Law Enforcement

SANTA ANA — In a clear “warning shot” to unscrupulous loan-modification consultants, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that two women have each been sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to repay dozens of homeowners who were charged thousands of dollars in up-front fees for non-existent foreclosure-relief services.

Marianne Curtis, 69, of Costa Mesa and Mary Alice Yraceburu, 46, of Riverdale, who operated Fresno and Orange County-based Foreclosure Freedom, pleaded guilty last month to 71 criminal counts, including grand theft, conspiracy and unlawful foreclosure consulting. Both will serve one year in Orange County jail and an additional four years of probation.

“Curtis and Yraceburu shamelessly exploited homeowners desperate to avoid foreclosure, charging up to $1,800 in up-front fees for loan modifications that were never delivered,” Brown said. “Today’s jail sentences send a warning shot to loan-modification consultants: If you swindle homeowners, you face serious time behind bars.”

Brown’s office initiated its investigation into Curtis and Yraceburu in early 2008 after receiving a complaint from the Tulare County District Attorney. Charges were filed in Orange County Superior Court on March 19, 2009, against the defendants, and both pleaded guilty on March 24, 2010.

Brown’s investigation located victims in many California towns and cities: Antelope, Avenal, Bakersfield, Crows Landing, Elk Grove, Fairfield, Fresno, Galt, Hanford, Hayward, Hollister, Kingsburg, Mendota, Modesto, Petaluma, Placerville, Richmond, Ridgecrest, Rio Linda, Sacramento, Salinas, San Leandro, Simi Valley, Stockton, Taft, Vacaville, Vallejo and Ventura.

In addition to today’s jail sentences, Curtis and Yraceburu were ordered to repay 36 victims a total of $32,040. If eligible victims not named in the complaint come forward, the court can order additional repayment throughout the defendants’ probation term. As a condition of today’s sentence, both defendants are also prohibited from any future work in the telemarketing and real estate industries.

Brown’s investigation found that from April 2007 until February 2008, the two women paid for access to foreclosure listings so they could directly solicit hundreds of homeowners underwater on their mortgages with mailers promising relief.

When homeowners called the number on the mailer, they were told their mortgages could be renegotiated to a lower monthly payment. Victims, however, were required to pay up to $1,800 in up-front fees and were instructed not to contact their lenders.

Victims were assured the company had “private lenders and specialists exclusive to their company who are very experienced in the options and methods used to renegotiate home loans,” yet neither of the women who operated the company had real estate licenses, legal training or any experience in the home mortgage market.

Investigators found no evidence they had negotiated any successful loan modifications, and most of the victims were either forced into bankruptcy or lost their homes to foreclosure. Bank account records revealed the defendants took over $120,000 from unsuspecting homeowners.

Both Curtis and Yraceburu pleaded guilty to all 71 criminal counts including:
• 34 counts of unlawful foreclosure consulting
• 29 counts of grand theft
• 7 counts of attempted grand theft
• 1 count of conspiracy

By law, all individuals and businesses offering mortgage-foreclosure consulting or loan-modification and foreclosure-assistance services must register with Brown’s office and post a $100,000 bond. It is also illegal for loan-modification consultants to charge up-front fees for their services.

Non-profit housing counselors certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provide free help to homeowners. To find a counselor in your area, call 1-800-569-4287.

If you are a homeowner who has been scammed, contact Brown’s office at 1-800-952-5225 or file a complaint online at: www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php.

Brown has sought court orders to shut down more than 30 fraudulent foreclosure-relief companies and has brought criminal charges and obtained lengthy prison sentences for dozens of other deceptive loan-modification consultants. Last month, Brown secured a court judgment that shut down two Orange County-based foreclosure-assistance companies, secured $1 million in restitution for victims and prohibited three individuals from ever working in the real estate industry again.

For more information on Brown’s action against loan-modification fraud visit: http://ag.ca.gov/loanmod.

A copy of the amended complaint, filed in Orange County Superior Court, is attached.

SAN FRANCISCO—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. said six individuals arraigned today on identity theft charges “wreaked financial and emotional havoc” on victims by making tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges in their names. The defendants face multiple felony counts of identity theft, conspiracy, possession of stolen property, and grand theft.

