Crime

Employees at San Diego International Airport Indicted for Drug Smuggling

Published on: April 14, 2014 | by Leslie Legal Group

The DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) indicted 11 airport employees in San Diego on March 18, 2014; the charges ranging from drug smuggler to drug courier. Airline baggage handlers seemingly go through security unchecked, and the employees in question were taking advantage of this loophole. Three of the employees – Felix Garcia, Paulo Perez and Saul Bojorquez – were baggage handlers working for Delta Global Staffing. Also charged were eight other employees, accused of being transporters, suppliers and distributors.

In the Federal Grand Jury indictment, it was noted that those involved had created a process to successfully distribute drugs to cities around the country – including Hawaii, where the street price of methamphetamine is upwards of twenty-five grand a pound. The three baggage handlers were caught smuggling in cocaine and methamphetamine through their personal backpacks. The baggage handlers would show their employee identification to the security personnel, waiving security procedures and allowing them to go through unchecked. They would then rendezvous with the couriers in order to hand over the product and ensure its ability to get on the aircraft and be taken to its final destination. In the indictment, it was cited that the baggage handlers would meet the couriers in a designated airport bathroom and give them the drugs underneath the stall dividers. Once the drugs made it to their designated city, they were then handed off to local traffickers.

The investigation by the DEA leading to the indictment lasted about a year, and during the process law enforcement confiscated 17 pounds of cocaine, 18 pounds of methamphetamine and over $100,000 in cash. All of those in question were arrested the week of March 11, 2014, and remain in police custody. One indicted employee has yet to be located, and the age range of the accused ranges from early 20’s to late 40’s.

Local Mira Costa College student arrested at Oceanside campus

Published on: January 27, 2014 | by Leslie Legal Group

A local student attending Mira Costa College in Oceanside has been arrested by police for his involvement with death threats sent via text message to a handful of other students from El Camino High School. Soon after the detectives believe the texts were sent in March of 2013, a deadly ambush took place at Libby Lake Park in Oceanside. A day before this incident, a fatal shooting at the same park left a 13-year-old girl dead, a 15-year-old boy dead, and two other adolescents injured. The victims of this shooting were visiting a memorial at the park for two of their friends who were killed at the park in May of 2011, when they were shot and left dead. The El Camino students received texts warning them that if they did not stop talking about the killings that occurred at Libby Lake park that they would be killed too According to reports, 18-year-old Samuel Ruiz was arrested for suspicion of making criminal threats, cyber-bullying, and possessing an illegal weapon on the Mira Costa campus. According to police Lt. Leonard Cosby, Ruiz has since denied any involvement, however detectives believe that Ruiz is behind the texts using a fake name “Bart Chang”. Cosby also stated that Ruiz subsequently admitted to police Detective Mark LaVake that he was indeed “Bart Chang” and that there has been no apparent personal connections between the victims of the threats and Ruiz. After posting a $50,000 bail, Ruiz was released from jail. Before going to court, Ruiz will definitely need to retain an experienced criminal defense attorney as he is facing serious charges that can result in serious legal consequences if not handled by a skilled professional.

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“College student linked to threatening texts”– UT San Diego, January 22, 2014

San Diego Prosecutor Arrested for DUI

Published on: January 26, 2014 | by Leslie Legal Group

A San Diego prosecutor from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has pleaded guilty to DUI charges. The prosecutor of 37 years of age, Rebecca Ocain, admitted to the misdemeanor charge of drinking while under the influence of alcohol and testified at the East County courthouse that she was indeed driving with a blood-alcohol content exceeding 0.15 percent, almost twice the legal limit. To prevent a possible conflict of interest, the case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s office, which declined to comment on the case. On the night of October 19th at around 11:20 p.m., Ocain was pulled over and arrested near Alpine Boulevard. Officers transported her to Las Colinas Detention Facility and was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Ocain is currently still employed and has also refused to comment on her arrest or her plea. Despite her infamous arrest, Ocain has an honorable educational background and a successful career in the field. She attended and earned her degree at California Western School of Law and became a member of the California State Bar Association in 2001. In 2006, she was hired by the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and has since handled multiple high-profile cases. These cases include filing charges in 2007 in opposition of a former Imperial Beach fire inspector who was accused of sending death threats to city officials while intoxicated, as well as prosecuting a man in 2013 who was charged for stabbing his wife to death. What people can take away most from Ocain’s case is that even the best of us can make poor decisions and have to suffer the consequences of doing so. Ocain’s best move for a successful outcome of her case is to retain a criminal defense attorney with extensive experience handling DUI cases.

