California Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Vincent Edward Cantu, a former Pasadena officer of 8 years, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for two bank robberies he committed in 2008. While robbing banks, he was polite to the tellers but pointed a gun at them when demanding money. He was caught after a robbery in August of 2008 in La Habra, and once detained, admitted committing about 5 bank robberies. Because of the plea agreement, he was only charged with two bank robberies that he committed in 2008 in which he stole over $20,000.

Robbing a bank is a federal offense because banks are federally insured. Since its a federal offense, you are housed in federal prison if convicted. Bank robbers almost always get caught because banks have high tech security and surveillance systems. If you are convicted of robbing a bank, you will always get jail/prison time, have to pay restitution and be put on probation. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Ladera Ranch or Garden Grove, if you are charged with robbery, call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

Continue reading "Former Pasadena Police Officer Guilty of Robbing Banks" »

Matthew Thomas Dragna was arrested this week, after police found evidence that links him to a murder that occurred last month. Authorities believe that Dragna and Damon Nicholson became friends through a website and starting a relationship. On October 23, a co-worker of Nicholson found him beaten to death on his sofa. Nicholson's laptop, computer, clothing and cell phone had been stolen. At the crime scene, there was evidence that Dragna may have been at the crime scene and there was no showing of forced entry into the home, meaning that someone close to him may have done the crime. Search warrants were issued for both Dragna's Lake Forest home and a Santa Ana Drug Rehab center where Dragna had been staying. Dragna was arrested when some of the stolen items were found. He faces murder and robbery charges.

A felony murder is a murder done during the commission of another felony, or in furtherance of that felony. Since police think that robbery may have been the primary motive for the murder, this would likely qualify as a felony murder situation. Felony murder charges come with a sentence of life in prison. A possible defense to the murder would be a lack of intent. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Tustin or Brea, if you are charged with murder or robbery, call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

Continue reading "Lake Forest Man Arrested for Murder & Robbery" »

Last week, four Orange County men and one Nevada man walked into a Nevada Wells Fargo bank, handed the bank manager a fake warrant and said that they had the authority to walk into the vaults and take all of the money. The bank manager refused to allow the men take the money so they handcuffed and threatened him. As the suspects were leaving, police caught the men and arrested them. The men in FBI custody include Orange County residents Jonathan Miranda-Brewster, Jonathan Gray, Brady Beach and Ryan Williams. The Nevada robbery suspect was Eric Griffin.

These men will likely be charged with attempted robbery. Robbing a bank is a federal felony since banks are federally insured. You can be prosecuted by both the FBI and federal prosecutors. It is a very serious charge that comes with prison time, fines and probation. If convicted, this counts as a strike against you and once you get three strikes, you are sent to prison for life. Whether you live in Irvine, Lake Forest or Anaheim Hills, if you are charged with attempted robbery, call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

Continue reading "Orange County Men Use Fake Warrant to Rob Bank" »

Jose Guillermo Hernandez Luna was arrested last week, after he allegedly attempted to stick up an off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy at an ATM machine in Newport Beach. The deputy tried to shoot at the suspect but he got away. A few days later, Luna was arrested for drug possession. Before being taken to jail, officers found an article relating to the ATM incident in his possession. They found it odd that he had that article and then realized he may have been the ATM suspect that they had been looking for. Luna had also been the suspect of an auto and cell phone theft. After being questioned, they booked him on suspicion of armed robbery, drug possession and auto theft.

Luna will likely be charged with at least two felonies and a misdemeanor and will likely spend a few years in prison. An attorney can argue that just because he carried the article relating to the robbery, that does not mean he is the robber. Prosecutors will need a lot more evidence in order to prove that Luna committed these crimes. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Fullerton or Stanton, if you are charged with robbery, call an experienced criminal defense attorney to assist you.

Continue reading "Santa Ana Man Arrested for ATM Robbery" »

Guy William Savage, or the Buddy Holly Bandit, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after an Anaheim bank robbery. Savage was shot and wounded by Anaheim police after waking into a Washington Mutual bank with a fake bomb taped to himself in 2005. He claims that police did not let him get medical help right away, which caused flesh eating bacteria to invade his body and nearly kill him. He was convicted of bank robbery charges and has to spend 10 years in prison and pay the bank back about $12,000. Once he is released from prison, he will have to go to drug counseling since he claims that he robbed the banks because of his drug addiction.

Savage had such a severe addiction to drugs that he would do anything to pay for his addiction. Robbing a bank to get money is not a good idea. Banks have lots of security and video cameras and people rarely get away with bank robberies. You will receive a larger sentence if you use a weapon to commit your robbery. A fake bomb would be considered a weapon since it instills fear in people. Whether you live in Westminster, Aliso Viejo or Tustin, if you are charged with robbery, you will need an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side.

