Tariq Ibrahim Musa was convicted in July for posing as a police officer before “busting” a 22-year-old selling counterfeit CDs in front of a Santa Ana market and then offering freedom in exchange for letting the bad cop fuck the poor sap's “beautiful” wife. The 33-year-old had been looking at the possibility of a life sentence today for kidnapping, but he got 10 years in prison because prosecutors were suddenly overcome by an urge to cut a deal.
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That's because Musa won a motion this morning for a new trial, reports City News Service. In what reporter Paul Anderson characterized as “a rare move,” Orange County Superior Court Judge David Hoffer granted the motion because Rudy Loewenstein, Musa's attorney, successfully argued insufficient evidence and jury instruction error.
Prosecutors reportedly hammered out the plea deal this afternoon that had Musa copping to kidnapping, grand theft from a person, receiving stolen property and false imprisonment. The Santa Ana jury on July 8 also found Musa guilty of kidnapping to commit extortion, which propped him up for a life sentence today.
Instead, that count was dismissed by Hoffer, who essentially vacated the jury's conviction.
Deputy District Attorney Bradley Schoenleben reportedly told Anderson the plea deal was partly offered to spare the victim from having to go through another trial. Given Musa had life hanging over his head and, with time served, he'll emerge from prison in just over six years–less time than he'd have to wait for the earliest possible parole hearing–it was a good deal for his client, Lowenstein reportedly said.
Musa flashed a badge at the male victim on April 3, 2009, before claiming he was under arrest for illegally selling compact discs in the parking lot of El Matate Market on First Street. The man was then forced to hand over his wallet, which included a photo of his wife with their small child.
The “arrestee” was then ushered into Musa's Nissan Altima, where the phony baloney cop used a built-in radio to pretend to be calling in the arrest. Then, noting how good looking the husband's wife is, Musa offered to let him go in exchange for an hour with the Mrs.
Musa's 10-year sentence is ironic because he'd told the husband he'd serve 10 years in a federal prison and then be deported to Mexico if he did not take the deal for his wife.
After a drive to the man's apartment, the resident was instructed to fetch his wife. Inside the apartment–and temporarily away from Musa–the husband told his wife and family what was happening. One relative called 9-1-1, Santa Ana police arrived at the apartment, and Musa was arrested that same day.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.