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“Prosecutor pleads guilty in DUI”– UT San Diego, January 24, 2014

Celebrity Music Artist Justin Bieber Arrested for DUI

Published on: January 26, 2014 | by Leslie Legal Group

Celebrity music artist Justin Bieber has been arrested for DUI, resisting arrest, and driving without a valid license in Miami Beach, Florida. Police officers witnessed the young starlet racing a yellow Lamborghini against a red Ferrari at 4 a.m. on residential streets and proceeded to pull him over. Both cars were driving at a speed of 60 mph in a designated 30 mph speed limit zone. According to reports, Bieber made inappropriate remarks to the police officer including, “What the f*** did I do? Why did you stop me?” and ignored the officer’s request to keep his hands on the vehicle during a routine pat down for weapons. He was also described in reports as having a “flushed face, bloodshot eyes, and the odor of alcohol on his breath.” Miami Beach Police Chief Raymond Martinez told the press that 19-year-old Bieber was booked into a Miami Jail for failing a sobriety test and stated Bieber had “made some statements that he had consumed some alcohol, and that he had been smoking marijuana and consumed some prescription medication.” Martinez also stated that Bieber “was not cooperating with the officer’s instructions. At first, he was a little belligerent, using some choice words questioning why he was being stopped and why the officer was even questioning him.” The arresting officer quoted Bieber revealing the words that were used as, “I ain’t got no f***ing weapons. Why do you have to search me? What the f*** is this about?” Also arrested on suspicion of drunk driving was the driver of the red Ferrari racing Bieber, who has yet to be publicly identified. This is not the first time Bieber has been accused of street racing expensive sports cars either, as previous investigations have been made on reports that Bieber would race in the prestigious Oaks neighborhood where he lives in Calabasas, California. However, those reports never resulted in legal charges.

Although Bieber is currently under investigation for accusations that he egged his neighbor’s house and caused an estimated $20,000 worth of damages, this is the first time he has been arrested. Using a felony search warrant, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department raided Bieber’s Calabasas home for the vandalism investigation and seized both Bieber’s iPhone and his home security cameras as evidence. Sheriff’s Lt. David Thompson spoke on behalf of the raid stating, “We didn’t do this search warrant to send a message. That’s not what we do, but we hope maybe understanding the gravity of this will change some of the behavior.” In March of 2013, another neighbor of the child star came out with accusations against Bieber stating that he spat on his face during a heated confrontation between the two. Local authorities have also responded to handfuls of loud noise complaints coming from Bieber’s residence in the recent past. Other Miami police departments are on Bieber’s tail as well. One department is currently investigating a report that some of its own officers proceeded to escort Bieber and his crew to and from popular Miami strip clubs without authorization to do so. “At some point, the escort took them at least to two locations that we know of. The police administration had no knowledge of this escort, and it is not the norm for those things to occur without the chief and his administration authorizing such escorts” Opa-Locka Assistant City Manager David Chiverton told reporters. It is obvious the young entertainer has demonstrated questionable behavior and seems to be heading in a downward spiral of legal trouble. Not only does Bieber need an aggressive and experienced attorney to handle his case, it seems the child star turned teenage delinquent needs some emotional and behavioral guidance as well if he wants to save his career.

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Local San Diego Gangs Indicted for Sex Trafficking

Published on: January 18, 2014 | by Leslie Legal Group

Two local gangs in San Diego located out of North Park have been indicted for a large compilation of criminal affairs. San Diego police and the FBI have arrested 17 gang members and associates who had direct involvement in the case, which is comprised primarily of sex trafficking crimes spread throughout the country, but also other crimes including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, and drug trafficking. Three other suspects were arrested in Arizona and New Jersey and three remain yet to be found and brought to justice. Sadly, prostitution has became an increasingly profitable business for street gangs, whose members proudly flaunt their “pimp status” with gold chalices and scepters worth thousands of dollars on the internet through social media sites, showing the extent to which gang activity can spread. San Diego U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy stated on this issue, “The kind of sex trafficking described in this indictment is nothing less than modern-day slavery. Unfortunately, more gangs are expanding from traditional pursuits like drug dealing into this lucrative business.” Duffy also stated that this will be the second time her office has utilized the racketeering statute to pursue a street gang, the first in 2011 when 39 members of an Oceanside gang were indicted for charges involving the prostitution of women and underage girls. All defendants in the current case have been accused of luring young women and girls into prostitution either against their will or by methods of persuasion and manipulation. Shockingly, they are accused of traveling to several cities throughout 23 states and selling sex in local hotel rooms, acts that have accumulated 60 known female victims thus far, 11 who were minors as young as the age of 15. The defendants being held locally are set to make their first court appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major.