The identity theft ring was able to steal 20 identities and over $170,000 worth of cash, expensive clothing, jewelry and accessories. They bought flat screen TVs, a Gucci watch and $31,000 worth of merchandise from Neiman-Marcus. Members of the ring raised cash by returning items bought using fake identities.

“This criminal identity theft ring wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the victims, who will now endure hours of work fixing their credit and rebuilding their lives,” Brown said. “It’s important to keep these fraud rings from ripping off other victims.”

The six defendants face charges of violating California Penal Code section 182 for conspiring to commit identity theft, section 484 for theft, section 530.5 for identity theft, and section 496 for possession of stolen property. Possible sentences for each defendant range from a minimum of four years to a maximum of 27 years and four months.

The individuals facing charges today include:
• Matthew Medlin, 31, of Campbell.
• Jessica Campos, 30, of Santa Clara, also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 502(c) for using dental office clients’ personal information.
• Chev Chan, 31, of San Jose, also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 496 for receiving stolen property.
• Quang Le, 32, of Santa Clara. Le also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft.
• Daniel Lee Lesly, 31, of Los Altos. Lesly also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft.
• Nick Phuong Luu, 29, of Vallejo. Luu also faces charges of violating California Penal Code section 487 for grand theft, and section 496 for receiving stolen property.

In late 2009, Brown’s office was notified by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service that several individuals reported their social security numbers had been illegally used to apply for credit cards. The credit card information was sent to a San Jose residence later discovered to be the home of Chev Chan.

The subsequent investigation revealed that between June and December of 2009, the defendants, along with other unnamed suspects, engaged in an identity theft spree throughout the Bay Area. The ring’s leaders, Nick Luu and Chev Chan, used several San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Campbell addresses to divert the victims’ mail. Luu and Chan also had victims’ mail sent through false change-of-address forms and opened five Post Office boxes in San Jose.

Most of the victims’ identities were stolen from clients at a San Jose law office and Santa Clara dental office where two of the defendants worked.

During a search of Nick Luu’s residence, Brown’s office found 10 dental claim forms that contained patients’ names, addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers. The forms were given to Luu by Jessica Campos, an employee of the Santa Clara dental office, to use to manufacture fake identities. Campos was told by leaders in the ring to obtain current employers and addresses of Asian males who were about the same ages as the conspirators. As a result of Campos’ involvement, three dental office patients had their personal information used to make fraudulent purchases.

Chev Chan, used stolen identities to open Discover, Bank of America, and Chase credit cards while he worked at the San Jose law office. Chan used his work computer to change account addresses and open fraudulent credit card accounts under two victims’ names. Chan also used his employment address to receive mail and open two Post Office boxes under the victims’ names.

One of the defendants, Quang Le, was seen on video surveillance at Zales Jewelers in Eastridge Mall making a fraudulent purchase of $4,400. Le also racked up over $31,000 in fraudulent charges at Neiman-Marcus.

The fraud ring also opened fraudulent bank accounts and wrote dozens of checks. Daniel Lesly wrote 15 non-sufficient-funds checks totaling almost $2,000 from an account he fraudulently opened at Bank of America. The checks were written from the account to Target and Lucky’s. Lesly also returned a Gucci watch, previously purchased using a fake identity, and took over $2,000 in cash for the exchange.

To enable him to use the credit cards, defendant Mark Medlin used the victims’ identities to open credit lines and manufacture fake California driver’s licenses. These fraudulent driver’s licenses were used by Nick Luu, Chev Chan, and Quang Le.

Additional items purchased with the stolen identities include:
• A watch worth $8,150 from Ben Bridge Jewelers
• Merchandise worth $6,402 from Nordstrom
• A 55” flat screen television worth $3,277 from Sears online
• A 40” flat screen television worth $1,509 from Sears online
• Comforters and bedding worth $725 from Macy’s
• A Movado watch worth $1,281 from Kay’s Jewelers
• A Tag Heuer watch worth $4,485 from Macy’s
• Jewelry worth $8,150 from Ben Bridge Jewelers

A copy of the complaint available upon request.

