California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Robert Citron, Who Went From OC Treasurer's Office to Prison for 1994 Bankruptcy, Dies

OC Weekly started publishing in September 1995, something I remember because I'd been hired on the editorial side four months before that. It's also my memory that our cover story package dissecting the 1994 County of Orange bankruptcy, fallout and lessons learned/ignored was among the first to win ... More >>

Both Sides Ready to Debate Orange County's Pervs-in-Parks Ban Before Appeals Court

When a panel of three Superior Court judges last month nullified the County of Orange's ordinance that bans registered sex offenders from county parks and recreational areas where children gather, the Orange County District Attorney's office responded it looked forward to, as the judges recommended, ... More >>

[UPDATED with Hearing Postponed:] Ivan Von Staich, Killer of Ex's Husband and Near-Killer of Her, Seeks Parole Again

See the update at the end of this post on the parole hearing being delayed. ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 27, 3:49 P.M.: He's baaaaaaack!Ivan Von Staich--who twice escaped from jail, threatened to kill a judge, nearly killed his ex-girlfriend by bludgeoning her with a claw hammer and fatally shot her new h ... More >>

[UPDATED with Delay:] John Joseph Burke, Who Beat Roommates with Baseball Bat, Seeks Parole Today

See the update at the end of this post on today's hearing being delayed.ORIGINAL POST, AUG. 29, 7:05 A.M.: With temperatures in the triple-digits, Blythe is not the place anyone wants to be right now. But Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Chrisopoulos is scheduled to make the trip t ... More >>

Prince Edward Maryland Is Sorry

He nearly beat his wife to death, but the Ironwood State Prison resident wants you to donate to his anti-domestic-violence charity

Nuzzio Begaren Pleads Innocent to Murdering His Prison-Guard Wife Elizabeth Wheat Begaren

Nuzzio Begaren pleaded not guilty at arraignment today after being indicted by the Orange County Grand Jury Thursday for the 1998 murder his prison-guard wife to collect $1 million in life insurance. According to the special circumstances murder indictment, the husband hired gang members to gun do ... More >>

Lone Punch To Wife's Face Lands OC Thug Husband in Prison

At the age of 36 in September 2009, Orange County's Travis Theodore Lassiter had already hit key milestones.Lassiter--a serial wife beater prone to hissy fits--had been sent to prison a whopping four times and knew that if he committed another felony under California's Three Strikes Law he'd return ... More >>

Ivan Von Staich: Killer Loses Parole Battle But Wins the Ugliest Mugshot of the Week War

​The ugliest police mugshot of the week comes not from a cop shop or district attorney's office but the California Department of Corrections, which is charged with continuing the incarcerate Ivan Von Staich with the governor's reversal of the Lake Elsinore 56-year-old's parole.For reasons known on ... More >>

[UPDATED with Denials:] Luis Carlos Escobar, Fleeing Coke Parolee Who Killed Motorist, and Alberto Aguilera, Bar Fight Murderer, Seek Paroles Today

​UPDATE, NOV. 29, 5:50 P.M.: The Board of Parole Hearings, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation meeting at California State Prison in Corcoran denied parole today for Luis Carlos Escobar, 51, who murdered a motorist in a crash while fleeing from agents busting him in an underc ... More >>

California's Paroled Sex Offenders Get Halloween Curfew

​Past 5 p.m. on Halloween, paroled sex offenders can't look for little treats.California sex offender parolees have long been ordered to stay inside and turn off their lights on the one day kids are encouraged to talk to strangers, but this year, authorities are taking safety a step further. The C ... More >>

Bryant Phillip Islas, Gang Banger on Parole, Walks Away from Prison Rehab and Tries to Kill a Guy: Cops

​A parolee who was supposedly under the watch of a Garden Grove rehab center obviously wasn't on Aug. 31, according to Santa Ana police officials who have linked 28-year-old Bryant Phillip Islas to the attempted murder of a man heading to Taco Bell for lunch that day. Islas is accused of walking a ... More >>