Continue reading "Buena Park Bank Robber Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison" »

Timothy Wade Voroshuck walked into a Santa Ana CVS and demanded OxyContin from the employee behind the pharmacy counter. The robber claimed he had a gun and when the employee refused to give him OxyContin, the robber jumped on the counter and tried to fight with the employee. The quick thinking employee gave him Tylenol instead and told him it was OxyContin. Officers quickly arrived and arrested Voroshuck for robbery and false imprisonment. He is in jail with his bail amount set at $145,000.

Clearly, Voroshuck was addicted to OxyContin and was desperate to get his hands on some more. In desperation, people do crazy things. He will likely face a few years in jail for the robbery and false imprisonment. He will need an experienced criminal defense attorney to assist him in fighting his legal charges.

Continue reading "Santa Ana Man Robs CVS Pharmacy" »

Earlier this week in Laguna Beach, a jewelry store was robbed by three men. They took about $600,000 worth of jewelry. Two witnesses called the police after witnessing the robbery. When police arrived, the suspects had already left in a white Ford Fusion. A while later, an officer driving in Aliso Viejo saw the car and pursued the suspects. The three men jumped out of the car and ran into a parking structure. Officers surrounded the structure and looked for the three suspects for three hours, but it is believed that the suspects escaped through a drainage ditch. The white Fusion that was left by the suspects was searched and some of the jewelry was found.

The jewelry store had surveillance cameras so it should be just a matter of days until the robbers are caught. Once these robbers are caught, they will be charged with robbery and evading arrest. A robbery counts as a strike on your record and once someone gets three strikes, they spend their life in prison. These suspects will need a good criminal defense attorney to defend them in this case.

Continue reading "Laguna Beach Jewelry Store Robbed of $600,000 in Jewels" »

Rodrigo Everado Preciado, calling himself Hector, introduced himself to Jeremy Ho at a gas station in June. They hit it off and became fast friends. Preciado and Ho decided to meet in Westminster to go get drinks with some of Preciado's friends. When Ho met Preciado up, Rodrigo pulled a gun on him and told him to get out of the car. Ho's wallet, jewelry, car keys, car and cell phone were stolen and he was told not to call the police or he would be killed. Preciado and his friends tried to use Ho's credit card at Walgreens in Fullerton and were eventually caught. Preciado is charged with carjacking, robbery and criminal threats.

Carjacking is the taking of someone's car that is accomplished through fear or force. For that charge alone, Preciado could face up to 9 years in state prison. Besides the carjacking, Preciado also stole from Ho and will face additional prison time for that.

Whether you live in Mission Viejo, Santa Ana or Huntington Beach, if you are charged with carjacking, you will need an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.

Continue reading "Westminster Man Carjacks His New Friend's BMW" »

Around 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon, officers responded to a call about a bank robbery at the Bank of America on Irvine Boulevard and Jamboree Road. Jeffrey Hudson was inside the bank, trying to rob it. Once he exited the bank with his backpack full of money, he realized that officers had surrounded the building. Officers asked Hudson to surrender, but instead, Hudson shot himself in the head one time. He was taken to the hospital and died a few hours later.

Robbery is the taking of property of another with force or intimidation, with the intent to keep the item. With the economy the way it is these days, it is not hard to understand why he would rob a bank, however I do not condone this type of behavior. If he would have survived the shooting, he would have been facing serious prison time for his actions. He would have needed an experienced Orange County defense attorney to assist him in his legal matters.

Continue reading "Irvine Bank Robber Shoots & Kills Himself " »

In Santa Ana Superior Court today, a complaint was filed against Andrew Urdiales for the alleged murder of 5 Southern California women. Between the years of 1986 and 1995, Urdiales was said to have murdered Robbin Brandley, a Saddleback College student, and four prostitutes: Julie McGhee, Maryann Wells, Tammie Erwin and Denise Maney. He confessed to these killings in 1997, after being arrested for killing two Illinois women. In 2002, Urdiales was convicted of two counts of murder in Illinois and was sentenced to death, however, this punishment was reduced to life in prison by a former Illinois governor. In 2004, Urdiales was convicted of murdering another Illinois women and was sentenced to death once again. Urdiales is currently appealing his death sentence in Illinois. Orange County prosecutors are still deciding if they want to pursue the death penalty against Urdiales for the 5 alleged murders he committed in California.

A serial killer is a person who murders 3 or more people over a long period of time with a cooling off period between murders. There is often a psychological gratification behind the murders. Notable United States serial killers include Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz.

