A Lancaster man was sentenced Monday to nearly five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for depositing over $1.2 million in forged money orders into bank accounts then withdrawing cash from the accounts. According to court documents, from July 31, 2013 to Feb. 13, 2019, Sterlyn Lee Smith Jr., 49, from Lancaster, and dozens of others ...

District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced Wednesday that California AutoNation dealerships will pay $650,000 to settle a civil lawsuit alleging that in thousands of instances dating back to 2019.  The dealerships failed to timely transfer ownership of used vehicles to consumers after the sale as required by California law, according to officials. “Californians who buy a used car have a ...

The Los Angeles County District Attorney announced Tuesday that 18 people – including a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy – had been indicted by a Grand Jury for alleged roles in a drug smuggling operation at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman revealed Tuesday that 18 co-conspirators had been indicted in a sophisticated ...

 A Palmdale man is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on a 12-count federal grand jury indictment alleging he coerced two minors into producing and sharing with him sexually explicit content of themselves and enticed one minor to have sex with him. Darius Desean Edwards, 21, of Palmdale, is charged with five counts of production of child pornography, five counts of ...

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy, a resident of Santa Clarita, was found guilty Thursday by a jury of using excessive force when he assaulted and pepper-sprayed a woman outside a supermarket in Lancaster in June 2023. Trevor James Kirk, 32, of Santa Clarita, was convicted of one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law. During a ...

A Culver City man agreed to plead guilty to recklessly operating a drone that crashed into and damaged a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft fighting the Palisades Fire in January, the Justice Department announced Friday. Peter Tripp Akemann, 56, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft. Friday, federal prosecutors filed a criminal information ...

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman has announced the appointment of Michael Gennaco as Special Prosecutor who is among the nation’s foremost experts in civil rights and police misconduct cases. This appointment underscores District Attorney Hochman‘s unwavering commitment to justice, accountability and public trust. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in consultation with County Counsel, authorized Mr. ...

On Wednesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced felony charges against two men in connection with separate alleged acts of arson during the ongoing deadly fires sweeping across the region — one in the City of Industry and another in the city of Irwindale. These cases come on the heels of charges against 10 individuals for looting and ...

A Santa Clarita man was sentenced to federal prison Thursday, after he allegedly trafficked drugs in stuffed animals that were shipped throughout the nation, which led to at least one person’s death. Jerrell Eugene Anderson, 34 from Santa Clarita, was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu to eight years in federal prison. Anderson pleaded guilty on June ...

Officials with Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo and Coca-Cola for their significant role in plastic pollution’s negative impacts on the environment and public health. The lawsuit cites the companies’ misrepresentations to the public surrounding the recyclability of plastic beverage containers and their failure to disclose significant environmental and health harms, according to Los Angeles County officials. The ...