Tag: Los Angeles
Olof Kyros Gustafsson, Wire Fraud, California 2025
⏱ 2 min read Olof Kyros Gustafsson, a 32-year-old Swedish national, has been sentenced to 4 years in federal prison for defrauding investors by marketing and selling products using the likeness of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in California. Between July 2019 and November 2023, Gustafsson, also known as ‘El Silencio’, used Escobar’s persona…
Yachua Mauricio Flores, Obstructing Law Enforcement, California 2025
⏱ 2 min read Yachua Mauricio Flores, a 23-year-old LA man, was part of a violent anti-ICE riot in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. During the chaos, Flores poured lighter fluid on a burning California Highway Patrol (CHP) vehicle, intensifying the flames. He also threw an electric scooter over a freeway overpass, endangering…
Ismael Vega, Obstructing Law Enforcement, California 2025
⏱ 2 min read Ismael Vega, a 42-year-old Westlake man, threw rocks and lighted debris at California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers during an anti-ICE riot in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. The violent protest erupted two days after federal agents enforced U.S. immigration laws, leading to a chaotic scene on the Main Street…
David Anthony Rodriguez, False Search Warrant Application, California 2021
⏱ 2 min read A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy, David Anthony Rodriguez, was sentenced to 1 year in federal prison for submitting a false search warrant application to obtain cell phone information for a private client’s estranged husband in a contentious divorce case in Los Angeles, California. Rodriguez, 45, pleaded guilty to…
Scott Allen Simpkins, Obstruction of Justice, California 2021
⏱ 2 min read A former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy, Scott Allen Simpkins, 34, of Brea, was involved in a shocking case of obstruction of justice. In August 2021, Simpkins was hired by Adam Iza, a self-styled cryptocurrency businessman, to provide private security at his Bel Air mansion. However, things took a dark turn…
Elias Abdul Shabazz, Sex Trafficking, California 2025
⏱ 2 min read Elias Abdul Shabazz, a 34-year-old former Riverside County resident, was found guilty of forcing and coercing a victim into commercial sex acts on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles. The crimes occurred when Shabazz led the victim to believe they were in a romantic relationship, but he soon turned violent, demanding the…
Christopher Barret Johnson, Fentanyl Possession, California 2026
⏱ 2 min read A 42-year-old nonprofit worker, Christopher Barret Johnson, was arrested on May 5, 2026, in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles for possessing fentanyl. Johnson, a Culver City resident, works for People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), an organization that distributes syringes to homeless drug users. The arrest occurred when Los Angeles…
Ceasar Tubay Gelacio, Jr., Cocaine Importation, California 2023
⏱ 2 min read Ceasar Tubay Gelacio, Jr., a 43-year-old Philippines national, has been arrested for smuggling a massive 227 kilograms (500 pounds) of cocaine into the United States. The cocaine, which was hidden on an oil tanker, was intended to be delivered to a Mexican drug cartel. The ship, which was inbound from Ecuador,…
Wrackkie Quiogue, Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device, California 2025
⏱ 2 min read A 28-year-old Long Beach man, Wrackkie Quiogue, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for possessing a Molotov cocktail during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. The protest turned violent when members of the crowd threw rocks and bottles at law enforcement officials, prompting the…
Yvonette Joseph, COVID-19 Rent Aid Embezzlement, Massachusetts 2021
⏱ 2 min read A Minnesota woman who used to call Holliston, Mass. home, swiped over $100,000 in COVID-19 rental aid in Los Angeles last year. Yvonette Joseph, 45, allegedly received the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funds after fake tenants identified her as the landlord of a property in LA. According to prosecutors, Joseph wired…