Los Angeles—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that the state DNA Data Bank has now matched 12,000 crime scene DNA samples to violent offenders and other suspects, helping to “secure thousands of convictions” of rapists, murderers, and kidnappers.

The DNA Data Bank’s 12,000th match was made at the state DNA database facility in Richmond. On average, the DNA Data Bank receives 300 hits per month. In March, the Data Bank had 405 DNA matches, the most ever in a single month.

“This is a remarkable milestone in the advancement of criminal justice technology,” Brown said. “The DNA database has been used in over 12,000 investigations and contributed to thousands of convictions of the most violent criminals. Otherwise, these crimes are likely to go unsolved.”

Recent notable cases in which the California Department of Justice assisted local law enforcement in the apprehension of dangerous sexually violent predators through DNA evidence include:

• In February, John Gardner III, a convicted sex offender, was arrested on suspicion of rape and homicide in the disappearance of Chelsea King, a 17-year-old high school student from San Diego County who went jogging in a park. She was found in a shallow grave in the park.
• In January, David Joseph Carpenter, a Death Row inmate also known as the “Trailside Killer”, was linked by DNA evidence to the killing of Mary Bennet, who was stabbed to death in San Francisco. The crime occurred in 1979. (Additional cases are listed below.)

The DNA Data Bank has been in operation since 1994 and contains over 1.5 million DNA samples. Approximately 25,000 samples are added to the database each month.

A voter-approved initiative in 2004, Proposition 69, required all defendants convicted of a felony to submit a DNA sample. On January 1, 2009, this requirement was extended to all adults arrested on felony charges.

In criminal investigations each day, state and local law enforcement agencies submit evidence from crime scenes to one of California’s seven Department of Justice crime labs or 15 local labs with forensic DNA capability. These labs try to establish DNA profiles to identify the perpetrators.

The DNA profiles then are uploaded to California’s database and sent to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which indexes samples for searching in categories such as convicted offenders, arrestees, crime scene samples, missing persons, relatives of missing persons, and unidentified human remains. DNA from convicted offenders and arrestees is compared with crime scene samples, and crime scene samples are compared to link cases together.

ADDITIONAL CASES WITH DNA MATCHES:

In September 2009, Richard Ramirez, a Death Row inmate known as the “Night Stalker”, was linked to yet another crime: the 1984 killing of a 9-year-old San Francisco girl, Mei Leung, after San Francisco Police Department criminalists reprocessed old evidence in the case to obtain DNA.

In August 2009, a 34-year-old cold case was solved when Dennis Vasquez, 50, of Los Angeles, was arrested and required to submit a DNA sample to authorities. Vasquez’s DNA matched the DNA found at a murder scene in 1975. He is being prosecuted for murder by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

In March 2009, Ryan Nigel Curtis, 27, of Los Angeles, was arrested for stabbing a man after an argument in Huntington Beach. Curtis’ DNA was obtained from a cigarette pack he left before fleeing.

In May 2008, Alberto Pablo Ruiz, 25, of San Jose, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after he assaulted a female jogger in Alum Rock Park in San Jose. The San Jose Police Department linked Ruiz through DNA evidence found on the victim and at the crime scene. Ruiz’s DNA had been submitted to the database for previous violations.

In March 2008, James Dixon, 37, of Pomona, was sentenced to death after his DNA matched DNA found at a 2001 murder scene in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office obtained DNA from a cigar tip found in the truck where the victim was murdered. Dixon’s DNA also matched that found in a 1996 home invasion in which two females were raped. The accomplice in the 1996 home invasion and rape had been sentenced to 70 years to life.

In 2001, a woman’s body was found near Mussel Shoals beach in Ventura County. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office collected DNA and uploaded it into the national DNA database. The sample matched Douglas Dworak, 43, of Oakview, a convicted rapist who had been sentenced to death in 2005.

LOS ANGELES — Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today discussed a report prepared by agents in the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement showing that in the last month of his life, former child actor Corey Haim visited seven different doctors and seven different pharmacies to obtain at least 553 doses of prescription drugs, including dangerous narcotics.

The report confirms that from February 2, 2010 to March 5, 2010 – five days before he died – Haim obtained more than 195 tablets of Valium, 194 tablets of Soma, 149 tablets of Vicodin and 15 tablets of Xanax.

