Sadly, Jeffrey M. Rawitz--one of Jones Day's feisty defense lawyers who represented ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona in his federal corruption trial earlier this year--is hospitalized in Los Angeles at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.During Carona's thre ... More >>

Once Again, George Jaramillo Is Mr. Big Mouth

Two Top OC Cops Turn Convicted Felons​He once dreamed of becoming California's first Latino governor. He finagled an improbable transition from Garden Grove police sergeant to the powerful No. 2 post at the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD). He even managed to create a fan club within the ... More >>

30 Actual Excuses To Shield Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona From Punishment

Sheriff Hugs Mafia Associate in Newport Beach BarYesterday, federal judge Andrew Guilford said he was disgusted by Mike Carona's willingness as Orange County sheriff to sabotage a grand jury's corruption investigation by convincing a potential key witness to lie about bribery and secret gifts. Guilf ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] Police Pilots Say They Got the Pointer

[Moxley Confidential] Times are Tight

[Moxley Confidential] DA Tony Rackauckas Wins Civil Suit, Does Not Cry

Spoiled Little Debbies? In the Mike Carona Case, Anything is Possible

Give Mike Carona, our convicted-felon ex-sheriff, credit for one thing: He has supernatural powers that philandering men around the world must admire. He's repeatedly cheated on his wife, his mistress, another mistress, another mistress, another mistress--well, you get the picture. And yet his two t ... More >>

Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona Used All the Weapons In His Arsenal to Trick a Jury. He Still Lost

Carona Guilty of Witness Tampering

 "America's Sheriff" is a convicted felon.Ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona was found not guilty of multiple conspiracy counts and one witness tampering count in Santa Ana federal court today, but he was still found guilty of another witness tampering count. According to federal prosecutors, ... More >>

Mike Carona, the Unrepentant Dirty Ex-Sheriff and Now Elated Convicted Felon!

Should a convicted felon's public refusal to accept responsibility for criminal conduct be a major factor in what punishment a judge ultimately issues? Mike Carona (pictured, momentarily pausing between gloating sessions with the media) should hope not. Why? Today, after a jury found him not guilty ... More >>

Mike Carona is Hoping There's a Moron on his Jury

For more than a year, Mike Carona's legal defense team and its sycophants aimed a portion of their wrath at Brett Sagel, the assistant United States attorney and driving force behind the prosecution of the indicted, ex-Orange County sheriff. They've impugned his motives, belittled his experien ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] The New Math On How Many Mike Carona Campaign Contributors Got Badges

The Accidental Humor of Mike Carona Corruption Lawyer Brian A. Sun

 Thursday's Mike Carona corruption trial pitted government witness Joe Cavallo, a lawyer who became infamous for his energetic defense of three gang rapists, and Brian A. Sun, a Jones Day lawyer representing indicted ex-Sheriff Mike Carona, a long-time Cavallo pal. How effective was Sun, who has a ... More >>

6 Observations about Ex-Sheriff Mike Carona's corruption trial

1. If it's his decision to make, indicted ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who is a superbly confident man with rare charisma, will testify in his public corruption trial. 2. Although the FBI and IRS appear to have nailed Debra V. Hoffman, Carona's top mistress, on bankruptcy fra ... More >>

Doozy Of The Day At The Sheriff Mike Carona Corruption Trial

"[Public access to audio of Sheriff Mike Carona's incriminating statement's that led to his arrest on bribery charges] could taint the jury." --Brian A. Sun, one of the numerous Jones Day law firm bodies who represent indicted ex-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona (allegedly) for free, arguing today ... More >>

Mike Carona Pulls An OJ During First Week of Corruption Trial

[Moxley Confidential] The stupidity of indicted ex-Sheriff Mike Carona caught on tape

Thursday's Headlines & Surprises: Carona Camp Says FBI Case "Trash"

Hookers take cash too, Mikey: Dana Parsons writes today that “the good news for [indicted OC Sheriff Mike] Carona is that the government doesn’t always win.” But Parsons says the “bad news” for Calamity Mike is that the feds take their “sweet time putting public corruption cases togethe ... More >>

Read Sheriff Carona's indictment here

This morning, the Weekly stood with folks from the LAT, ABC7, NBC4 and other media outlets outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, waiting with bated breath and loaded cameras for the man of the hour—Sheriff Michael S. Carona (R-Indicted)—to make his walk of shame. Alas, ... More >>