SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Fresno man is scheduled to be arraigned today for pimping and pandering a teenage girl who was on a website known for commercial sex and prostitution. Akili Shakur Foster, 18, Fresno, is charged with one felony count of pimping and one felony count of pandering. If convicted...

A former art dealer is facing grand theft charges for allegedly failing to pay more than $1 million to the owners of paintings sold through his gallery, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Perry Rubenstein (dob 1/5/54) was charged in case BA444929 with three counts of gra...

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Two men were convicted and sentenced today for cutting down a tree which housed migratory and protected birds. Stephen John Esser, 47, Dana Point, and David Roger Stanley, 41, Downey, each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of unlawful possession and destruction of bi...

FRESNO— Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced a takedown targeting the Dog Pound Gangsters, a Fresno-area criminal organization, following a year-long joint investigation by the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation Special Operations Unit (SOU) and the Fresno Pol...

SANTA ANA, California – Federal authorities late yesterday arrested five out of 10 defendants who have been charged in identity thefts cases related to an international money laundering scheme that laundered millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds. The criminal c...

RIVERSIDE, California– An Orange County woman who formerly performed payroll tax services for Axium International, Inc. has pleaded guilty to a federal tax evasion charge. Christina M. Futak, 58, a resident of the City of Orange, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of criminal tax evasion. T...

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that a group of 66 companies have agreed to clean up contaminated groundwater at the Omega Chemical Corporation Superfund Site in Whittier, California.  The settlement requires the companies to spend an e...

LOS ANGELES– Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that her office has filed six felony charges against Andrew Jordan, 36, in Los Angeles County Superior Court for allegedly committing human trafficking, pimping, pandering, domestic violence, assault, and a racially motivated hate cri...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Two criminal street gang members have been charged and are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow for the shooting murder of an unarmed man while they were spraying graffiti in unincorporated Anaheim. David Steven Ortega, 33, Chino, is charged with one felony count of special circ...

LOS ANGELES– The owner of a Tustin tax preparation business called First Quality Tax Services was arrested this morning on federal charges that allege he prepared and filed fraudulent federal income tax returns claiming false deductions for his clients. Thomas P. Butcher, 61, of Rancho Santa Ma...

LOS ANGELES– A man who was found guilty of assaulting a Deputy U.S. Marshal by trying to run him over with a minivan has been sentenced to 96 months in federal prison. Keith Leon Smith, 47, of Carson, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who said the defendan...

LOS ANGELES– A man who resided in Carpinteria has pleaded not guilty after being named in a federal grand jury indictment that charges him with producing, receiving, distributing and possessing child pornography in 2015 – crimes he allegedly committed soon after completing a state prison term as...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An unemployed Navy deserter was convicted and sentenced today to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for the Valentine's Day shooting-murder of a woman and her live-in boyfriend after posing as a potential car buyer. Pasqual Raul Loera, 38, Redlands, pleaded...

LOS ANGELES– Federal authorities have charged a total of 22 defendants with defrauding the Social Security Administration by illegally receiving cash benefits and causing a cumulative loss of $2.6 million. Most of the defendants are charged with taking Social Security benefits for relatives afte...

LOS ANGELES – A businessman who prosecutors believe defrauded more than 300 investors in a precious metal investment scam has pleaded guilty to federal fraud and money laundering offenses in a case that caused victims to lose nearly $11 million. Bruce R. Sands Jr., 54, of Valencia, pleaded guilty...

FULLERTON, Calif. – A man was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison today for sexually assaulting a friend's 15-year-old daughter for a decade. Isidro Medrano Garcia, 42, Bell Gardens, was found guilty by a jury on March 4, 2016, of three felony counts of lewd acts on a minor. G...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was sentenced today for placing pipe bombs near public places in Anaheim and possessing materials to construct additional pipe bombs. Donald Paul Busteed, 45, Anaheim, pleaded guilty today, April 15, 2016, to a court offer of three felony counts of possession of a destru...

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today that energy drink-maker Neurobrands LLC will pay $500,000 to settle a civil lawsuit over allegations the company falsely touted health benefits with its products. The agreement was approved earlier this week by Los Angeles County S...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Finance Services Manager for the City of Placentia (Placentia) was arrested last night for embezzling $4.3 million from the city. Michael Minh Nguyen, 34, Irvine, is charged with 17 felony counts of misappropriation of public funds with sentencing enhancements for aggravat...

Daniel Albert Crowninshield, 45, of Sacramento, California, pleaded guilty today to unlawfully manufacturing and dealing in firearms and possession of an unregistered machinegun, announced U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner for the Eastern District of California. In his plea agreement, Crowninshiel...

U.S. Attorneys are joining forces with local law enforcement and community leaders for a series of events around the country to address backlash against Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian Americans following the tragic terrorist attacks in Brussels, Paris and San Bernardino, California.  The 14 e...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Five defendants were arraigned yesterday April 12, 2016, for committing over $635,000 in tax and insurance fraud and failing to pay employees prevailing wage on public works contracts. Babak Brian Abghari, 36, Newport Coast, Homayoun Harry Abghari, 57, Huntington Beach, Julio ...

FULLERTON, Calif. – A felon was convicted and sentenced today for burglarizing two homes and assaulting and robbing a homeowner on Christmas and fleeing the scene after being shot by the homeowner. Jeremy William Bell, 31, Fullerton, pleaded guilty today to a court offer of two felony counts of f...

A Los Angeles man allegedly posing as an Uber driver who lured a woman into his vehicle was charged today with kidnapping and sexually assaulting her, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Dartanyun Lamar Smith (dob 5/10/76) is scheduled to be arraigned after 1:30 p.m. toda...

SANTA ANA, California– A registered sex offender from Canyon Country has been sentenced to a decade in federal prison and ordered to serve 40 years of supervised release for his conviction pleading guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Paul Frederick Kampmeyer Jr., 45, was sen...