“In a period of 32 days, Corey Haim obtained at least 553 doses of potentially dangerous prescription drugs,” Brown said. “He died five days later. It’s important for people to understand that legal, prescribed drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs, and doctor shopping can be deadly.”

Brown has been at the forefront of efforts to crack down on prescription-drug abuse and those criminals who profit from it.

In the report, Haim’s primary physician confirmed that Haim was addicted to pain medication. The investigation also uncovered that Haim used at least one alias to obtain pain medication. Although he was being treated by his primary physician, Haim continued to obtain prescription drugs from emergency rooms and urgent care facilities.

Witnesses confirmed that Haim had abused prescription drugs since the age of 15, attempting rehabilitation several times. In the months before he died, Haim was preparing to do a media special on how easy it was for him to obtain pain medications.

Haim’s doctors told agents that Haim was very convincing in his justifications for needing prescription pain medications. Haim told doctors he had shoulder pain acquired while he was filming a movie in Canada. He also claimed he was not seeing any other doctors and discussed his future plans to have surgery. Some of those doctors said they felt “duped” and “conned” when they found out from Haim’s primary physician that he was a drug seeker.

Haim visited multiple pharmacies to fill his prescriptions, investigators found, and either requested additional medication or asked for refills before the due date.

The report concluded that Haim’s behavior was consistent with “doctor shopping,” in which a patient requests care from multiple physicians, often to feed the patient’s addiction to prescription drugs. Patients prescribed a drug necessary for treatment of a legitimate medical condition will seek out other physicians to obtain more of the same medication, often by faking or exaggerating the extent of the true condition. It is common for patients to use aliases in order to evade detection.

Haim’s name surfaced in connection with an illegal prescription-drug ring operating in Southern California. The ring operates by ordering prescription-drug pads from authorized vendors and using identities stolen from doctors. The pads are then either sold on the street to prescription-drug addicts or to individuals who are paid to fill the prescription and then sell the drugs on the underground market.

The investigation has thus far linked 4,500 to 5,000 fraudulent prescriptions to the fraud ring and has led to one arrest.

The San Diego Regional Pharmaceutical Narcotic Enforcement Team (RxNET) is conducting the investigation. RxNET is a cooperative effort of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Department of Health Care Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. RxNET also works in conjunction with other state, federal and local law enforcement agencies.

Prescription-drug abuse is a growing problem. Brown’s office has investigated and filed charges in more than 200 cases—both against physicians who have abused their trust and against patients who go from doctor to doctor in search of drugs.

In addition to costing the state millions of dollars each year, prescription-drug abuse can have serious public safety consequences: many of the top abusers hold down regular jobs including driving trucks, operating transit vehicles and working in medical facilities.

California is at the forefront of technology that makes it more difficult for criminals to operate prescription-drug rings. Brown’s office has introduced significant technology upgrades to the state’s prescription-monitoring program, known as CURES, by creating an accessible, online database. The database is a critical tool in assisting law enforcement investigations into these types of crimes.

For more information on the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and California’s prescription-drug monitoring system visit: http://ag.ca.gov/bne/cures.php.

BAKERSFIELD – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that his office has secured back pay for more than 200 workers who were “routinely denied” fair wages and overtime pay by Charles Evleth Construction, Inc., a Bakersfield-based drywall company.

“To boost its profits and underbid competitors, Charles Evleth Construction routinely denied its hardworking employees a fair wage and overtime pay,” Brown said. “Today’s judgment secures back pay for more than 200 employees and prohibits this company from violating workers’ rights.”

In addition to providing back wages for more than 200 construction workers, today’s settlement prohibits Charles Evleth Construction from:

• Denying fair wages and overtime pay for workers;
• Paying employees in cash to avoid state and federal taxes; and
• Permitting supervisors to take kickbacks from their employees’ paychecks.

Today’s settlement follows a January 2009 suit Brown filed in Kern County Superior Court against Charles Evleth Construction to recover unpaid wages for workers who were denied full paychecks and overtime pay.

