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In Anaheim on Monday, a man entered an unlocked back door of a woman’s house, held her at knifepoint, and sexually assaulted her. He had a bandanna on his head and a cloth over his face to disguise himself. At some point, he put a pillow over her face and threatened to kill her if she called the police. After the assault was over and he was about to leave, he asked her where her purse was and then stole her cash. Police later found the suspect, Dexter Tagudin Villanueva, in his home and arrested him. He is being charged with six felony counts and if convicted on all six counts, will face 91 years to life in prison.

Back in the old days, people would never lock their doors. These days, doors have to be locked at all times. Robbers and rapists are opportunists. When they see an unlocked door or window and a woman inside that is home alone, they will act.

Most rapists threaten their victims and have a weapon nearby to force the woman to let the assault happen and not fight back. Besides just being charged with rape, Villanueva is also likely charged with assault and burglary. Whether he lives in Irvine, Fullerton or Anaheim, he will need an experienced Orange County defense attorney to assist him in the legal process.

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Thong Vinh Le was arrested last week in connection with running a brothel in Garden Grove. He had advertised massage services in a Vietnamese paper and someone got suspicious because the location was a chiropractor’s office. After an investigation, officers found out that people would go into the office, pick the woman they wanted to service them and then pay for sex. Police raided the business, where they found 11 women who they believed were victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Officers say this is the largest brothel they have seen in the area.

Le was running the brothel and acting as a “pimp” for the ladies. Besides prostitution that he will be held liable for, if these women were taken from Vietnam and forced to work in the brothel, he will be facing serious charges. If these women were not forced to work in the brothel and instead did it by choice, these women will be facing prostitution charges themselves.

Whether you live in Irvine, Lake Forest or Cerritos, prostitution is illegal in California. A person convicted of being a prostitute or soliciting a prostitute can face prison/jail time, probation, fines, counseling and community service.

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On Saturday, Irvine police noticed a man parked by UCI, sleeping in a running car. The individual was woken up and the car was searched. Inside the car was about 200 ecstasy pills and 2.5 gallons of GHB or liquid ecstasy. GHB is also known to be a date rape drug. He was immediately arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. His Irvine house was then searched and police found another gallon of GHB as well as illegal steroids.

GHB effects include intoxication, happiness, desire to socialize and muscle relaxation. It is scary to think that this man had date rape drugs near a university. Hopefully, he was not selling it to students at the campus. Since he was charged with possession with intent to sell, he will need to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to help him through the legal process.

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Besides just binding their kids hands and legs together for hours at a time, Kimberly and John Quebe also locked their children in their rooms for hours and verbally abused their children by calling them degrading names. In July of 2008, when the 15 year-old and the 11 year-old kids were at the pool, someone noticed marks on their arms and legs and called authorities. Kimberly and John were charged and pled guilty to two felony counts of false imprisonment, two counts of child abuse, and two counts of corporal injury on a child with great bodily injury. They are facing 12 years and 8 months in prison for their actions.

Child abuse can take several forms. Parents can neglect their children, physically abuse them, sexually abuse them or psychologically abuse them. Child abuse leads to developmental problems, depression, anxiety and acting out.

Whether you live in Anaheim, Huntington Beach or Santa Ana, alleged child abusers need an experienced attorney to assist them through the legal process.

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Terry Snyder pleaded guilty to murdering his estranged wife on Easter of 2007 because she had planned an Easter egg hunt for their children. Terry Snyder and Yolanda Snyder were living separately and were switching off having the kids. Terry was upset that Yolanda had the kids over Easter because he wanted to have them on Easter. He got so mad that he bludgeoned his wife to death in front of their three young children. The children ran out of the house and to their neighbor’s house to get help. Terry claims he pled guilty because he did not want to make his children testify against him in court. He is now facing 15 years to life for his actions.

Clearly Terry Snyder has anger problems. Anger management is a useful technique for people who have severe anger problems. Anger management is a system of psychological techniques that can help reduce the triggers and effects of anger. In some cases, the court may require a person to take anger classes to prevent future problems. Regardless if you live in Garden Grove, Santa Ana or Fullerton, severe anger problems can lead to serious consequences.