In connection with the case, murder accusations date back to 1995 with the killing of a 20-year-old pizza deliveryman named Tariq Khamisa who was shot to death during a robbery believed to be executed by gang members. Authorities have also taken several illegal items into custody that were found during their arrests, including two guns, six luxury cars, more than 50 pairs of Air Jordan shoes, flat-screen televisions, thousands of dollars in cash, and multiple marijuana plants. The indictment states that the crimes were headed by a combination group of the two gangs in the North Park neighborhood that police have named “BMS”. Members of the group even went so far as to cross ties with other local street gangs for the management of prostitutes, hotel room booking, money handling, and the distribution of drugs. Attorney Duffy said, “Members of BMS are really akin to a crime family whose members were all working together to commit various crimes for one purpose. And that purpose was simply to earn money for the organization.” All the defendants recruited young girls and women into prostitution through various methods including threats, violence, and promising them a glamorous lifestyle, and then branded them as property with tattoos and bar codes. Many of the victims were picked up through popular social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Several of the defendants and their obedient victims were also found to have attended “Players’ Balls” parties which took place all throughout the country. These parties are intended to celebrate the gangsters, pimps, and prostitutes and glorify their so-called business ventures. The victims of this case have thus been pulled out of the horrific life they had fallen prisoner to and are being offered medical and psychological services.

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Judge sends San Diego Gun Owner to Trial for Death of Young Boy

Published on: November 22, 2013 | by Leslie Legal Group

The man responsible for the death of a young 10-year-old boy in Miramar Ranch, San Diego has been ordered to stand trial on the felony charges of involuntary manslaughter, criminal storage of a firearm, and child endangerment. According to prosecution, the owner of the gun, 56-year-old Todd Francis, had the gun stored in a negligent manner and had the gun loaded prior to the accidental shooting. Francis is currently out on bail as he awaits his conviction, which could be years of prison time. The young boy, Eric Klyaz, was playing with Francis’ daughter in the garage of Francis’ home when the incident occurred, around 4:15 p.m. on June 4th of this year. Repairing a nearby garage door at the time of the accident, Mark Jones testified that he heard the shot along with the screams of a young girl. At this time he ran over to find Eric lying on the garage floor with a gunshot wound on his chest and surrounded by boxes, furniture, and other items. Jones stated, “There was a gun. It was sitting on a sofa on top of what looked like some laundry.” He also told authorities who arrived at the scene that the hammer on the gun was pulled back. San Diego police Officer present at the scene, Vito Messineo, testified that he spoke to both the young girl and to Francis later on. According to Messineo, Francis told him the gun had been hidden and he was sure it was not loaded, stating, “If that kid dies, I don’t want to live anymore.” At the San Diego Superior Court hearing, the young girl attended with her mother and a dog used to comfort young witnesses, however declined to take the oath due to her traumatized and despondent nature. Francis’ criminal defense attorney aggressively argued that the evidence provided was exceedingly inadequate to support the claims against her client. Despite her argument and no testimony from the young girl, Judge Peter Deddeh later resolved that enough evidence was presented during the preliminary hearing to send the case to trial.

In the beginning of the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Mathew Dix presented several facts regarding the case that both the prosecution and the defense agree with, one of these being that a deputy medical examiner had determined that Eric was shot at intermediate range and it is unlikely he had shot himself. Francis’ wife, Susan, testified at the hearing as well, along with her teenage son who was at the house at the time of the accident. Susan told the court that she had asked her teenage son to watch his younger sister that afternoon while she ran errands. She was gone for a short time when her son called urging her to come home. Her teenage son testified to the court that he was upstairs in the family’s town home when police contacted him. He told them he didn’t know that his little sister had been playing with her friend Eric and that it was common for the children in their neighborhood to play together in their open garages. Assigned as the detective on the case, Brett Burkett spoke with Francis’ daughter while he was testing the children’s hands for gunshot residue, in an attempt to determine who fired the gun. Burkett said the young girl told him she may have but she was unsure, and found gunshot residue on her hands. At a later time, the young girl told a social worker that she and Eric were both playing with and looking at the gun when it fired off and that she did not put any bullets into it. All together, this case is an unfortunate and devastating situation that could very well have been prevented.

