SANTA ANA – Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu was sentenced Friday to two months behind bars and was ordered to pay a $55,000 fine for his guilty plea to obstruction of justice, wire fraud and lying to federal investigators about his role in the city’s effort to sell Angel Stadium. Sidhu, 67, was also ordered to spend one year on supervised released following his prison time. When Sidhu pleaded guilty in September 2023 he was facing eight to 14 months in prison. Sidhu’s attorneys filed court papers March 14 arguing for three years of probation and a $40,000 fine. Probation…
Author: Paul Anderson
An Orange County Superior Court judge testified Monday that he did not intend to fatally shoot his wife and that the gun was accidentally triggered. Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, is charged with murder with sentencing enhancements for discharge of a gun causing death and the personal use of a gun for the Aug. 3, 2023, death of his 65-year-old wife, Sheryl. When Ferguson’s attorney, Cameron Talley, asked his client if he meant to shoot his wife, Ferguson responded, “No, absolutely not. It was an accident.” When the judge got home from work the day of the shooting, he said he downed…
SANTA ANA – A 26-year-old man was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for carrying on a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old Mission Viejo girl with cerebral palsy. Nathan Keyshawn Williams pleaded guilty Aug. 5 to possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge James Selna also placed him on lifetime supervised release and recommended placing him in a prison camp. Williams, who is out on bail, must also register as a sex offender and surrender to authorities by May 9. Williams was indicted in December 2021 on charges of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct…
SANTA ANA – A 65-year-old Hemet man was sentenced Friday to 15 years and eight months in federal prison for collecting thousands of images and videos of child pornography and manipulating a 12-year-old girl into sending him explicit photos of herself and a 5-year-old girl. John Mathew Piecuch pleaded guilty July 26 to a count of production of child pornography. Piecuch has been in custody since August 2021. U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb said the sentencing guidelines range was 262 to 327 months, but he honored terms of a plea deal, noting the defendant had shown remorse and suffered…
SANTA ANA – A man who opened fire at a car during a road-rage confrontation on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, killing a 6-year-old boy who was strapped in a child seat as his mother drove him to kindergarten in Yorba Linda, was sentenced Friday to 40 years to life in prison. Marcus Anthony Eriz, 26, of Costa Mesa, was convicted in January of second-degree murder and firing at an occupied vehicle for the deadly May 21, 2021, shooting on the freeway that killed Aiden Leos. Jurors also found true allegations of personal use of a handgun. Co-defendant Wynne Lee,…
SANTA ANA – A 27-year-old Redondo Beach man was sentenced Thursday to 35 days behind bars, or time already served, for punching a journalist in the face during a clash between former President Donald Trump supporters and opponents in Huntington Beach seven years ago. Tyler Laube pleaded guilty Oct. 23 to a single misdemeanor charge of interference with a federally protected right without bodily injury. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed anti-riot act charges. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney also fined Laube $2,000 and placed him on supervised release for a year. Laube is also prohibited from using…
ANAHEIM – Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, called on federal officials Wednesday to investigate Anaheim’s use of COVID-19 pandemic money that was identified in a critical state audit of the city’s funding of Visit Anaheim, the organization that promotes tourism and the city’s convention center. But city officials attributed issues raised in the audit to a clerical error they are seeking to fix. “We’re looking into ways to file an amended report that cleans up the mistake made,” according to Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken. “I welcome our state and federal partners and findings and recommendations to help us increase transparency…