Marco Antonio Perez, a 59-year-old from Glendora, was charged with one count of insider trading in September 2023. He agreed to plead guilty to buying over 66,000 company shares based on insider information that was not available to the public and allowed him to both purchase and sell shares for ...
Jorge Armando Contreras, a 52-year-old man from Yorba Linda, the former senior director of fiscal services at an Orange County public school district, was arrested in October 2023 for allegedly embezzling more than $14 million. This is a federal embezzlement charge, and if convicted, he will face...
A 34-year-old man named Jonathan Perez, from South L.A. was found guilty in late September 2023 of participating in a conspiracy to sell firearms illegally. As of now, the court determined that Perez and his co-conspirators had illegally sold 22 guns and three silencers. He is facing the statutor...
In September 2023, three residents of Los Angeles were convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. They face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count. LA Money Laundering Scheme The defendants, Blade Bai, 35, Bowen Hu, 28, and Tairan Shi, 29...
Hovik Dagesian, a 42-year-old man from Burbank, pleaded guilty in September 2023 to one count of engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Each of the illegal firearms dealing counts carries a sentence ...
Jobson Marangoni De Castro, a 37-year-old man from Beverly Hills, was arrested in August 2023 after being charged with interstate transportation of stolen property. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison if convicted. Stolen Goods for Sale According to the criminal...
In July 2023, 10 members of the San Gabriel gang, the Quiet Village, were indicted in a series of federal grand jury indictments for a wide range of criminal conduct, including one fatal shooting and two murders the year before. Each of the defendants is facing considerable prison time if they ar...
Jacques Poujade, a 63-year-old man in Irvine, California, pleaded guilty in late July 2023 to one count of securities fraud. He is scheduled for sentencing on October 30, 2023, where he is facing the maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Businessman Pleads Guilty to Fraud Po...
William Eric Fulton, a 59-year-old man from Agoura Hills, pleaded guilty to making false statements at the end of July 2023. According to his plea agreement, Fulton agreed to pay a fine of no less than $673,290 and is facing the statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Enterta...
Kelly Deshannon, a 42-year-old woman in La Verne, was found guilty of several crimes for involvement with an imprisoned Mexican Mafia “shot caller,” including one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as one count of committing a vio...
Armen Hovanesian, a 32-year-old man from Glendale, plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and defrauding a government-sponsored loan program. This program was created to help businesses and individuals survive the economic impact that COVID-19 caused. Additionally, Hovanesian admitted that he us...
Dae Yong Lee, “David Lee,” a 58-year-old man from Bel Air, was sentenced to six years in federal prison after paying a $500,000 cash bribe to former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar and his special assistant. He was also ordered to pay a $750,000 fine. According to the Judge, it was import...
Amir Hossein Golshan, a 24-year-old man from Downtown Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to three felony charges: one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, one count of wire fraud, and one count of accessing a computer to defraud and obtain value. He is facing a sta...
Christopher Blair Hernandez, a 37-year-old sheriff's deputy in the LASD's Compton Station, agreed to plead guilty in July 2023 to a felony conspiracy charge to violate another man's civil rights. According to the plea agreement, Hernandez and his former partner, Miguel Angel Vega, went by Wilson...
Sara Jacqueline King, a 39-year-old woman from Newport Beach, pleaded guilty to federal felony charges after using her investors' money to fund her luxurious lifestyle. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous According to her plea agreement, from January 2022 until January 2023, King, through her com...
Johnny Ray Gasca, a 53-year-old man from New York City, was found guilty in June 2023 after abducting a 68-year-old woman with dementia in West Los Angeles. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for this September. Gasca is facing a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison. Obstructing Justice...
Cruz Noel Quintero, a 43-year-old man from Long Beach, was sentenced in June of 2023 after being convicted of selling fentanyl to two of his coworkers, one of whom died of an overdose. Fentanyl, Firearms, and Ferocious Sentencing In February of 2018, Quintero, an EMT at a Long Beach hospital, b...
Tibet Ergul and Chance Brannon, two 20-something-year-old men from Orange County, were arrested in June of 2023 for allegedly launching an improvised explosive device into a local Planned Parenthood medical center. They could face a statutory maximum federal prison sentence of 20 years if convict...
Robert Quido Stella, a 50-year-old man and former Navy SEAL from Canyon Country, was found guilty in May 2023 of three counts of producing child pornography. The minimum sentence for such a crime is 15 years (per count), and a maximum of 30 years (per count), in federal prison. Prior to this deci...
Two senior members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) criminal street gang, José Balmore Romero and Erwin Alexander Melgar, were found guilty in May 2023 of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Additio...
Lijuan “Angela” Chen, a 50-year-old woman from Inland Empire, has been accused of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of possession and use of counterfeit postage. She faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if convicted. Stealing from th...
Davyd George Brand Jimenez, a 52-year-old man from San Ysidro, was indicted in May 2023 for 10 counts of false impersonation of a federal officer or employee, two counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of misusing a United States pas...
Sheila Marie Ritze, a 42-year-old woman from San Juan Capistrano, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for her part in the murder of a man in October 2019. After a 12-day trial in April of 2022, she was found guilty of second-degree murder within the U.S.'s special maritime and territori...
Toya Toshell Hunter, a 45-year-old woman from South Los Angeles, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for acting in a conspiracy to defraud banks by stealing debit cards containing unemployment insurance and other benefits. Co-schemers should be motivated to separate their cases. A lesser...
Tamara Dadyan, a 43-year-old woman from Encino, arrived in Los Angeles in late February 2023 after being extradited from Montenegro, where she had been living as a fugitive for about a year. According to court records, Dadyan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and ban...