Brown’s office initiated its investigation in late 2008 and found nearly 1,200 violations of California law. In addition to wage violations, the investigation found that the company had failed to pay unemployment insurance, make state disability fund payments and pay state and federal taxes.

These practices allowed the company to gain an unfair advantage over its competitors and underbid them for construction jobs.

In the complaint filed in January 2009, Evleth was sued for violations of:

• California Labor Code section 510 for denying overtime pay;
• California Labor Code section 226 for failing to provide itemized statements detailing rate of pay, hours worked, deductions and pay period;
• California Labor Code section 1197 for failing to pay minimum wage;
• California Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order 16 (8)(b)) for requiring workers to bring their own tools without paying at least twice the minimum wage;
• California Labor Code section 221 and 223 for allowing supervisors to take kickbacks in exchange for being allowed to work; and,
• California Labor Code section 221 and 223 for allowing employees to split paychecks in cash.

Worker’s Story

Juan Manuel Avalos of Bakersfield worked for Charles Evleth Construction for five months in 2005. Avalos was hired with a verbal agreement to work five days a week for $750 per week in pay. However, when Avalos started, he was required to work six days a week and often worked 12-hour shifts without overtime pay. Avalos was paid in cash every week, but discovered two months into the job that a site supervisor had been cashing his paychecks and taking up to $500 every week from his pay, leaving Avalos what remained in cash.

Last month, Brown filed two other lawsuits against companies that failed to pay workers and subjected employees to potentially dangerous workplace conditions, including:

• A lawsuit filed March 10 against Juan Munoz, a farm labor contractor in Southern California, for failing to provide rest breaks, potable drinking water or shade to field workers.
• A lawsuit filed March 3 against Livermore-based Country Builders after the company falsified payroll records to hide underpayments, deliberately misclassified workers to reduce the company’s workers’ compensation premiums and violated state prevailing wage laws.

A copy of the settlement, filed in Kern County Superior Court, is attached.

SAN DIEGO – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released a report, including newly obtained videotapes, that shows some members of the community organizing group ACORN engaged in “highly inappropriate behavior,” but committed no violation of criminal laws.

Brown’s report also uncovered “likely violations” of state law, including dumping 500 pages of confidential records into a dumpster, failure to file a 2007 tax return, and four instances of possible voter registration fraud by ACORN in San Diego in connection with the 2008 election, as well as other irregularities in the group’s California operations. These irregularities have been referred to the appropriate authorities.

“A few ACORN members exhibited terrible judgment and highly inappropriate behavior in videotapes obtained in the investigation,” Brown said. “But they didn’t commit prosecutable crimes in California.”

Last September, Gov. Schwarzenegger asked Brown to investigate the activities of ACORN in California. His request was triggered by tapes made by undercover videographer James O’Keefe III that purported to show ACORN employees providing advice on how to conduct a prostitution ring and commit other serious crimes.

But new, unedited videotapes discovered through Brown’s investigation, as well as other evidence, shed clearer light on interactions between O’Keefe and the now-defunct ACORN.

Videotapes secretly recorded last summer and severely edited by O’Keefe seemed to show ACORN employees encouraging a “pimp” (O’Keefe) and his “prostitute,” actually a Florida college student named Hannah Giles, in conversations involving prostitution by underage girls, human trafficking and cheating on taxes. Those videos created a media sensation.

Evidence obtained by Brown tells a somewhat different story, however, as reflected in three videotapes made at ACORN locations in California. One ACORN worker in San Diego called the cops. Another ACORN worker in San Bernardino caught on to the scheme and played along with it, claiming among other things that she had murdered her abusive husband. Her two former husbands are alive and well, the Attorney General’s report noted. At the beginning and end of the Internet videos, O’Keefe was dressed as a 1970s Superfly pimp, but in his actual taped sessions with ACORN workers, he was dressed in a shirt and tie, presented himself as a law student, and said he planned to use the prostitution proceeds to run for Congress. He never claimed he was a pimp.

“The evidence illustrates,” Brown said, “that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor.”

The original storm of publicity created by O’Keefe’s videotapes was instrumental in ACORN’s subsequent denunciation in Congress, a sudden tourniquet on its funding, and the organization’s eventual collapse.

