Prisons

Brea Mall Methamphetamine Dealer Wins Prison Trip

Two Pakistani males who unwittingly tried to sell 335.6 grams of methamphetamine for $12,000 in the Brea Mall parking lot to two confidential, government informants have both now been sentenced for their 2010 crime. We told you about the fate of 30-year-old, Orange County 7-Eleven clerk Noman Saeed ... More >>

[UPDATED with 300 Groups Demand Closure:] Theo Lacy Facility Outed as Among the Worst Immigration Detention Centers in the U.S.

See the Update No. 2 at the end of this post on 300 groups calling on the president to close troubled immigrant holding facilities, including Theo Lacy's.See Update No. 1 on the ACLU of Southern California citing the Detention Watch Network report in calling for the closure of Orange County's immigr ... More >>

Why Do Mexicans Rape So Much?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And why do they always yell, 'Cu-le-ro' at bands they love?

Cambodian Refugee from Santa Ana Detained Before Cultural Olympic Performance in London

Cambodian spoken word artist and former Santa Ana resident Kosal Khiev, who is scheduled to perform at the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad this week, was detained by British immigration officials overnight after landing at Heathrow Airport on Saturday evening. Khiev was invited to the Poetry Parnassus ... 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 >>

Rodney Alcala Wants to Stay on Death Row

​Serial killer Rodney Alcala has been behind bars since his arrest in 1979 for the murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe of Huntington Beach. Through his original convictions, overturned convictions and re-affirmed convictions, the 68-year-old has remained incarcerated in California. Against characte ... More >>

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 Delay to 2016:] Miguel Rodriguez, Killer of Anaheim Gas Station Clerk in '91, Seeks Parole Today

​UPDATE, AUG. 18, 3:49 P.M.: Well, it seems Miguel Rodriguez read the tea leaves, didn't like how they were swirling in the cub and got a continuance on his parole hearing--that will not have him showing up again before the panel until 2016."Prior to the hearing, Rodriguez conceded that his parol ... 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 17 More Swept Up:] 26 Charged with Carrying Out Mexican Mafia Orders in OC Jail

​UPDATE, JULY 14, 5:01 P.M.: Besides the 26 Mexican Mafia members the District Attorney's office is prosecuting as a result of the Orange County Jail crimes uncovered through "Operation Black Flag," 17 Costa Mesa gang members were swept up by federal indictments related to the investigation.The in ... 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 >>

Who'll Stop the Pain?

A recent spate of suicides and strange deaths inside Orange County's jails has jail staff and activists alike clamoring for reform

Justice Department Probing OC Jail Brutality

Ex-Sheriff Carona to Feds: Please Clean up the Jails before I start serving time!​Front page stories in both the LA Times and Register today report that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating Orange County's jail system in the wake of recent brutality allegations. "Officials from the departm ... More >>

Prison Dreams, Nocturnal Butterflies and 4th St.

OCCCA

Another Sheriff's Employee Who Tarnished Badge Leaves OCSD

In light of the Orange County Register report on Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Taylor, the lead jailer at the center of inmate John Derek Chamberlain's October 2006 death by stomping, finally leaving OCSD, it's worth comparing his future with that of the killers many believe he egged on. The Weekly's Nick ... More >>

Nurse Says Her Efforts to Improve the OC Jail's Women's Infirmary Have Broken Her, Haunt Her Dreams

Another Witness Weighs In on the Jailhouse Beating of Ex-Kiss Guitarist Mark Leslie Norton

DA's Office Says Alleged Jail Beating of Former Kiss Guitarist Referred to Sheriff's Department

Theo Lacy Unmasked: Was Ex-Kiss Guitarist Mark St. John a Victim of Brutal Jailhouse Justice?

OC Sheriff's officials call deputy in Jail Murder Probe "Lazy" and a "Bully"

According to his colleagues and superiors, the deputy at the center of Orange County's bloodiest jailhouse murder—a man who claims he was watching television when two dozen inmates beat a suspected child molester to death just yards away—is “lazy” and showed a pattern of behavior described b ... More >>

Jared Petrovich Admits His Role In the Killing of John Chamberlain. But Why Did He Target the Guy?

An Open Letter to DA Tony Rackauckas Regarding the Jailhouse Murder of John Chamberlain

Jail Deputies Officially Off the Hook for Bloodiest Jail Murder in County History

At a press conference this afternoon at the District Attorney's headquarters in Santa Ana, DA Tony Rackauckas announced that a nine-month grand jury investigation by his agency failed to uncover any evidence to charge any Orange County Sheriff's Department personnel for the most bloody murder in the ... 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 >>

You Can't Make This Shit Up

I don't know why--probably just to make sure I'm not missing any important updates on the latest south county exit poll nobody cares about or to get my daily fix of aerial photographs of toll road construction--but I tend to visit OC Blog every day. Actually the real reason I go there is they occasi ... More >>

OC Murderer Escapes Death Row--for Now

Jury deadlocks on ‘ultimate’ punishment for Michael Lamb

!Ask a Mexican!

'Theyre always little bit more rambunctious'

Kissing the Pinky Ring

Newport Beach barbecue honors racketeer heading to federal prison

CA soon to spend more on prisons than education!

According to an article today by James Sterngold in the San Francisco Chronicle, California will soon have the dubious honor of being the first state to spend more on prisons than higher education. Sterngold says that beginning in fiscal 2012-2013 the state will spend $15.4 billion annually on inca ... More >>

Letters

'This article is CRAP. This interview never happened, and falsifying information in that way is wrong for so many reasons. Mickey Mouse is a household name. Its like slandering Jesus; you just dont do it'

Blind Spot

For OC jail inmate John Chamberlain, jailhouse justice served as judge, juryand executioner

Little Hoover, Big Problem

The Little Hoover Commission* (the bipartisan, independent state commission dedicated to "promoting economy, efficiency and improved service in the transaction of public business") has issued a new report on the state prison system, one that neatly dovetails with recent Blotter posts on sentencing a ... More >>

Taking Lives

Coyote on a Fence gets all nuancey about capital punishment

Welcome Home, Mr. Haidl

Web Exclusive! Gang rapists finally get shipped to state prison

Monster's Ball

Feds, Aryan Brotherhood come to paint the OC courthouse white

Now More than Ever

Angela Davis matters

Shocking Development

Very belligerent inmate Gregory Haidl apparently zapped

Jailhouse Iraq

Brutalizing inmates is a proud American tradition

Eddie Ready

The Year in a Life Turned Around

Open Big House

Nick Schou gets inside OCs toughest jail

Equal-Opportunity Psycho Crew

Inmates allege the Orange County Mens Jail is still a haven for brutal deputies

A Third Reprieve

One of OCs most notorious death-row inmates wants to be sparedagain

Lords of Discipline

Fear factor grips Das Experiment

When Prison Guards Attack!

In Anaheim, screws say screw you to prison privatizers

Prison Blues

Visiting time at Wasco State

All In the Family

Former Manson Family Disciple Susan Atkins Wants to Be Your Neighbor

Going Home

After five months in jail, Eddie Quinones is free

Everything's Memorex

James Drakes conversations speak silently

The Weekly Guide to Doing Time

Redemption Song

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