Paul Crowder, Murderer of Anaheim Basketball Star on Her Prom Night, Wins Parole Bid (Again)

​After murderer Paul Crowder was granted parole last year, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed it.Today, the Board of Parole Hearings, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation once again determined the killer of a 17-year-old Anaheim basketball star on her prom night should be ... More >>

Drew David Lambert, Druid Looking for Love, Loses Bid for Parole from Serial Child Molestation Rap

​Former Irvine resident Drew David Lambert is 32, straight and looking for love. An Ovate in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, Druid apprentice in the Ancient Order of Druids in America and Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons role-play gamer ("Yes, I can be a total nerd!"), hopes to attract ... More >>

Ivan Von Staich, Convicted Murderer Who Scored Win in Parole Bid, Has Menaced Courts for Years

​The state parole board Wednesday found suitable for parole a two-time jail escapee convicted of bludgeoning a former girlfriend with a claw hammer and fatally shooting her husband in 1983. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas opposed Ivan Von Staich's parole bid, but if the 55-year-old is ultimately ... More >>

Low Pay for Airline Pilots "Threatens" the Country

​A couple months ago, I almost blogged something that claimed regional airline pilots earn an average of $14,000 a year. Believing that to be a typo--pilots are rolling in it, right?--I moved on to something more important, like Octomom boxing an East Coast skank.However, the nonprofit investigati ... More >>

Ruben Gaitan, Santa Ana Murderer from Case That Helped Lead to State Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird's Recall, Loses Latest Parole Bid

Ramos in '79​Way back in 1979, Ruben Gaitan was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison and his buddy Marcelino Ramos received the death penalty for shooting two workers execution-style in a Santa Ana Taco Bell's freezer room. One died.Ramos, who told the pair "Say your prayers" before pulli ... More >>

[UPDATED with Parole Denied:] Jerry Michael Wade Poses Risk to Public Safety, DA Says of 64-Year-Old Inmate in Wheelchair

Jerry Michael Wade​UPDATE, JULY 12, 5:07 P.M.: Score another victory for District Attorney Tony Rackauckas when it comes to keeping a killer locked up.The state prison's parole board in Vacaville denied parole today for Jerry Michael Wade, 64, who shot and killed a complete stranger he was a ... More >>

Gregory Coates, Who Raped and Murdered Stepmother and Friend's Mom in 1975, Denied Parole

​Today, the district attorney offices of Orange and Riverside counties tag-teamed to help stop a 54-year-old man from being paroled for the rapes and murders of his stepmother and a friend's mother when he was 17. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Board of Parole Hearings ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Lawrence Joseph Brown: District Attorney and Co. Want Him Committed as 'Sexually Violent Predator' and Locked Away for Good

OCDALawrence Joseph Brown's booking photo​UPDATE, APRIL 11, 3:46 P.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office continues to work toward keeping convicted child rapist Lawrence Joseph Brown off the streets indefinitely, filing a new petition to have him committed to a mental institution as a s ... More >>

Sirhan Sirhan, CIA Spooks and Dana Rohrabacher

Courtesy of the California Department of CorrectionsSirhan Sirhan's latest prison photo​Sirhan Sirhan is scheduled to go before a California parole board for a 13th time Wednesday, bringing to my mind two memories.The most recent involves Shane O'Sullivan's documentary RFK Must Die, which I caugh ... More >>

Lawrence Joseph Brown: District Attorney and Co. Want Him Committed as 'Sexually Violent Predator' and Locked Away for Good

OCDALawrence Joseph Brown's booking photo​Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas held a press conference this afternoon to lay out what he and fellow OC authorities have planned to keep a violent rapist out of the community.The DA called out the Department of Mental Health (DMH) for faili ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Mr. Wagner (Finally) Goes to Prison

[Moxley Confidential] Anaheim cop Bradley Stewart Wagner's former lawyer dooms his chances of getting out of his guilty plea to sexually assaulting illegal immigrants.