In New Orleans, O’Keefe faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of $5,000 on reduced federal charges related to misrepresentation in gaining access to the Louisiana office telephones of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.

Brown’s report found numerous faults with ACORN’s activities in California, including:

• Failure to “recruit, train and monitor its employees to ensure compliance” with state law.

• Likely violation of state civil laws designed to protect personal information when employees of the San Diego office disposed of 20,000 pages of records in a dumpster. These violations could result in private litigation if any of the victims were injured by disclosure.

• Four instances of “possible voter registration fraud in San Diego in connection with the 2008 election.”

• Failure to file a 2007 state tax return, an omission the Franchise Tax Board is pursuing.

• Sloppiness in its handling of charitable assets, although no misuse of those assets was found. The California Attorney General will monitor investigations into ACORN’s overall finances by the IRS and Louisiana Attorney General.

ACORN announced that it is closing its operations nationwide today. While a successor to ACORN in California called ACCE emphasizes that it is no longer part of ACORN, the Attorney General’s report notes that ACCE is “run by the same people, raising concerns about its ability to cure the defects in the organization.” The report notes that the Attorney General will closely scrutinize ACCE’s operations.

The full Attorney General’s report is attached. The unedited O’Keefe videotapes from California are available on the Attorney General’s website at http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/multimedia/index.php. Tapes from other states are available on request.

El Centro, Calif.—In a “fatal blow” to one of the most extensive, organized and violent extortion and drug trafficking operations in Imperial County history, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the successful prosecution of all 31 members of a Mexican Mafia cell.

Early this week, the leader of the cell, Patrick Ralph Ponce, 44, of Imperial County, pleaded guilty to drug, weapon, kidnapping and extortion charges, making him the last of 31 gang members to plead guilty to charges brought by Brown’s office. The final conviction concludes “Operation Gangland,” which began in 2005 and ultimately shut down a major Mexican Mafia cell spread across Imperial and San Diego Counties.

“This Mexican Mafia cell was one of the most violent extortion and drug trafficking rings California’s border region has ever seen,” Brown said. “With the convictions of all 31 gang members, we’ve dealt a fatal blow to their criminal enterprise and they will spend a long, long time in prison.”

Originally indicted in August 2007, the gang members have collectively been sentenced to more than 200 years in prison.

In 2005, officials from the California Attorney General’s Office, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office formed the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force to investigate the Mexican Mafia’s criminal activities.

The investigation uncovered a widespread drug smuggling and extortion operation directed by Mexican Mafia cell leader Patrick Ponce. The cell used “tax collectors” in El Centro, Calexico, Brawley, Heber, Holtville, Calipatria, and Niland to extort funds from anyone engaged in illegal activity, such as drug sales or immigrant smuggling. Those who refused or failed to pay were attacked by Ponce’s enforcers. The “taxes” would be split between the gang member who collected them, Ponce and other gang leaders.

Additionally, Ponce ran a heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation, distributing and selling narcotics throughout the region. Ponce ordered gang members with outstanding warrants to surrender themselves to officers so that illegal contraband hidden on these individuals could be smuggled into the Imperial County Jail. Gang members attacked anyone who failed to carry out orders.

Over the course of the investigation, agents captured Ponce on wiretaps ordering assaults, setting extortion rates and arranging drug sales.

Following the investigation, Brown’s office assisted Imperial County District Attorney Gilbert G. Otero in preparing the case against the gang. In August 2007, the case was presented to the San Diego County criminal grand jury, which returned a 46-count indictment against 31 members of the cell. Over the past two and a half years, Brown’s office has successfully prosecuted all 31 gang members, including:

• Patrick Ralph Ponce (“Pato”), 44, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping; two counts of extortion; selling methamphetamine; and supplying a firearm to a felon and is expected to be sentenced to 22 years in state prison;
• Marc Anthony Villasenor (“Joker”), 31, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to assault likely to cause great bodily injury; selling heroin; and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 20 years, 8 months in state prison;
• Raul Antonio Cruz, Jr. (“Jr.”), 33, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to assault with a firearm; three counts of extortion; and three counts of supplying a firearm to a felon and was sentenced to 16 years in state prison;
• Ezequiel Ernesto Rodriguez (“Neto”), 39, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to extortion and admitted carrying a firearm during a gang crime and was sentenced to 15 years in state prison;
• Victorianao Ortiz (“Cyco”), 30, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 14 years in state prison;
• Raul Vega Mejia (“Pollo”), 37, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted extortion; two counts of extortion; carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle; and being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 13 years in state prison;
• Gabriel Anthony Valles (“Guero”), 47, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and admitted carrying a firearm during a gang crime and was sentenced to 9 years in state prison;
• Marco Araujo, 54, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and three counts of selling heroin and was sentenced to 9 years in state prison;
• Juan Antonio Hornback (“Duke”), 31, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to selling heroin and was sentenced to 9 years in state prison;
• Jose Manuel Zepeda, 31, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion and extortion and was sentenced to 9 years in state prison;
• Victor Ruby (“Outlaw”), 38, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to assault likely to cause great bodily injury and was sentenced to 8 years in state prison;
• David Paez Martinez (“Deebo”), 32, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to extortion; two counts of attempted extortion; assault with a firearm; and felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 7 years in state prison;
• Luis Hector Munoz (“Clepto”), 30, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion and extortion and was sentenced to 7 years in state prison;
• Gerardo Robles (“Gerry”), 29, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and selling heroin and was sentenced to 7 years in state prison;
• Jose Espinoza (“Chuck”), 26, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to extortion; receiving stolen property and possession of an assault weapon and was sentenced to 6 years, 4 months in state prison;
• Jaime Alejandro Perez (“Beef”), 26, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to attempted extortion and is expected to be sentenced to 6 years in state prison;
• Jorge Cuevas Mendoza (“Twinx”), 25, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to 5 years in state prison;
• Antonio Padilla (“Kasper”), 34, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to 4 years in state prison;
• Refugio Castellanos Servin, 43, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to selling heroin and was sentenced to 4 years in state prison;
• Manuel Estrada Solarez (“Chile”), 54, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to selling heroin and was sentenced to 4 years in state prison;
• Juan Cordero (“Pollo”), 31, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to 3 years in state prison;
• Max Ponce, Jr. (“Mad Max”), 53, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to 3 years in state prison;
• Anthony Edward Favela (“Shadow”), 37, of San Diego County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to 3 years in state prison;
• Judy Ann Huerta, 29, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to 3 years in state prison;
• Brian Mark Smith (“Dusty”), 34, of San Diego County, who pleaded guilty to supplying a firearm to a felon and was sentenced to 2 years in state prison;
• Joe Alberto Tamayo (“Drak”), 36, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to extortion and was sentenced to 2 years in state prison;
• Rudy Raymond Ferrel, Jr., 36, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced to 2 years in state prison;
• Armando Salvador Leon (“Fooskie”), 49, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion and was sentenced to formal probation, 435 days jail;
• Eden Macias Portugal, 34, of Imperial County, who pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and was sentenced to summary probation, 355 days jail;
• Maricela Smith, 48, of San Diego County, who pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to formal probation, 234 days jail; and
• Ruby Flores Mendez, 35, of San Diego County, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell methamphetamine and is expected to be sentenced to formal probation.

Over the course of the investigation, agents also seized a large number of firearms, heroin and methamphetamine.

“I want to give special thanks to the members of Attorney General Brown’s San Diego office for all the hard work and effort expended to bring this case to a successful conclusion,” said Imperial County District Attorney Gilbert G. Otero. “This is just another example of what can be accomplished when federal, state and local law enforcement officers work together for the common good of the citizens of California.”

"With these guilty pleas, all agencies involved in this investigation have dealt a significant blow to the leadership of this criminal organization,' said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Imperial County Office Timothy A. Jennings. 'This should send a clear message to the drug traffickers that the DEA and our outstanding law enforcement partners will not tolerate drug trafficking and the related criminal activities in our community. I think that these arrests make the community a little bit safer for the citizens of Imperial County'.

Other law enforcement agencies that assisted with the investigation included the El Centro Police Department, Imperial County Sheriff's Office, Calexico Police Department, Brawley Police Department, Holtville Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol, Imperial County Narcotic Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A copy of the original 46-count indictment against the 31 gang members is attached.

