The hundreds of immigrant detainees housed in Orange County’s largest detention facility have been served foul, slimy lunch meat; use moldy showers; and contend with inoperable phones, according to the findings of an internal inspection issued Wednesday.

Some detainees said they had to rinse their acrid lunch meat off with water before eating it, according to the report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

The review, which was based on an unannounced inspection in October and interviews with detainees and staff members, found that the poor conditions violate standards set by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In addition to unsafe food handling, the inspectors found that high- and low-risk detainees were housed together and that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s method for imposing solitary confinement for discipline violated ICE standards.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com. 

A former teacher who slit his own throat in a Santa Ana courtroom last year immediately after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl was sentenced Friday to 46 years to life in state prison, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.

Jeffrey Scott Jones is seen in a photo released by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

In addition to prison, 57-year-old Jeffrey Jones, of Huntington Beach, will have to register as a sex offender, a DA’s news release stated.

Jones was found guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and a single count of continuous sexual abuse, according to the release.

After his conviction on Oct. 19, 2016, Jones produced a razor blade in court and cut his own throat. He was rushed to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, the DA’s office said.

Jones had been accused of “frequently and continuously” sexually assaulted the then-13-year-old girl between Sept. 1, 2012, and April 30, 2013, while he taught advanced placement English at Libra Academy in Huntington Park, according to the release.

He raped the victim on May 4, 2013, and again on May 9, 2013, telling the girl he would ruin her life if she told anyone what happened, prosecutors said.

The crime was reported to the Huntington Beach Police Department that same month, and Jones was arrested on June 27, 2013.

During his sentencing Friday, an impact statement delivered on behalf of the victim was read in front of the court.

In it, she spoke of how difficult her life had been in the past few years.

“You broke and brought me down to feel worthless. There were days I blamed myself thinking I did something wrong to the point that I wanted to take my life,” her statement said. “I was a little girl and you took my innocence. Parents and kids trusted you to be a teacher, not a predator.”

The statement concluded by saying, “I have a family and a support system that you can’t take from me. I refuse to allow your abuse to stop the woman I want to become.”

More than two months after Irvine police arrested a woman who allegedly sold sick young dogs to unsuspecting new pet owners, she has been charged -- and nine of the puppies officers rescued from her are up for adoption.

Megan Ann Hoechstetter is seen in a photo released by Irvine police on Jan. 13, 2017.

The dogs were recovered when Megan Ann Hoechstetter, 42, of Cypress was arrested in January on suspicion of selling a sick puppy to an Irvine family, police said. That pup died of parvovirus a week after being sold to the family on Jan. 1.

Since then, police have identified 155 victims and more than 100 sick dogs connected to Hoechstetter.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office on Monday charged Hoechstetter, who allegedly operated under the business name Pawlosophy and possibly other false business names. She faces 20 misdemeanor counts of of keeping an animal without proper care and two misdemeanor counts of animal abuse by a caretaker.

She faces up to 12 years in jail if convicted. He arraignment is set for April 28 at the Newport Beach courthouse.

The families who bought dogs from her bonded with the puppies, only to become distraught when the animals got seriously sick, prosecutor Jennifer Malone said.

"What struck all of this about the case is the emotional anguish of the families, not to mention the poor little puppies that were so ill," Malone said.

Hoechstetter ran a fake rescue organization, selling animals she may have obtained from Mexico, police said at the time of her arrest. She met customers in parking lots and did not inspect their homes to ensure adequate animal care would be possible, police said.

After media coverage of her arrest, investigators identified 155 victims who got sick dogs from Hoechstetter, the Irvine Police Department said in a news release Monday. That figure is up from 37 victims the week that Hoechstetter was arrested.

Rescued puppies are shown in a photo released by Irvine police on Jan. 13, 2017, when Megan Ann Hoechstetter's arrest was announced.

The suspect, who also went by Megan Ann Nunez and Megan Ann Choate, charged $400 for each eight-week-old dog, the DA's office said.

Meanwhile, nine of the 19 puppies rescued upon Hoechstetter's Jan. 11 arrest have been nursed back to health at the Irvine Animal Care Center, police said. When she was taken into custody, police found six puppies in the trunk of her car and 13 more in a Cypress hotel room.

After being medically cleared, nine of the puppies will be available for adoption Wednesday; five more are expected to be available Friday. The final five will be available as soon as they are medically cleared, a police spokeswoman said.

Pictures of the animals have been posted at cityofirvine.org/ipdpuppies. They are all listed as mixes.

