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After 13-year-old Minh Cong Tran and his family finished eating at a Mexican restaurant in Santa Ana in 2003, they drove away. Jason A. Aguirre, 33, and fellow Dragon Family Junior gang members chased the family into a neighborhood and shot into the car as the family tried to hide. Minh Tran was shot in the heart, liver and shoulder and died soon after the shooting. Other family members in the car were shot, but they all survived. Aguirre fled the scene of the crime and was arrested a few months later. Aguirre was charged with first degree murder with special circumstances of committing the murder for the benefit of the gang. He was sentenced to death last week for his crimes.

This was the fifth death penalty case in Orange County this week. The death penalty can be a punishment only in murder cases that have special circumstances. Murdering for the benefit of a gang is a special circumstance. Other special circumstances include mass murders and felony murders. If you have been charged with murder in Irvine, Santa Ana or Fullerton, you will need an experienced Orange County defense attorney to assist you in the legal process.

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After beating him up and shooting him with a gun and a Taser, the victim was forced into a van, tied up, blindfolded and taken to different hideouts for 5 days. The three suspects, including Costa Mesa man Vagan Adzhemyan, allegedly kidnapped the victim to collect a $1 million ransom. The suspects made the victim call all of his family in the U.S. and Russia and try to collect money. A family member told police about the calls made with a 323 area code and police then narrowed their search to the Los Angeles area. Police followed Adzhemyan’s car to the house where the victim was found. He was in serious medical condition because of the gunshot to his bowels that was left untreated for 5 days. Police then noticed that the victim’s ATM card was being used by the suspects, so they tracked them down and charged them with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Kidnapping is a serious felony and can come with the sentence of life in prison (if the victim was being held for ransom). Some defenses for kidnapping charges include consent, lack of intent, lack of evidence and mistaken identity. Whether you are in Irvine, Santa Ana or Lake Forest, if you are charged with kidnapping, you need an experienced defense attorney on your side.

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Amber Lynn Phelps and co-defendant Julie Catherine Clifford attacked a woman in an Anaheim parking lot and stole her purse in 2008. They said that they would give it back to her if she gave them money. Phelps was mad at the victim because she thought her boyfriend was dating the victim. When Anaheim police tried to arrest Phelps and Clifford, they sped away in a car. After a few minutes of trying to escape, Phelps crashed into another car, seriously injuring the driver. Phelps and Clifford were both arrested and Phelps was charged with conspiracy, evading police while driving recklessly and causing serious bodily injury and second degree robbery. She was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison.

Whether you live in San Clemente, Fountain Valley or Fullerton, once the police are after you, the best thing to do is surrender and cooperate with the police. A chase in the middle of busy streets is very dangerous to the officers, the suspects and innocent bystanders in the area. You will be charged with evading arrest if you try to flee the scene. This adds additional time to your sentence and stays on your criminal record. If you are about to be arrested for a crime, cooperate with the police and then call an experienced criminal defense attorney.

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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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