Los Angeles—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that his office has filed documents with the Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of the California Medical Board to ask the court to restrict the medical license of Michael Jackson’s former doctor, Conrad Murray, preventing him from practicing medicine in California until the criminal proceedings against him are completed.

“Murray administered a lethal dose of propofol, as well as other drugs to Michael Jackson,” alleged Brown in his filing. “We will argue in court that Murray was reckless in giving Jackson such a dangerous drug and has demonstrated a serious lack of judgment that should prohibit him from practicing medicine.”

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint last month alleging that Dr. Murray committed involuntary manslaughter last year when he gave Michael Jackson the lethal dose of propofol. Jackson was under Dr. Murray’s care at the time of his death.

Brown’s office is representing the California Medical Board, the agency charged with protecting the public from dangerous, incompetent or impaired physicians and surgeons.

Copies of the court filings are attached.

Los Angeles—Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the arrests of six former employees of New Beginnings Recovery Treatment Center Inc., a Los Angeles-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, who “stole tens of thousands of dollars” from Medi-Cal by billing the state for drug treatment sessions that were never performed.

The six individuals were arrested today on charges of felony grand theft and filing false Medi-Cal claims. The maximum sentence for conviction on both felonies is three years in state prison. Bail has been set at $68,000 for Tatyana Yakovenko and at $40,000 for the other five defendants.

“These individuals stole tens of thousands of dollars from the state’s alcohol and drug treatment programs,” Brown said. “In this time of economic crisis, it’s brazen and offensive that these individuals chose to rip off public health programs instead of helping substance abusers get their lives together.”

Between July 1, 2005 and May 30, 2009, New Beginnings owner Tatyana Yakovenko and her associates submitted 1,642 fraudulent claims totaling more than $68,000 to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP.)

Under a contract established with the Los Angeles County Alcohol and Drug Programs Administration, New Beginnings provided alcohol and drug treatment services to Medi-Cal patients. Certified as a Substance Abuse Clinic in January 2002, New Beginnings operated four treatment centers in Los Angeles County.

In late 2008, Brown’s office launched an investigation into allegations that New Beginnings was submitting false Medi-Cal claims to ADP.

Brown’s investigation found that New Beginnings owner Tatyana Yakovenko and five members of the center’s upper management required therapists and group counselors to “ghost write” counseling sessions that were never performed and forge group therapy sign-in sheets. The investigation uncovered that as many as half of the Medi-Cal claims filed by New Beginnings were fraudulent.

The investigation also revealed that several patients who were enrolled in the program did not have a drug problem, and many of their drug tests were fabricated to ensure continued and unnecessary treatment. New Beginnings employees enticed adult Medi-Cal beneficiaries to enroll in the organization’s drug counseling program by offering cigarettes, food, and assistance with Section 8 housing qualification.

The majority of treatment and group notes were stored on computers, which made it easy to cut and paste and change the names of the clients. Counselors were instructed to occasionally create a “crisis,” which meant a dirty drug test or a situation that warranted a client’s continued drug treatment.

Additionally, investigators determined that some counselors were ordered to enter treatment records for 120 clients when only 40 clients were actually receiving treatment. The average client had four treatment group activities per month, but counselors were pushed to increase the documentation to 20 activities per month.

The six individuals arrested today on charges of felony grand theft and filing false Medi-Cal claims include:
• Tatyana Yakovenko, 35, of Beverly Hills,
• Natalya Zvereva, 34, of Sherman Oaks,
• Carlos Villanueva, 38, of Pico Rivera,
• Aleksey Lisitsa, 27, of Los Angeles,
• Jodee A. Wallace, 41, of Granada Hills; and,
• Romalis Conway, 29, of Los Angeles

Earlier this month, Brown announced his office recovered more than $209 million and secured 139 criminal convictions by aggressively investigating and prosecuting Medi-Cal fraud cases in 2009. Brown also reported that in 2009, his Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse returned more than $12 million to victims of elder abuse and secured 47 criminal convictions in elder abuse cases.

Copies of the felony complaint and arrest warrant affidavits are attached.