Continue reading "Serial Killer on Trial in Orange County for 5 Murders" »

In 1992, Shaun Kareem Burney, a 19-year-old from Tustin placed a gun against the skull of Joseph Andrew Kondrath, a 23-year-old Anaheim college student. He robbed him of $1 and then put him in the trunk of a stolen car. A few minutes later, Burney opened the trunk and fired two shots into Kondrath's head, killing him. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Kondrath was killed so he would not be a witness to the carjacking and robbery. In 1994, Burney was charged with murder and sentenced to death. His co-defendants were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burney appealed his conviction and sentence and on Thursday of this week, the Supreme Court of California affirmed his conviction and his sentence.

The death penalty is a sentence given only to murders that possess special circumstances besides just a murder. This case involved a carjacking, a robbery and a murder. Those three crimes make it a special circumstances case that is eligible for capital punishment. Capital punishment is a controversial form of punishment. Proponents of the death penalty claim that it is useful for retribution, general deterrence and incapacitation. Opponents of the death penalty claim that it is too strict of a penalty and wrongfully accused people can be wrongfully executed. Regardless if you live in Irvine, Fullerton or Newport Beach, if you are charged with capital murder, you will need an experienced criminal defense attorney.

Continue reading "Death Penalty Affirmed for Orange County Carjacker-Killer" »

A 17-year-old teenager named Lily Burk was found dead in her car in Los Angeles last week. It looked as if she had died from blunt force trauma to the head. Earlier in the day, Burk had gone to Southwestern Law School to pick up some papers for her mother who was a teacher there. On her way home, she called both of her parents separately to ask them how to use her ATM card. They had no idea that she was asking because she was being robbed. Allegedly, Mr. Charlie Samuel, a transient with a history of drug and violent crimes, tried to rob Burk. A struggle ensued inside the car and hours later, Burk's dead body was found inside her black Volvo. Charlie Samuel had been arrested hours before the body had been found for other crimes. He is now being held without bail for the crime of murder.

Burk was an active student at her high school. She was supposed to star in a play at her school and wanted to become a writer in the future.

This is an unfortunate event and Mr. Samuel will need an experienced criminal defense attorney, whether this happened in Los Angeles, Irvine, or Anaheim. The attorney will need to investigate what Mr. Samuel was doing that day, what events occurred, if he in fact robbed Ms. Burk and how she died. A good defense attorney does not concede that his client did the crime. Instead, they look at all available evidence and defenses and craft well researched arguments to adequately defend their client and ensure them a fair trial.

Continue reading "Suspect Being Held For Murder of Los Angeles Teenager" »

Wearing a wig and handkerchief over his face, a man robbed a Bank of America in Laguna Hills last week. He walked into the bank, forced the employees and customers to line up against the wall and held them at gunpoint. He then led the bank manager and a teller to the vault where he made them open it and give him an undisclosed amount of money. He was described as being a 5 foot male weighing about 100 pounds. He had stated that he had a partner waiting outside and the bank surveillance camera caught an image of a blue Dodge Ram with custom rims in the parking lot that they believe was the getaway vehicle. The bank was robbed at the same time last year by a similar looking suspect and they will now offer $10,000 for any information relating to the suspect or the robbery.

It is amazing to me that even with all the security the bank has, people can still rob them. Whether in Laguna Hills, Irvine, Fullerton or Newport Beach, most banks have tons of surveillance cameras and secret panic buttons and even a security guard, but people still are brave enough and able to rob them. It will likely just be a matter of time before these suspects are caught. A $10,000 reward for information is tempting for anyone who knows anything about the suspects or the robbery. The bank robbers will likely face plenty of prison time once caught.

Continue reading "South Orange County Bank Robbed" »

A Huntington Beach couple were terrorized Wednesday afternoon when robbers broke in with handguns and stole a shotgun and some marijuana plants. The police are continuing their investigation into the crime.

What makes this interesting is what was taken. It may be that the victims become defendants since they would have admitted to possessing a large number of marijuana plants, unless they had a prescription to cultivate it for personal use. Medical marijuana is not legal in all states and can only be prescribed by physicians.

The robbers additionally stole a shotgun and a handgun that belonged to the Huntington Beach couple. If the residents of the home do not have a gun permit, they may face criminal charges.

Whether this robbery occurred in Newport Beach, Irvine, Westminster or Fullerton, the defendants would be facing serious prison time.

Continue reading "Orange County Homeowner Robbed At Gunpoint" »

This headline really grabbed my attention because it is different than so many other stories you see about thieves. What's different? They didn't use a gun. They have never used a gun. They used a knife to demand cash from the clerk. Why is that so remarkable? Well, commonly, guns are used in robberies, and people often get shot during robberies.

Also, their demeanor is calm. They pose as customers. Jim Amormino at the Orange County Sheriff's Department suggested they're drug addicts and could harm the clerks or customers. While that is possible, drug users often act desperately in search of money to buy drugs. They act irrationally, too. They make unreasonable demands, escalate by violence and often have hair-trigger tempers.