Lawrence Joseph Brown: OC District Attorney Trying To Keep The Violent Child Rapist In Jail

Courtesy of OCDA's officeLawrence Jospeh Brown today​You may remember Lawrence Joseph Brown, the convicted rapist who was released on parole on Nov. 17, 2010, despite what was a gruesome attack on a pair of young girls in 1983. Orange County lawmakers and the district attorney, as well n ... More >>

Cops: OC White Power Gang "Disrupted" in Undercover Sting

PEN1 boss Wayne Marshall​After calling members of Public Enemy Number One Death Squad (PEN1) "haters and cowards," federal agent John A. Torres bragged today that government authorities had successfully infiltrated and disrupted Orange County's most notorious white supremacist gang."Their reign of ... More >>

The Sex Offender Forecast: Fair

Six sex offenders tracked with global positioning system devices were arrested at the last Orange County Fair, surpassing the four arrested at the most recent Los Angeles County Fair and accounting for a large share of 17 such arrests statewide.Which just goes to prove my theory . . .

[UPDATED:] Chi Ngoc Bui, OC Homicide No. 40: Run Over for His Casino Winnings

​UPDATE: The third murder suspect is arrested south of Bullhead City, Arizona (see end of post) . . .Chi Ngoc Bui won big the night of Sept. 2 at the Hawaiian Gardens Casino next to the 605 freeway. Little did the 55-year-old Westminster resident know that he was being watched, later followed or t ... More >>

DA Announces Second Anaheim Gang Injunction

CORRECTION: The Orange County District Attorney's Office just sent this over: "The Safety Zone is primarily located north of Katella Avenue, east of Nutwood Street, south of Ball Road, and west of Disneyland Drive." ​Ah, summer: the season of flip-flops, sundresses . . . gang injunctions.The Orang ... More >>

Will An OC Jury Send A Costa Mesa Serial Killer to Death Row?

Costa Mesa serial killer say he has no remorse​Lisping serial killer Billy Joe Johnson (pictured) walked into Orange County Superior Court today in a seemingly relaxed mood despite the shackles, handcuffs and extra security. An animated, wide-eyed smile appeared on Johnson's prison pale face when ... More >>

Serial Child Molester Denied Parole, Could Be Free in 6 Months

​George Joseph England, the serial child molester R. Scott Moxley just wrote about, was denied parole Monday, but the 65-year-old could still taste freedom in six months.

Death Official for PEN1 White Supremacist Killer

Dana Point's Michael Lamb ditched his menacing shaved head look and entered Judge William Froeberg's 10th floor Santa Ana courtroom this morning with a full, messy head of hair that still couldn't cover the white supremacist tattoos doting his scalp, face, throat and neck. It wasn't like Lamb, a v ... More >>

[Moxley Confidential] DA Tony Rackauckas Joins the Battle Over Susan Atkins' Dying Wish

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

One Less Haidl in Prison

Sometime on Saturday, according to the OC Register, Greg Haidl will be released from prison. He is being released early because he was given automatic credit for good time and work time while in prison and for the time he served in the Orange County Jail before his sentencing, according to Bill Ses ... More >>

Your heroes: Cal inmates?

"Thank you heros" read a the words in neon orange, painted onto a plank propped against the corner of Modjeska Canyon Road and, ominously, Shadowland. The spelling was off, but the sentiment was genuine. Photographer Christopher Victorio and I stood with our cameras at the side of the road, watchi ... More >>

Open, Sesame

10. Strange nights and days of the Ali Baba Motel

Letters

'You dont see me trying to gain what blacks and Mexicans have been getting for decades'

Welcome Home, Mr. Haidl

Web Exclusive! Gang rapists finally get shipped to state prison

Redemption Song

Dave Herrick's strange odyssey through the U.S. war on drugs