Two Chinese roommates residing in a Los Angeles County apartment stole $408,000 in merchandise during an identity theft operation that targeted high-end shops at Orange County’s South Coast Plaza mall, according to the U.S. Secret Service. Special Agent Kendra Fuentes reports that on July 5, Zhi Huo Zhong and Lisheng Huang used a Bank of […]
U.S. Department of Justice
New Pervy Charges for Teacher Suspected of Putting Semen in OC Students’ Flutes
Remember the story from last year about the music teacher accused of possibly giving semen-filled flutes to students in Fountain Valley, the Fullerton, Newport-Mesa and Capistrano Unified school districts as well as elsewhere in Southern California? It was an apparent crime so heinous that the Weekly had dual reports Oct. 2 on our news and […]
Feds Detain Glock-Toting OC Man Found with Five Pounds of Coke and Meth
Federal law enforcement officials are detaining an Orange County convicted felon for once again possessing a weapon while selling cocaine and methamphetamine. According to a grand jury indictment, police officers found Doc Huu Nguyen with more than three pounds of cocaine plus two-and-a-half pounds of methamphetamine as well as a 9mm Glock semi-automatic handgun and […]
Prosecutors Grab Guilty Pleas in Synthetic Fentanyl and Counterfeit Oxycodone Scam
Nearly five months after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged three Orange County men with operating a scam selling the synthetic opioid fentanyl and counterfeit oxycodone pills, two of the defendants this week made plea deals. According to records inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, Duc Cao of Orange and Isaiah Suarez of […]
Chinese Communist Spy Stealing U.S. Military Technology Pleads Guilty in OC
A 33-year-old Chino Hills resident—who provided accounting services for American aerospace companies, including U.S. defense contractors—pleaded guilty this week in Orange County to illegally transferring sensitive military technology to the People’s Republic of China. Si Chen (a.k.a. Cathy Chen) sent advanced radar, military-grade communications jammers, low-noise amplifiers and Ka-band space communications to Hong Kong in […]
U.S. Wants Southern California Assets Tied To Disaster Relief Bribery Scandal in the Philippines
Orange County is ground zero in a legal war between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the family of Janet Lim Napoles, a Filipino businesswoman who in an eight-year period allegedly swindled more than $225 million in government funds intended for typhoon disaster relief and developmental assistance in the Philippines. Federal prosecutors based in […]
Snitch Scandal Judge Ponders $10,000 Contempt Fine For Orange County Sheriff
Complaining about continued “mind boggling” and “incomprehensible” record games by Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens in a death penalty case, Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals today declared he is pondering contempt findings plus a $10,000 fine against her. Hutchens and her command staff, who have spent nearly 35,000 hours defying Goethals’ January 2013 discovery orders […]
How Long Will Death Penalty Case Judge Tolerate Sheriff’s Defiance?
In a blistering Jan. 18 motion, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders outlined the “indefatigable drive” of Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) officials to mask “deeply entrenched” corruption and asked the judge in People v. Scott Dekraai to grant him access to presently hidden records he says reveal additional evidence of underhanded law enforcement efforts against […]
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' Refusal To Obey Court Orders May Lead To Contempt Hearings
During this morning's hearing in People v. Scott Dekraai, Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals threatened potential future contempt proceedings against Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and her deputies who've flagantly stonewalled compliance with his January 2013 discovery orders in the death penalty case. "I remind the sheriff [who was, as usual, not present] that […]
Deputies' Criticism Unnerves Scandal-Scarred OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens
Only 18 months ago, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens hailed a formal survey of rank-and-file deputies who graded the department's top managers on seven characteristics, including integrity, caring, innovation, communication, pro-action, trustworthiness and collaboration. Hutchens mentioned minor quibbles but praised the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs (AOCDS) for conducting a "professional and fair" rating […]
OCDA Tried to Block Dash-Cam Video Absolving Man of Charges He Assaulted Costa Mesa Cop