“The public should keep in mind that these animals were very ill and lived through a traumatic experience,” Irvine police said in the news release. “Anyone wishing to adopt one of the puppies should have extra time to devote to their care and socialization.”

Three dogs available for adoption are shown in photos released March 20, 2017, by Irvine police.

Those who hope to adopt a puppy must go to the Irvine Animal Care Center, 6443 Oak Canyon, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to fill out adoption paperwork. A lottery for each available puppy will be held at 2 p.m.; potential adopters must be present at the time of the lottery.

Hoechstetter is accused of abusing and failing to care for over 100 puppies between March 21, 2014, and March 1, 2017, the DA's office said.

She knew but did not tell her customers the dogs she was selling suffered from viruses and parasitic infections including parvovirus, coccidia and giardia, the DA's office said.

About 30 puppies died to had to be put down soon after they were adopted, according to prosecutors. Most of the dogs suffered from severe diarrhea.

A gunman’s rampage at a Seal Beach beauty salon more than five years ago shattered families and scarred the seaside community. Then an ensuing legal saga became an epic tale of controversy and scandal.

Scott Dekraai is shown in court in March 30, 2017. (Credit: KTLA)

But some mourners believed that closure could at least be found in a plea deal that would put the killer away for life and end the legal proceedings.

Despite their requests, the California attorney general’s office announced Wednesday that it would seek the death penalty for Scott Dekraai.

“This tragic event has caused so much harm to far too many families,” Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.

Known for his outrageous Twitter outbursts and conflicts with police, mixed martial arts fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller is looking to make amends.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller is shown during his arrest after a standoff that he live-tweeted on Oct. 9, 2014, in Mission Viejo. (Credit: Chip Yost / KTLA)

Seeking to resolve no fewer than five criminal cases in Orange County, Miller agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to more than a dozen felony and misdemeanor charges for vandalizing a tattoo shop, assaulting police officers and resisting arrest.

The 36-year-old fighter, who was facing a possible 21-year prison sentence, received a punishment of three years’ probation and 100 days in jail. Because he has already spent 50 days in county jail, under California law, Miller won’t have to serve any additional jail time.

“I have done a lot of things that I regret,” Miller said. “I wasn’t thinking during those times.”

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller is shown in a booking photo provided by OCSD on March 16, 2016.

A man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in a Newport Beach that started as a domestic disturbance call Saturday night, officials said.

Newport Beach Police officials respond to a fatal officer-involved shooting on April 15, 2017. (Credit: OnScene.TV)

Newport Beach Police officials responded to the 200 block of 61st Street about 9 p.m. A caller advised officers that the man had armed himself with a knife.

A responding officer contacted the man outside the home and asked him to drop the weapon. The man followed orders, but he armed himself again and “exhibited threatening actions” toward the officer, police said in a news release.

The officer fired at the man after fearing for his safety, police said.

The man was treated at the scene and taken to Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana in critical condition and eventually died.

He has not been identified.

The victim of the domestic violence incident was also treated at the scene and taken to a hospital for additional treatment.

No officers were injured during the incident, which remains under investigation by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The Buena Park School District School Board president is scheduled to be arraigned on multiple child porn charges Friday, one day after police announced his arrest.

Dennis Brian Chambers is seen in a photo released by the Fontana Police Department.

Dennis Brian Chambers, 50, has been charged with one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and a felony count county of distribution of child porn, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The charges also included a sentencing enhancement allegation that the pornography contained over 600 images, with at least 10 or more involving a prepubescent minor, the DA’s office said in a news release.

Chambers was arrested at his Buena Park residence in the 8000 block of Taylor Street on Wednesday following a monthslong investigation that began in the state of Montana, according to the Fontana Police Department, which investigated the case in Southern California.

Police said they discovered an electronic storage device containing thousands of child porn videos and images at the defendant’s home.

One or more of the images involved a minor under the age of 12, according to the criminal complaint.

Orange County Deputy DA Karyn Strokke is prosecuting the case.

A former Mrs. Orange County pleaded guilty Friday to possessing child pornography and lewd acts with a minor, authorities said.

Meghan Breanna Alt is seen in a booking photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 8, 2015.

Meghan Breanna Alt, 27, was sentenced to three years’ probation and 300 days in county jail, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. She was ordered to perform 15 days of community service and must complete a Child Abuser’s Treatment Program.

Alt, who is not in custody, must report to the Orange County jail on Friday to complete her sentence, according to the district attorney’s office.