The other thing I noticed is that they commit these robberies and assaults all over Orange County. The locations range from Anaheim and Fullerton, to San Clemente and La Palma and Placentia.

That means the suspects, if caught, could be prosecuted at the West Justice Center in Westminster, or Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, or the North Justice Center in Fullerton. The other option is for the DA to file the cases and consolidate them at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

I've often wondered why these convenience stores don't have a remote-locking front door that can be used late at night. That way, clerks can buzz people in after deciding they're not a risk. It's not fool-proof, but it can eliminate some of the risk and it will do something else: It will force clerks to actually make eye contact with their customers. If there's one thing I've noticed about our society, it's that people don't look at one another anymore. We're so addicted to cell phones and making things happen quickly that we ignore the basic principle of eye contact to make decisions about one another.

Think about it: if you sense a crazy person is nearby, you will avert your gaze to avoid sending any message to that person. The eyes tell us so much about one another. Clerks could sharpen their people skills and size up customers better, too.

A person facing criminal charges in Orange County based upon these facts would be looking at serious state prison time. He would need a qualified Orange County criminal defense attorney to determine if all the robberies were committed by one person or just copycat crimes.

Continue reading "Orange County 7-11 Robbers Strike Again" »

Three Orange County teenage robbers, looking to get high or cook methamphetamine, punched a Target security guard in the face in order to make their getaway in a stolen BMW. Cold medicine is frequently used in manufacturing methamphetamine. Due to increase drug abuse and drug related crimes, California state law requires proof of identity in order to purchase certain types of cold medicine in bulk. Thieves have taken to stealing boxes of them and rushing out of stores, hoping to evade capture.

Frequently, the district attorney will file manufacturing charges against people arrested in these circumstances. However, there are laws dealing with the "precursor" crimes, such as possessing materials used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, which carries a shorter jail term.

Unfortunately, these three suspects, if caught, will be prosecuted under a variety of offenses, including robbery, assault, battery, burglary and grand theft auto and could face upwards of ten years in state prison.

If any of them has a history drug addiction a qualified Orange County criminal defense attorney would determine if they were eligible for a rehabilitation program in lieu of state prison, with a suspended sentence.

Continue reading "South Orange County Robbers Get More Than They Bargained For" »

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that an off-duty Gardena police officer was shot and killed a man with a knife who was trying to rob a diner in Bellflower last week.

According to the Los Angeles County sheriff's office, a five-year vetern of the Gardena police department was eating at a Norm's Restaurant when the robber came in. Apparently the officer tried to stop the robbery only to be charged at by the man. Fearing for his life, he shot and killed the man, who died at the scene.

After a dozen years in practice, and with over 100 trials and thousands of successful results, Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney William Weinberg understands what has to be done and how to succeed on behalf of clients charged with Orange County Crimes. Mr. Weinberg understands the complicated criminal court system and has a reputation among attorneys, prosecutors and judges as an attorney who aggressively and intelligently fights for his clients.

Continue reading "Off-duty officer killed in Bellflower robbery" »

The L.A. Times is reporting that a robbery in a San Bernadino neighborhood has left a mother looking for her three year old son.

The San Bernardino Sheriff's Office says that two men armed with handguns, allegedly robbed a San Bernardino home Sunday afternoon and tied up a mother and her five children. The men ransacked the home and took an unspecified amount of cash and property, and then kidnapped the three year old child.

According to reports, both suspects are described as thin, light-skinned Hispanic males. According to the Sherriff’s Office, one is believed to be about 18 years old, 5-feet-8 and wearing blue jeans, a green T-shirt and a black baseball cap. The other is believed to be about 24 years old, 5-feet-10 and wearing a black shirt, black pants and boots, and a white bandanna.

The boy is described as 3 feet tall, about 40 pounds, wearing a yellow shirt with blue sleeves, blue striped shorts and sandals.

Continue reading "San Bernadino home robbery turns into kidnapping" »

A man suspected in a rash of bank robberies in Moreno Valley, Corona, Riverside and Norco was arrested last week by Moreno Valley police. According to The Press Enterprise, the FBI has been working on the case with police in Riverside and Corona--as well as Riverside County sheriff's deputies in Norco and Moreno Valley--to track the robber down.

The robber was nicknamed the “neck brace bandit” because the bank robber who entered the banks wore a neck brace, a floppy hat and a bandage over his nose, and handed over a note demanding cash and threatened tellers and customers. The Neck Brace Bandit was seen last driving an older Mercedes with black chrome rims.

This week, Moreno Valley police stopped a Mercedes that matched that description for a traffic infraction and arrested the driver on suspicions he was involved in one of the robberies. Police said they found evidence related to the robberies -- but not a neck brace -- at the driver's home.

Continue reading "Police arrest suspect in Moreno Valley Robbery" »