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Sue Nanda was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for medical insurance fraud. She and about 10 other people would recruit patients to undergo unnecessary medical procedures to collect insurance money. In exchange, the patients would receive money or free cosmetic surgery. She plead guilty in February to 22 felony counts relating to medical fraud at the Unity Outpatient Surgery Center in Buena Park. She was said to have made about $2.35 million dollars recruiting patients over about 4 years. This medical insurance scam is said to be the biggest scam in the nation and resulted in the profit of about $154 million dollars. Nanda’s lawyer claims she thought what the medical center was doing was legal.

Medical insurance fraud is just one type of fraud that a person can be charged with. Other types of fraud include credit card fraud, tax fraud, identity theft, embezzlement, forgery and accounting fraud. Fraud is a criminal charge but also can be brought in civil court. A person charged with fraud will need an experienced attorney to help them through the legal process.

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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.

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An eighteen-year-old Santa Ana gang member, Eduardo Valencia, is being charged with the murder of Jaime Anica Olvera. Allegedly, Valencia tried to rob Olvera during the evening of July 23. Olvera was struggling to fight back, when a second gang member, Fabian Vargas Vega, pulled out a gun and shot Olvera in the upper body. Olvera died immediately at the scene. Vega was killed by police in a gun battle soon after the incident. Valencia fled the scene of the crime and was found hiding in a relative’s garage on Saturday. He is facing charges of murder, attempted robbery, felony street terrorism charges and a sentencing enhancement for allegedly carrying out the murder for the purpose of his street gang.

A criminal street gang is defined as any organization, association or group of 3 or more persons which has 1) continuity of purpose 2) seeks a group identity, and 3) has members who individually or collectively have engaged in criminal activity. Often times, when a gang member commits a crime for himself, the district attorney will want to say he committed the crime for the benefit of a street gang and slap on additional charges and penalties. A good attorney would try and prove that the defendant did not commit the crime in furtherance of the gang and therefore the gang enhancements should be dropped. There are gangs in Irvine, Garden Grove, Westminster and almost every other city in Orange County. If you are charged with gang crimes, the state of California will be very tough on you and you will need an experienced gang attorney on your side.

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Three homemade bombs with timers, two homemade guns, bomb making material, knives, pepper spray and more weapons were found in the home of Ronald Gary Turner during a lawful search of a Costa Mesa home. In April of 2008, Turner was charged with domestic violence and was ordered to go to a treatment program. When he didn’t show up and allegedly threatened his wife, a warrant was issued. During a routine traffic stop a few months later, he was pulled over and then arrested. His house was searched and tons of weapons were found. He was charged with 10 felonies, including two counts of stalking, three counts of possession of a destructive device intended to injure and one count of possession of a handmade deadly weapon. This week he was convicted of those 10 charges and can face up to 15 years in prison.

The Second Amendment of the U.S. constitution grants individuals the right to posses arms. Each state can decide what weapons will be legal, which ones need permits and which ones are illegal. In California, most weapons need a permit and registration. Whether you live in Fullerton, San Clemente or Garden Grove, if you are unsure about the legality of certain weapons, call an experienced California attorney.

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Police are looking for Erin Brooks and Brian Hanson who police think are white supremacists who beat up a Latino man last month. Michael Powell and Bret Hicks are currently in custody for the same incident. Allegedly, all four suspects were circling a Latino neighborhood looking for someone “non-white” to assault. They saw a man come out of the neighborhood so they yelled racial slurs at him, stabbed him three times, kicked him and punched him. Neighbors from the area jumped into the fight and separated the suspects from the victim. They were all arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and Brooks and Hanson were released on bail. Now they are being charged with attempted murder plus hate crime enhancements and police can no longer find Brooks and Hanson. All of the suspects have criminal backgrounds and white supremacy tattoos.

Hate crimes occur when perpetrators attack a member of a certain group because of their race, religion, sexual identity, gender, disability, age, etc. If a crime is carried out for hate purposes, it will be given a sentencing enhancement because it is such a serious crime that can provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict emotional harm and incite community unrest. Regardless of what city you live in, whether it is Fountain Valley, Fullerton or Newport Beach, hate crimes are serious crimes and if you are charged with one, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney.

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