According to prosecutors, Alt took sexually explicit photos of a 4-year-old female relative and used her cellphone to distribute the pictures in exchange for money and gifts. The photos were taken between Jan. 1, 2015, and Oct. 7, 2015, prosecutors said.

Read the full story on LATimes.com. 

Angel Sanchez is seen in a photo released by the Santa Ana Police Department on April 2, 2017.

An Uber driver was charged with rape after allegedly sexually assaulting a female passenger in Santa Ana, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s office press release issued on Wednesday.

Angel Sanchez, 36, was charged with one felony count of rape of an intoxicated victim.

Sanchez allegedly picked up the victim from a company gathering in Newport Beach after her colleagues requested an Uber ride to her home in Santa Ana on March 30, according to the DA.

The woman fell asleep during the ride and woke up to Sanchez allegedly sexually assaulting her in the back of his 2016 gray Toyota Sienna on a street near her home, Santa Ana police said.

The victim was able to break free and run away from the van before calling 911 and reporting the attack, the DA said.

Officers worked with Uber to determine who the driver was and detained Sanchez at his Costa Mesa home a few days after the attack, police said.

Sanchez had been working as an Uber driver for about a year at the time of the assault, according to officials.

He faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison if convicted. Sanchez’ arraignment is scheduled for May 1 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

An Orange County high school football coach accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student was arrested after a lengthy standoff on campus last month during which he threatened suicide, officials said.

Michael Schnitzler is seen in a booking photo released April 23, 2017, by the Orange Police Department.

Former El Modena High School coach Michael James Snitzler, 26, was charged Wednesday with misdemeanor unlawful sexual intercourse and child annoyance following investigating by Orange police, Orange County District Attorney’s officials said.

The Santa Ana resident was previously charged with two felonies — possession of a firearm in a school zone and discharging or attempting to discharge a firearm in a gun-free zone — and misdemeanor possession of ammunition on school property on April 25.

Authorities began investigating Snitzler after he locked himself in a classroom on the school’s campus with a loaded handgun, threatening suicide, around 10:45 a.m. on April 23, a Sunday. One of his family members had called police, prosecutors said.

For 10 hours, streets surrounding the school were shut down as Snitzler refused to exit the classroom, according to Orange police. He eventually surrendered without incident at 8:35 p.m.

El Modena High School is shown in an undated Google Maps Street View image.

The 26-year-old worked as the school’s assistant varsity football coach at the time.

A probe of the situation revealed Snitzler had been engaged in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old El Modena student, DA’s officials said.

Prosecutors allege the relationship began in February, when Snitzler met the minor and began communicating with her via text message.

Their relationship became sexual in March, investigators said.

If convicted as charged, Snitzler faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years and six months in state prison.

He is scheduled to appear in court on May 12 for a pre-trial hearing and is currently being held on $30,000 bail.

A 28-year-old Costa Mesa man was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years in state prison for kidnapping and inflicting burns on a woman who authorities say worked for him, another man and a woman as a prostitute in Costa Mesa.

Renice Stevenson Flores-Davis was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on May 2, 2017 for human trafficking and burning a woman. (Credit: OCDA)

In 2014, Orange County prosecutors charged Renice Stevenson Flores-Davis with two counts of torture, two counts of mayhem and one count each of human trafficking, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, pimping and pandering.

On Tuesday, as part of a plea deal, prosecutors dismissed all counts except one each of human trafficking, kidnapping, mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

Prosecutors said Flores-Davis, along with Cierra Rose Thompson, 29, of Oregon and Oscar Gonzalez-Salinas, 36, of Costa Mesa, abused a woman who authorities allege was working for the trio as a prostitute.

Read the full LATimes story here.

A Santa Ana man who carved his name on a woman’s chest was sentenced to nearly a decade in state prison on Friday.

Sergio Mendoza is shown in a booking photo provided to the Los Angeles Times by Santa Ana police in 2015.

Sergio Joaquin Mendoza, 27, kidnapped, threatened and physically harmed a woman he was in a “romantic relationship” with in 2015, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Over the course of four days in March 2015, he repeatedly punched the unidentified victim, forced her to sit in his car while he worked and threatened her if she tried to leave the vehicle.

Then, two days after that ordeal, he told the victim “he would let her leave if she allowed him to carve his name onto her chest,” the DA’s office said in a news release.

He used a razor blade to write his first name on her chest.

He drove her around, again threatening her with more violence if she left the vehicle, punched her and head-butted her, and tried to strangle her.

Nonetheless, the victim was able to escape, run into a local business and call police.

Mendoza was arrested three days after the woman escaped.

