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Adrian Montano Fuerte was found guilty, this week, of felony forcible rape and assault with the intent to rape and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and battery. Fuerte, who worked at a few Econo Lube and Tune locations in 2007 would lure women into the garage to explain their car problems. Once there, he would assault them, sexually batter them or rape them. Five women came forward and said that Fuerte either raped them or assaulted them. Fuerte could face around 15 years in state prison for his crimes.

Sexual battery is the touching of the intimate part’s of another without consent and is a misdemeanor. Rape, on the other hand, requires actual penetration and is a felony. Sex crimes stay on your record and may even require you to register on a sex offender list. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Fullerton or Newport Beach, if you are charged with a sex crime, you will need an experienced defense attorney to assist you with your legal matters.

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Colin Nathanson was the president and CEO of Giant Golf Company and Play Big Enterprises. While owning those companies, he admitted that he fraudulently convinced hundreds of people to invest in his companies, claiming that the companies would soon be publicly traded or would merge with a larger company. Nathanson received about $55 million from the investors and then bought houses, went on pricey vacations and used the money for his gambling addiction. The Securities and Exchange Commission started investigating him in 2005 and realized he was engaging in fraudulent activity. This week, Nathanson was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for the fraud he committed. As soon as he gets out, he will deported to South Africa since he was illegally in the U.S.

Someone being suspected of defrauding people out of money can be prosecuted criminally and sued in civil court. Even though Nathanson is in prison, he can also be sued by all the people he stole money from. Nathanson was sentenced to 27 years. To put this in context, a murderer would likely be sentenced to about 25 years. After Enron, the court has been more harsh in sentencing white collar criminals, especially when the dollar loss was so great. Whether you live in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach or Huntington Beach, if you are charged with fraud or any other white collar crime, you will need an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side.

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Two homeless men decided to have sex on a stranger’s lawn in broad daylight on Sunday at the 1000 block of Gavoita Drive in Laguna Beach. Police came after the homeowners called them to report the incident. The men were taken to Laguna Beach jail and charged with lewd conduct.

Lewd conduct involves sexual conduct that is done in a public place that offends someone. It is a misdemeanor offense but it will be on your criminal record. The penalties are normally jail time, fees and probation. A good defense attorney may be able to lower the charges to disturbing the peace. Whether you are in Irvine, Newport Beach or Tustin, if you get charged with lewd conduct, call an experienced criminal defense attorney to assist you.

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On Saturday night, Fullerton PD responded to a burglary call on Dale Street and Valencia Drive. Police arrived and saw a man walking near the area with a concealed weapon on him. The suspect then tried to run but was stopped by the police dog, Blitz. The individual, was arrested for possession of a loaded .25 caliber, semi automatic gun. He was on parole at the time of arrest so he will also be charged with a parole violation and evading arrest. Lieutenant Kevin Hamilton said he is a Pauline Street gang member that was recently paroled and may have to go to Chino State Prison after this parole violation.

Parole is the supervised release of a prisoner before the end of their sentence. Once someone is paroled, conditions are placed on them to abide by, including the ban on carrying any weapons. This individual is clearly in violation of this requirement and will face more prison time for this incident. He will need an experienced criminal defense attorney to assist him with his legal matters.

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Megan Marie Roy posed as a phony midwife and tried to deliver a baby that was stillborn. She met the woman through a real midwife who could not help the pregnant woman so Roy offered her services. A Santa Ana court charged her with fraud for the unauthorized practice of medicine. She was sentenced to 3 years of probation and 400 hours of community service and was also ordered to pay $2,000 to St. Jude’s Research Hospital.

Fraud is the intentional deception of another, made for personal gain. There are many types of fraud that one can get charged with, including: Medical, Insurance, Credit Card, and Accounting fraud. For the type of fraud that Roy committed, she is lucky she did not receive any prison time. If she had caused any harm to the woman or the baby, she would receive a long prison sentence. Whether you live in Buena Park, Cypress or Cerritos, if you are charged with fraud, call an experienced defense attorney to assist you with your legal matters.

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In 1991, the Dugard’s moved from Orange County to Lake Tahoe to escape crime. Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped in front of her step-father’s eyes just weeks after moving to Tahoe. The Dugard’s thought that Jaycee had been killed since they had not heard anything about her in 18 years.

This week, Phillip Garrido went on the Berkeley campus with his two daughters to speak about his religious beliefs when security thought he looked suspicious. After doing a background search they found out he was a paroled rapist. Garrido’s parole officer did not even know he had kids and once the parole officer spoke with Garrido, Gariddo confessed to having kidnapped Jaycee 18 years ago and fathering two children with her.

After searching the Garrido home, it was discovered that Jaycee and her two children, 15 and 11, were living in the backyard. The car used for the abduction was also in the backyard. In the home was Phillip’s wife, Nancy, who was immediately arrested.

It is likely that Phillip will be charged with kidnapping and rape and Nancy will be charged with aiding and abetting. Knowing that her husband kidnapped and raped a young girl and not doing anything about it is a crime. Whether you live in Santa Ana, Newport Beach or Yorba Linda, if you get charged with kidnapping or rape, you will need an experienced defense attorney to assist you right away.

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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.

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In 2006, Gideon Walter Omondi walked into a Fullerton police station and told officers that he drowned his son in a bath tub. Officers rushed to Omondi’s house and found the 4-year-old’s body lying on his father’s bed. He was in the middle of a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife and claimed he went crazy. Nine months prior to the murder, Omondi allegedly tried to kill his son by dousing his car with gasoline and putting himself and his son in the car. Police arrived before Omondi could light the car on fire.

Omondi was indicted on charges of murder and attempted murder for the two incidents. He pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. His trial starts this week and is expected to take about 15 days. If the jury finds him guilty, they have to then decide if he is insane. Most people may not know it, but pleading insane does not free you from criminal liability. Being found insane is a legal, not medical, term that means that a person should be locked up in a mental institution because they are a harm to themselves or others. The time they will be in the institution for is roughly the amount of time they would have to spend in prison if they were guilty.

Whether you live in Brea, San Juan Capistrano or Laguna Beach, if you are charged with murder, you will need an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to defend you in court.

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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.

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Jorge Velasquez Fernandez, Luis Rico Humberto, Ignacio Fernandez Mendez, Gabino Rodriguez Perez and Marco Antonio Mendoza will all be arraigned on Thursday in Fullerton for the alleged theft of over 50 Toyota Tacomas in Orange and Los Angeles County. These 5 men, who are residents of Anaheim and Orange, had an auto theft ring which involved stealing the trucks from Los Angeles County, changing license plates and forging new titles and then selling them to unsuspecting Orange County buyers for $5,000-$10,000. After the men were caught, some of the cars were recovered and returned to their rightful owners if the insurance company had not already compensated them.

In 2008, there was a 19% drop in auto thefts in Orange County compared to 2007. In California, the rate dropped about 12% to about 199,766 cars with an estimated value of around 1 billion dollars. About 87% of the cars were found and returned.

These 5 men will likely be charged with receiving stolen property, unlawful taking of a vehicle and grand theft. They will need experienced defense attorneys to assist them in reducing their charges and their sentences.

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