Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A 22-year-old Monrovia man was charged in a two-count federal grand jury indictment, accused of coercing a two-year-old child into engaging in a sexually explicit act with him so he could record record it.
David Lisandro Prerez Figueroa was charged with production of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. Figueroa was arrested earlier in December and is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles December 28, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A federal magistrate ordered Figueroa to be held without bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A federal search warrant was executed December at Figueroa’s home where he was arrested. British authorities investigating a target in the United Kingdom obtained chat logs from the X social media platform showing child sex abuse material and notified authorities stateside. Figueroa allegedly distributed the child sex abuse material on July 22 through X in an account allegedly linked to him. “If convicted of all charges, Figueroa would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 50 years in federal prison,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor SANTA ANA - A certified nursing assistant was sentenced to life in prison January 13 for committing sex acts on several severely disabled children while filming them.
Steve Jackson Rodriguez, 38, a Pomona resident, previously pleaded guilty September 2022 to two counts of obtaining custody of a minor for purposes of producing child pornography, five counts of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the Justice Department. Rodriguez was arrested August 21, 2021. Rodriguez committed what US District Judge John Holcomb called “unspeakable acts” from January 2016 to May 2020, producing images and videos with four children at an Inland Empire group home where he was employed at the time. Three of the children are severely disabled, according to the Justice Department. One of his victims was just 6 years old when he started the abuse. He began recording the acts two years later. A restitution hearing is scheduled for March 10. Rodriguez sent the explicit images and video to two of his co-workers. In a separate trial, Azusa man Cyr Dino Banguguilan, 36, and 23-year-old Baldwin Park man Miguel Bocardo were found guilty of one count each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to the Justice Departmentl Both co-workers are scheduled for a February 24 sentencing and face anywhere from five to 20 years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department. The investigation was spearheaded by the Homeland Security Investigations as part of the Los Angeles Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assisting were the United States Postal Inspection Service, FBI, Baldwin Park Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Pomona Police Department and Burbank Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Scott M. Lara and Catharine A. Richmond of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – More than $1.3 million was bilked from Amazon by a third-party seller who will plead guilty to wire fraud charges.
During a filing Monday in U.S. District Court, Ting Hong Yeung, a 41-year-old Hacienda Heights man, was charged with wire fraud, accused of defrauding Amazon of $1.3 million. A plea agreement was also filed Monday in which Yeung will pay restitution, some of which will be paid in gold and silver bars seized from a search of his home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Operating under the Amazon third-party names of “Speedy Checkout,” Special SaleS” and “California Red Trading Inc.,” Yeung advertised expensive merchandise, such as furniture and home décor at rock bottom prices to drive up sales. He then provided bogus tracking numbers to customers, continually delaying refunds to complaining customers long enough for Amazon to disburse funds into his business bank accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “Yeung collected payment for items that were never shipped and relied on Amazon to issue refunds to his disgruntled customers under its “A-to-Z guarantee”,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. Occasionally, Yeung would ship customers cheap crystal ornaments to generate tracking numbers for customers while stalling customer complaints and demands for refunds. He also used Amazon’s messaging service to lie to customers that their products were being shipped, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Amazon disburses funds from purchases into a seller’s bank account every two weeks after the seller has provided proof of shipment, which is why Yeung continually delayed refunds. Occasionally, Yeung would also defraud Amazon by purchasing items on credit cards in the name of other people and false identities. Yeung would initiate returns after the goods were delivered to his customers, falsely claiming the items were “different from what was ordered.” He would then return lower-value items than what was ordered so he collected both the refund and proceeds of the original sale, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Yeung is expected to make an initial court appearance April 12. This case was investigated by the FBI. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A Pasadena man who pleaded guilty late last year to conspiracy to kidnap was sentenced for his part in a plot that ended with a victim’s body being unearthed months after the victim was kidnapped.
Anthony Valladares, 29, was sentenced to 195 months in federal prison. Hired as the “muscle,” Valadares was one of four men directly involved in the kidnapping of Ruochen “Tony” Liao in San Gabriel. Liao was beaten, restrained and held for a $2 million ransom that was demanded from his parents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin also ordered Valladares to pay $33,090 in restitution. Valladares pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kidnap October 2020. Liao met with Chinese national Peicheng Shen, 35. The latter used an alias several times while communicating with Liao, pretending to help him settle a debt. During a third meeting, Shen met Liao at a San Gabriel shopping center July 16, 2018 and lured him into a van, according to court documents. Valladares was hiding in the van. Shen uttered a word to the “muscle,” who helped to beat shocked with a stun gun, restrained with zip ties and covered with a black hood, according to court documents. “Valladares admitted to helping Yang acquire the taser used in the kidnapping and admitted to acquiring a revolver and bullets for the kidnapping,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. Alexis Ivan Romero Velez, a 25-year-old Azusa man, was hired by Valladares. Velez drove the van to a house in Rosemead where Liao was placed into another vehicle. Shen and another co-conspirator, Chinese national Guangyao Yang, 28, took Liao to a home in Corona where his legs and arms were restrained and his eyes taped shut. He was then confined to a closet, according to court documents. “The day after the kidnapping, the victim’s father received a demand for a $2 million ransom in exchange for the victim’s life, with the money to be deposited into three Chinese bank accounts within three hours,’ according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. Valladares was apparently not present when Liao was killed. Investigators learned of Yang’s Internet search history, which included discovering how long it takes for a body to decompose in soil. The closet where Liao was confined was also re-carpeted, according to court documents. Liao’s body was eventually disposed of in Mojave, California. His skeletal remains were eventually discovered by a hiker June 12, 2019 in the area of Cache Creek Road and Highway 58. The manner of death is undetermined, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office - Coroner Section. Shen and Yang, who previously resided in West Covina, were both arrested in China, held on charges related to the kidnapping. Velez pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of conspiracy to kidnap. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 10. The FBI conducted this investigation with help from the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, which includes the Pasadena Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Julia S. Choe and Frances S. Lewis, both of the General Crimes Section, prosecuted this case. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man admitted Friday to supplying drugs that ultimately killed a woman who ingested them.