On March 9 of this year, he was convicted of felony kidnapping, criminal threats, false imprisonment, and two counts of domestic battery with corporal injury. He was also found guilty of misdemeanor false imprisonment.

An Orange County judge sentenced him to nine years and eight months in state prison. When he was arraigned in 2015, the DA’s office said he faced a maximum sentence of 11 years and eight months.

Ruben Martinez is seen in a booking photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in 2014.

A 29-year-old man was sentenced to 52 years to life in prison after fatally stabbing his mother’s boyfriend in Anaheim in 2014, officials said Friday.

Last month, Ruben Martinez was found guilty of first-degree murder after stabbing the 52-year-old man on Nov. 16, 2014, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The incident occurred outside a home in an unincorporated area of Anaheim and the victim, only identified as Maximino F., was stabbed multiple times.

Martinez was 27 when the crime occurred.

The two had apparently been involved in an altercation before the stabbing.

A Colorado man has been charged in connection with a 1994 double homicide in Huntington Beach, officials said Monday.

Lamberto Ricci Castillo is seen in a photo released by the Orange County District Attorney's Office on May 15, 2017.

Lamberto Ricci Castillo, 64, of Alamosa, Colorado, was expected to be arraigned Monday after being charged on April 27, more than 23 years after the crime. The arraignment was continued and he did not enter a plea.

Castillo is suspected of killing Kenny Paul Sommer and Chen "Cosmo" Maui Blanchard, both 23, on March 31, 1994.

Castillo and his companion allegedly confronted the men as they were urinating in the downtown area, according to Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy.

“The words that were exchanged escalated to the point where they were going to fight,” Handy said, but then the couple left.

Castillo, however, allegedly returned with a handgun and shot the two men multiple times before leaving the scene. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Castillo worked as a school teacher in Orange and Los Angeles counties at the time the shooting occurred.

The case eventually went cold, but was reopened in 2016, when investigators developed new evidence linking Castillo to the crime.

Sommer's sister Alison Sommer-Castellanos said the incident has been a constant source of pain in her life, and she was grateful for the arrest, which provided some closure.

“I just stay busy enough to where I don’t ever have to stop and think," she said at a Monday press conference. "You dust the picture of your brother and you go by it really fast and then some days … you see people with their family members all intact. It’s hard.”

Blanchard's son — who was 3 years old at the time of his father's death — had also been awaiting justice practically his entire life, according to his mother, Gina Vercnocke.

It’s really been difficult for him, so this is something he’s been waiting for for a long time,” she said.

Castillo faces two felony counts of murder with a special enhancement that he used a firearm in the crime.

Several agencies in Orange County and Colorado assisted in the investigation.

A 32-year-old Long Beach man was sentenced to 120 years to life in prison on Friday for sexually assaulting an infant relative and possessing hundreds of thousands of pornographic photos and videos of prepubescent children.

Ryan Michael Booth, 32, was convicted on March 8 of eight felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a minor 10 years or younger and five felony counts of using a minor for sex acts, as well as a misdemeanor charge of sexual exploitation of a child, Orange County District Attorney’s officials said.

Booth also received a sentencing enhancement for possessing over 600 images of child pornography, with 10 or more involving a prepubescent minor.

In fact, he had a cache of more than 220,000 sexually explicit photos and videos of prepubescent children and traded the content online for additional child pornography, prosecutors said.

Booth was also found guilty of sexually assaulting an infant relative from the time she was less than 1 year old until she was 2 years old, beginning in 2013 until August 2014.

“She gets to grow up happy and free… you are going to pay for this,” the girl’s father said during the sentencing Friday. “You will never touch another child again.”

The victim’s grandmother also spoke, noting that the abuse is something the toddler will struggle with the rest of her life.

“There is no mercy for you,” she said. “She will carry [this] with her for her whole life.”

Some of Booth’s images were discovered on Aug. 29, 2014, during a child porn investigation conducted by a constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The constable traced images of a 2- or 3-year-old girl to Booth’s Internet Protocol (IP) address in Long Beach and passed the case on to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s cyber-crime unit.

Los Angeles police served a warrant at Booth’s home on Sept. 5, 2014, and discovered his stash of child pornography, including photos and videos of Booth in sexual conduct with his 2-year-old relative in his home.

Booth was arrested later that same day.

After LAPD officers discovered he had also sexually assaulted his young relative in her Costa Mesa home, the case was submitted to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

A 42-year-old Santa Ana man was sentenced to 60 years to life in prison Friday after being convicted of sexually assaulting three girls, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Jose Luis Aguilera, 41, is seen in a booking photo provided by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Jose Luis Aguilera was found guilty on April 28 of four felony counts of committing lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, with a sentencing enhancement that there were multiple victims, the DA’s office said in a news release.