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Member of Mexico’s Feared Arellano Felix Drug Clan Murdered

Published on: October 25, 2013 | by Leslie Legal Group

The oldest brother of Mexico’s highly feared Arellano Felix drug clan, Francisco Rafael, was murdered in Baja California. Rafael was shot to death by a gunman wearing a clown costume at his rented beach house in the Baja beach resort of Los Cabos. The attorney general’s office in Baja California Sur state relayed that relatives of Rafael confirmed his identity at the scene of the crime. A graphic photo from the scene showed his body in a grotesque form lying on the floor inside the house. Authorities are investigating the motive behind the killer and any connection to his clown disguise, as both are yet to be uncovered. According to an official at the Baja California Sur state prosecutor’s office, the killer’s clown costume was a complete head to toe get-up including a wig and a round red nose. Sadly, this murder is just one violent act of many related to the clan.

The Arellano Felix drug clan is known for its violence and brutality as it ruled the drug trade in Tijuana throughout the 1990’s. Surprisingly, Arellano Felix was already in prison when the gang rose to power. Kirby stated, “He (Arellano) was never really part of the leadership of the big organization, mostly because he was in jail in Mexico. He was arrested before they became what they really became.” In 1993, Arellano was arrested and sentenced to 10 years for aiding the murder of Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and weapon possession. Due to his illegal past, Mexican officials were heavily worried that upon his release from jail, Felix would return to drug trafficking. Out of desperation to keep this from happening, Mexican officials asked their U.S. counterparts to push his extradition as his current sentence reached completion. Former federal prosecutor in San Diego, John Kirby, found enough evidence to bring charges on the 1980 drug case and helped co-write an indictment in 2003 against the Arellano Felix cartel. Finally in 2006, Arellano Felix was extradited to the U.S. facing charges relating to the 1980 case when he sold cocaine to an undercover police officer in the United States. After being sentenced to six years in prison on these drug charges, he was granted parole and released in 2008 before being deported back to Mexico.

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San Diego Crime Labs Facing All-Time Highs

Published on: October 13, 2013 | by Leslie Legal Group

Forensic DNA testing has reached an all-time high in San Diego crime labs. What has always been so famed in Hollywood crime shows has now become incredibly successful in solving real life crimes. So successful in fact, that recently law enforcement crime labs are bursting with more work than they are equipped to handle. In 2013 alone, the Sheriff’s Regional Crime Laboratory staff is projected to send about 2,900 requests for DNA analysis. Currently, the lab has a backlog of nearly 180 cases, which is lower than the average of anywhere from 200 to 400 cases. San Diego labs have just received a federal grant of about $380,000 to help manage that backlog and press on into future endeavors, which they have come to count on thanks to the U.S. Justice Department’s DNA Backlog Reduction Program. The purpose of the program and grant money is to avoid labs from slipping too far behind on cases. The grants also go towards overtime pay, software programs, equipment purchase and maintenance, resulting in reducing the use of government budgets to pay for permanent funding. Steve Guroff, supervising criminalist at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Regional Crime Lab stated, “If we didn’t have these grants, we’d still have DNA analysis. But we wouldn’t be as responsive to the needs of our clients. They give us a lot of flexibility to do what we do.” With 19 criminalists and supervisors, the sheriff’s DNA crime lab serves sheriff and district attorney’s investigators and almost every police agency in the county. Guroff also said that he intends to buy an $110,000 DNA analyzer that runs eight samples at once to replace an aging machine that does only one at a time and stated, “These grants mean we don’t have analysts waiting for equipment. Our backlog actually is lower than in the past. We’ve squeezed all the inefficiencies out of the system.”

Once a case has been issued, if analysis results are not fulfilled within 30 days the case is then considered backlogged. Although the chemical processes only take on average a few days, most requests are taking 60 to 90 days to get to. Guroff explained that much of that time is waiting to receive confirmation from the investigator or prosecutor that a crime case is moving forward and DNA information is still needed. He stated, “We don’t want to bog down our system with unnecessary procedures.” Lab manager Jennifer Shen also added that, “We’re trying to update our equipment to the latest and greatest. Another way of handling the high case load has been prioritizing requests. All test requests where the suspect’s identity is known generally fall to lower priority over requests where the suspect’s identity is not known. Guroff estimated that this year alone, requests to the lab will be up about 17 percent and continue to rise again in 2014 by 10 percent. This rise is contributed to the fact that DNA analysis is now being used to solve property crimes, burglaries, and other smaller-scale crimes rather than only violent crimes, such as rape and murder, as it was used for originally. “A large reason our requests have gone up so much is, we can look for smaller and smaller amounts of DNA to get a profile,” Shen said. “We don’t have to visibly see it to get a sample of it now. Maybe a bank robber leaves a hat or glove behind. You can get a DNA profile off that.” In fact, about 75 percent of the DNA caseload now is for property crimes. “Once we started getting results and prosecutions, that raised the demand. It helps investigators reduce the crime rate and increase public safety,” Guroff said.

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