A Los Angeles man who was the owner of a medical supply company was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed more than $4 million to Medicare. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Eilee...

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney's (OCDA) Office filed drug and trespass charges today against a former star quarterback. Todd Marvin Marinovich, 47, Irvine, is charged with five misdemeanor counts including attempted aggravated trespass of a residence, trespass with in...

A former Los Angeles police detention officer who worked in the Valley Jail Division and a couple who owned a Sherman Oaks bail bond company pleaded guilty today to a bail solicitation scheme, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced. Leonard Jimmy Ramirez, 44, William Aroutoun...

LOS ANGELES –United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker announced today the launch of a new community outreach program to address the growing epidemic of heroin and prescription opioid abuse. Because of the public health crisis stemming from the abuse of prescription drugs such as OxyContin and Vi...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was charged and arraigned yesterday for assaulting and attempting to murder a school police officer by gouging his eye and choking him. Enrique Martinez, 28, Santa Ana, is charged with one felony count of attempted murder on a peace officer, one felony count of attempted...

LOS ANGELES– The former president and CEO of the Sherman Oaks-based Morgan Peabody, Inc. brokerage and investment firm was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in prison for federal wire fraud charges stemming from an investment scam in which defendant misappropriated nearly $6 million from more than...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Matthew Muller, 39, of South Lake Tahoe, pleaded guilty today to one count of kidnapping, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, on March 23, 2015, between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., Muller broke into a home on Mare Island in V...

LOS ANGELES– A U.S. citizen who formerly resided in Turlock, California, and Auckland, New Zealand, was returned to the United States by Tonga and is expected to appear in court today to face federal investment fraud charges. Antone Thomas Pedras, who also went by Chris Pedras, 64, arrived at L...

LOS ANGELES– A Mission Viejo man has agreed to plead guilty to taking more than $2,300,000 from investors in a fraudulent real estate investment scheme in which he used investor funds to pay for personal expenses, including travel and cosmetic surgery, to make cash withdrawals, and to make Ponzi...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man and woman were sentenced to state prison today for human trafficking, kidnapping for robbery, and assaulting a woman. Jarrod Neil Cross, 29, Sacramento, and Saquila Collete Osborne, 33, Rancho Cordova, were each found guilty by a jury on Aug. 4, 2016, of one felony count...

LOS ANGELES– The Justice Department announced today that Wells Fargo Bank N.A., doing business as Wells Fargo Dealer Services, has agreed to change its policies and pay over $4.1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by repossessing 413 cars o...

SAN DIEGO— Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, along with the attorneys general of 49 other states and the District of Columbia, today announced a $95.9 million settlement with USA Discounters over allegations that the company used deceptive marketing and unlawful debt collection practices targeti...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A private investigator working for a law firm retained by the Costa Mesa Police Officers' Association (CMPOA) was convicted today of committing crimes against two Costa Mesa council members and a competitor attorney. Christopher Joseph Lanzillo, 46, Lake Arrowhead, pleaded gui...

SANTA ANA, California– An Orange County man who deceived distressed homeowners with false promises that he could help them avoid foreclosure by obtaining modifications to their mortgages – or even completely eliminating their loans – was convicted today on federal fraud charges. Antonio Marque...

LOS ANGELES– A British man who traveled to the Coachella Valley to have sex with pre-teen boys pleaded guilty today to transportation of child pornography and agreed to a 13-year prison sentence. Paul Charles Wilkins, 70, of Littleport in East Cambridgeshire, England, a dual United States-Unite...

LOS ANGELES– A federal grand jury has issued a superseding indictment that charges a West Los Angeles pharmacy and its owners with operating a years-long narcotic drug trafficking, money laundering, and tax fraud conspiracy. Under the new indictment, Brentwood residents Berry Kabov, 45, and his...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was arraigned today for posing as a fire marshal and charging small businesses across Orange County for fraudulent inspections. Brian Lee Carsten, 36, Newport Beach, is charged with four felony counts of second degree burglary, four felony counts of extortion by force or...

LOS ANGELES– A Lancaster man was sentenced yesterday in federal court for criminal copyright infringement for illegally posting screener versions of two movies – “The Revenant” and “The Peanuts Movie” – to a publicly accessible website. As a result of the illegal upload, “The Revenant” was avail...

CHICAGO– An Illinois man pled guilty yesterday to felony computer hacking related to a phishing scheme that gave him illegal access to over 300 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts, including those belonging to members of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. Edward Majerczyk, 28, who resides i...

LOS ANGELES– A Glendale man has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in the large-scale manufacture and distribution of synthetic drugs that are commonly called “spice.” Yesterday afternoon, Faisal Iqbal, 34, one of 16 defendants arrested in connection with a synthetic dru...

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA– An Orange County man who attempted to travel to the Middle East to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was sentenced this afternoon to 30 years in federal prison for conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the terrorist organization. Unit...

LOS ANGELES– A former executive at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was charged today in federal court with participating in a scheme to fraudulently generate revenue for a software company that was being purchased by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which was misled into paying a $98 mi...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was arraigned today for pimping, pandering, threatening to kill two women, and attempting to murder one of them at a motel in Anaheim. Deandre Henderson, 26, Tustin, is charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of assault with force likely to pr...

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was formally sentenced today to receive the death penalty for using a firearm to murder his neighbor for financial gain and murdering the victim's friend in an effort to derail the investigation by framing the first victim. Daniel Patrick Wozniak, 32, Costa Mesa, was fou...

A 21-year-old woman was sentenced today to five years in state prison for robbing a man, which led to the victim being shot, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced. On Jan. 28, a jury convicted Shatera Latrice Simpson of first-degree residential robbery in case KA107699. Juro...