Aguilera met his young victims through church, according to the DA’s office.

Between October 2012 and September 2015, Aguilera — a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Santa Ana — was accused of sexually assaulting three girls, the release stated. The DA’s office previously said the victims were between 9 and 11 years old.

“He befriended at least four different families and then under the guise of playdates with his daughter he then would sexually assault the girls when he got them alone,” Deputy DA Heather Brown said at the time he was charged in the case.

The defendant “committed lewd acts” on the girls, including kissing the children and touching their genitals, according to the release.

One of the girls reported the crime to a family member, who then alerted the Santa Ana Police Department.

Aguilera was arrested on Sept. 4, 2015.

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer asked federal authorities Monday for an emergency takeover of the Orange County district attorney’s office, citing what he called “continuing revelations of scandal.”

Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer answers questions at a 2016 news conference. (Credit: Anh Do / Los Angeles Times)

Spitzer’s letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions noted a recent liability claim filed by the office’s former lead investigator that accuses Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas of campaign misconduct and interfering in political corruption investigations.

That investigator, Craig Hunter, left the office in April amid accusations that he sent sexually explicit texts while on duty.

Spitzer’s letter also cited a May 17 ruling by an Orange County judge that said Orange County prosecutors engaged in “serious misconduct” during the 2008 murder trial of Cole Wilkins, who is facing retrial in the 2006 death of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

Prosecutors on Thursday asked for the public’s help in identifying possible additional victims of a Garden Grove man accused of sexually assaulting two girls.

Victor Ealey is seen in a photo released by the Orange County DA’s office.

Victor Norman Ealey, 56, was charged Monday with two felony counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14, with a sentencing enhancement alleging multiple victims, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Around April 30, Ealey allegedly committed lewd acts on a 10-year-old girl, who went to the Garden Grove Police Department and reported the assault.

During the investigation, a second alleged victim came forward.

Ealey is accused of accusing performing lewd acts upon the second child — who was around 10 years old at the time — between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2016, according to prosecutors.

He is being held at the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana on $1 million bail. Ealey’s arraignment was continued to June 6, the DA’s Office said.

The defendant had access to children and was in a position of trust when the incidents took place, and investigators are looking into whether there are any other victims in the case.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim is urged to call Supervising DA Investigator Eric Wiseman at 714-347-8794.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and other officials interfered in multiple investigations and covered up criminal conduct by police, according to claims filed Friday by two investigators within the district attorney’s office.

In their filings, Tom Conklin and Abraham Santos cited three high-profile cases that they said officials had suppressed.

One involved a former Cypress Police Department investigator accused of committing perjury during a capital murder trial. Another case revolved around the alleged cover-up by Fullerton police of a former city manager’s drunk driving. Conklin and Santos said they were removed from the investigation into a third case, involving a man who they believed was planning a “Sandy Hook”-level mass shooting.

The whistle-blower claims are precursors to a lawsuit. Conklin, who has worked at the district attorney’s office since 2008, and Santos, who has been there since 2015, assert that they have been targeted for termination because they spoke out about Rackauckas and his office. Santos said he also became the subject of false rumors that he had sexually harassed another employee.

Read the full story on LATimes.com. 

Larry Soo Shin, 35, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Feb. 4, 2014. (Credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Department)

A Yorba Linda man was convicted of murder in the 2014 death of a 17-year-old girl who was found stabbed on the side of a road in a neighborhood of multimillion-dollar homes.

Larry Soo Shin, 38, was also found guilty of murdering the girl by means of lying in wait, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials said in a press release.

The victim, identified as Aubreyanna Sade Parks of Gardena, had a prior arrest for prostitution and was reported as a runaway at the time of her death, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the case.

Shin asked the teen to meet him at a home in the upscale Yorba Linda neighborhood in the early morning hours of Feb. 4, 2014, prosecutors said.

Aubreyanna Sade Parks, 17, was found dead by the side of the road in residential Yorba Linda on Feb. 6, 2014. (Credit: DMV)

When she arrived, Shin was waiting and stabbed her 39 times in the back, face and neck, and also severed her finger.

Shin then left Parks’ body on a greenbelt outside a nearby home, officials said.

Authorities later found Shin seeking treatment for deep cuts to his left palm in the Corona Regional Medical Center.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14 in Santa Ana and faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.