Edwin Oliva, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing Fentanyl resulting in death and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Oliva admitted in a plea agreement to providing several lines of a drug for his victim to snort and he neglected to tell her that the drug was Fentany, which he was aware of. “Oliva did not call 911 or otherwise seek medical care for the victim until nearly six hours after texting a friend that the victim was not breathing,” the US District Attorney’s Office. In that nearly six hours, Oliva cleaned his apartment by removing the fentanyl and other drug trafficking evidence, which was put in the trunk of his significant other’s car and driven away from the apartment in attempt to hide it, the US District Attorney’s Office. After serving a search warrant, Montebello officers on the car and located 1.9 kilograms of heroin, 21 grams of fentanyl, 1.4 kilograms of marijuana, 0.4 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, a blue flip phone he used to conduct drug transactions and a notebook he used as a pay/owe ledger, the US District Attorney’s Office said. Oliva has been in federal custody since March 2019. After being taken into custody that month, Oliva ordered his significant other to destroy evidence and to tell authorities that the blue flip phone was a toy for their children. Oliva is scheduled to be sentenced January 7, 2022 and faces a statutory maximum of life in prison. The fentanyl distribution charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The heroin possession charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man prosecutors accused of funneling hundreds of thousands in Covid-19 jobless benefits to foreign nationals pleaded guilty Thursday.
Bonifacio Jastilana Marinas, 50, pleaded guilty to a single-count criminal information charging him with mail fraud, according to the US Attorney’s Office. In his plea deal, Marinas admitted that his actions Cost the Unemployment Development Department and the United States Treasury $516,244. Marinas filed paperwork in the names of foreign nationals he falsely claimed were real estate agents hit hard by the pandemic. “According to his plea agreement, from April 2020 to August 2020, Marinas took advantage of provisions in the CARES Act to file approximately 85 unemployment insurance claims with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) that falsely asserted that the named claimants were self-employed real estate agents in Los Angeles County whose jobs had been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a written statement. Marinas listed his realty business, West Covina-based Vintage Realty & Finance, Inc., as the workplace of the alleged EDD claimants and his home as the claimants’ addresses, but the funds were funneled to residents of Saipan and the Philippines, the US Attorney’s Office said. The claimants were not registered as real estate agents in Los Angeles County, had no employment history in California and were not eligible for the benefits Marinas claimed, the US District Attorney’s Office said. As a result, the debit cards used to distribute the unemployment benefits were mailed to Marinas, who then used them to withdraw the fraudulently obtained funds, the US Attorney’s Office said. Marinas is scheduled for a sentencing June 24 in U.S. District Court and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A Pomona man was arrested November 9 after fleeing police while driving a Humvee stolen from an Upland Army Reserve facility.
Armando Garcia, 29, a parolee convicted in 2019 in state court on theft and burglary charges, was named Friday in a criminal complaint filed in United States District Court. Garcia allegedly stole the semi-armored Humvee midday Monday before Pomona officers found the unlicensed vehicle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Garcia was charged with theft of government property. Garcia refused to stop and led officers on a four-minute chase, driving at excessive speed, running red lights, stop signs, failing to signal for turns and driving in opposing lanes, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Garcia eventually stopped in a residential neighborhood on East Kingsley Avenue and was taken into custody. Inside the Humvee, valued at more than $200,000, was a large pair of bolt cutters and a cut army-approved padlock. The latter is fixed with a steel wire to prevent turning of the steering wheel, the criminal complaint stated. If convicted as charged, Garcia faces a possible statutory maximum of 10 years in federal prison. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man accused of seeking out ricin to use as a biological weapon pleaded guilty Monday. Steve Kim, a 41-year-old La Crescenta man, pleaded guilty to a single count of violating a federal criminal statute called prohibition with respect to biological weapons, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. An undercover FBI operative sold Kim what the latter believed to be ricin, an extremely-potent biological agent that can kill through only a few tiny grains. Kim tried to obtain the deadly biological agent over a two-month period in 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “During negotiations with the FBI operative, Kim stated that the ricin was intended for an individual who weighed 110 pounds, according to the plea agreement,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The operative sold Kim the fake ricin concealed in another substance for 320 Euros, (equalling $350 U.S. dollars) in bitcoin. The package was delivered to Kim’s Los Angeles workplace November 28, 2018. He was arrested after opening the package at his residence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Kim faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in federal prison, but after pleading guilty, the government agreed that it will recommend no more than 87 months. |
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