Sitting on the witness stand last month inside Orange County’s West Justice Center, Christina Natividad claimed a foggy memory about what she’d been doing as a Costa Mesa Police Department (CMPD) officer outside the Triangle Square shopping plaza just before 2:30 a.m. on June 28, 2014. But she was sure it had been investigating a […]
Spokane Police Brutality Case Is Eerily Similar To Fullerton Cop Killing Of Kelly Thomas
In a case with eery similarities to the 2011 police beating death of Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, a veteran Spokane, Washington cop yesterday received a 51-month prison sentence in the excessive force death of a mentally disable man. Officer Karl Thompson, 65, lead the charge against 36-year-old Otto Zehm, a school janitor who was falsely […]
San Clemente Businessman Gets Punished For $6.85 Million Foreign Bribery Operation
A San Clemente businessman who violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing foreign government officials with more than $6.85 million to win lucrative contracts has been sentenced to prison this week inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse in Santa Ana. Stuart Carson, 73, faced up to 10 months in prison following a 2009 federal […]
Loretta Sanchez Celebrates $485,000 Federal Grant For OC Crime Lab
Think what you might about Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez's politics, but there is no denying that the Anaheim Democrat continually helps steer important federal grants to Orange County's local government entities, especially law enforcement agencies. Yesterday, with our Liz Monroy watching, Sanchez visited Sandra Hutchens' Orange County Sheriff's Department and its OC Crime Lab to celebrate […]
How Much is a Dead Mexican Worth? According to the U.S. Government, Less Than a Used Hyundai
One night in July 2008, U.S. Border Patrol agents with the Department of Homeland Security found Tomas Sanchez Orzuna on a street in San Clemente, sprayed him in the face with toxic chemicals, handcuffed him, beat him, took him to a check point station and hosed him down so violently with water he died from […]
UPDATED with Capture: Federal Judge David O. Carter Orders Posse to Find Fugitive Brad Keith Lee
UPDATE: Acting on the orders of a pissed off federal judge in Orange County, law enforcement officials this month arrested Brad Keith Lee in Washington state for probation violations; now he'll face the unhappy judge at a future date.ORIGINAL POST: 3/7/2012: David O. Carter is undoubtedly Orange County's most colorful federal judge. Inside the Ronald […]
Ex-California Army National Guard Commander in OC Admits He's a Scumbag Crook
A 70-year-old retired colonel in the California Army National Guard pleaded guilty today in federal court to running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 28 victims approximately $2.7 million, according to a U.S. Department of Justice announcement. Timothy Melvin Murphy, a resident of Orange and at one point the commanding officer of the Guard's […]
Dana Point Harbor Boat Captain Admits to Smuggling Aliens From Mexico
A 28-year-old Orange County citizen has pleaded guilty for attempting to smuggle six foreign nationals into the U.S. on a boat to Dana Point earlier this year. Brian Bokkes admits that he was the “captain” of a 1987 Four Winns Pleasure Craft boat that brought the fee-paying, undocumented aliens from Mexico to Dana Point Harbor […]
Costa Mesa's “Sal the 1040 Gal” Gets Nailed For Skimming Tax Refunds From Clients
You have to give Sally Louise Crystal big points for audacity. While on criminal probation for stealing more than $6,800 from a roommate, Crystal (AKA Sally Hernandez or, her professional nickname, “Sal the 1040 Gal“) operated a brazen income tax preparation scam in Costa Mesa that ripped off her clients and the U.S. Government. Following […]
Hundreds Protest Fullerton Police Brutality After The Disgraceful Kelly Thomas Killing
On a beautiful Southern California Saturday more than 250 outraged local citizens ignored the chance to spend a sunny day at the beach, swim in their pools, shop at the mall or sip Mimosas on their porches. Instead, for six hours a diverse group of citizens–grandmothers, little kids, lawyers, college students, businessmen and women, housewives, […]
Janet Napolitano’s Sorry Service in Arizona Makes Her a Terrible Choice for Homeland Security Secretary
By Michael Lacey Consorting with anti-immigrant enforcers, indulging rank opportunism and adhering to failed policies seem an unlikely recipe for change we can believe in. And yet this very cocktail of mediocrity—stirred by an early endorsement of Barack Obama—has thrust Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano into the heady midst of Washington, D.C.’s inaugural speculation.She finds herself […]