Orange County News Blog

Costa Mesa serial killer says he has no remorse

​Lisping serial killer Billy Joe Johnson (pictured) walked into Orange County Superior Court today in a seemingly relaxed mood despite the shackles, handcuffs and extra security. An animated, wide-eyed smile appeared on Johnson's prison pale face when he saw his defense lawyer, Michael Molfetta. In court, the 46-year-old white supremacist gang member, Nazi lover and career criminal from Costa Mesa often looks like the guest of honor at a backyard beer picnic.

But that carefree mood visibly changed during prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh's 105-minute closing argument. With his right hand over his heart, Baytieh stood in front of the jury and said, "You've heard things that aren't pleasant. There's only one appropriate punishment in this case. Come back with the death penalty. This is serious. But make no mistake. In this courtroom sits a cold-blooded, black-hearted evil doer. A cold-blood serial killer. Make no mistake about that. And he's not done yet."
 
As Baytieh displayed gruesome, vomit-enticing photographs of three of five murder victims in the case, Johnson picked ear wax with his right index finger, looked bored, repeatedly stretched his arms and yawned as if he was emerging from a long nap. He made a point of staring at the sickening crime scene photos of his victims and audibly sighing to emphasize his apparent boredom.

For his part, Baytieh was unamused that the defense attempted to blame the California Department of Corrections (CDC) for crimes committed by Johnson, a ranking member of Public Enemy Number One Death Squad (PEN1).

"Nobody put a gun to Mr. Johnson's head to make him commit crimes," he said. "He kept sending himself back and back and back and back and back to prison. He did that by his own choice . . . the CDC is not on trial here."

Testifying for himself yesterday, Johnson hemmed and hawed but essentially sided with Baytieh's view that the jury should select the death penalty. To insure that decision, he voluntarily admitted that he's killed two additional men and evaded responsibility. As if he was ordering breakfast, he also acknowledged that he's currently attempting to execute rival skinhead gang members in California. 

Such a client didn't leave Molfetta, a former prosecutor, an avalanche of pro-defense material to keep Johnson off death row.

"He's incapable of appreciating what he has done," Molfetta said. "It's not because he's crazy but it's how he's wired . . . It's a mental defect."

He told jurors they "don't have the right" to "get indignant" and want revenge against Johnson, whose body is covered in pro-Hitler tattoos.
 
"If you come back with the death penalty, so be it," said Molfetta, who went on to tell jurors that by giving Johnson a life sentence "you are not excusing anything, feeling compassion for him or minimizing anything he's done."

The jury is now deciding Johnson's fate.

(Don't forget to see tomorrow's more indepth story about the trial in OC Weekly.)

--R. Scott Moxley

Billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III is the co-founder of Irvine computer chip powerhouse Broadcom, but judging from his indictment on drug distribution and securities fraud charges that was unsealed Thursday, he'd rather be a hard-partying rock star.

According to the indictment, Nicholas was at Woodstock, maaan. Not the good Woodstock, but the shitty Woodstock '99, the one that ended in a fiery riot. What was he doing there? The indictment says Nicholas gave a technology executive ecstasy without the executive's knowledge. Dude!

Then there are the other allegations in the indictment. A secret underground warehouse in Laguna Niguel! Crazy meth and ecstacy parties with prostitutes! And our favorite alleged factoid, a 2001 incident where Nicholas smoked so much marijuana during a flight on a private jet between OC and Las Vegas that the pilot had to put on an oxygen mask.(Something tells me there's a Kottonmouth Kings connection someplace--just a feeling.)

Dude, that's so awesome!

And in yesterday's LA Times, we learned of a video that was posted to YouTube last summer--where the hell were we?--purporting to show Nicholas snorting lines of some sort of substance. Prosecutors say the substance is "illegal drugs," and the video was taken by hidden cameras in Nicholas' bedroom.

Makes us wonder what other scenes Nicholas may have shot in his bedroom. Christ, haven't people learned anything from Nixon? And how could Nicholas, if the allegations are proved true, be so much of an idiot that he apparently forgot his own paranoia regarding recorded evidence? As Nicholas himself told the Weekly's Dave Wielenga in this July 2004 cover profile:

When you have $2 billion, you’re a walking target for frivolous lawsuits. Any record of anything you say—on tape or on paper—has the potential of ending up as evidence in a courtroom."

Late this afternoon, the District Attorney's press office notified reporters that Tony Rackauckas will publicly address the controversial John Chamberlain jail murder on Friday morning. Prosecutors and the grand jury investigated the killing, but the results have not yet been made public. Rackauckas is expected to announce multiple indictments. Last week, two high-ranking assistant sheriffs, Jo Ann Galisky and Steve Bishop, quit after officials confronted them with their related actions. Stay tuned.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

In an opinion issued today, a California Court of Appeal ruled that Orange County prosecutors overstepped their authority to seek tough penalties against hoodlums who violate court-imposed anti-gang injunctions.

In January 2007, Sixto Moreno and Anthony Lopez—two Santa Nita gang members—drank beer in a vehicle parked in a residential driveway after 10 p.m. and in an area of Santa Ana supposedly controlled by a court order that limits gang activity. Police arrested the men for violating the injunction.

Violation of a court order is commonly considered a misdemeanor, but District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' deputies convinced a grand jury to indict Moreno, 28, and Lopez, 42, on three felony counts for the conduct. The key to his logic? The public demands stiffer penalties against violent gang members. If found guilty, the pair could have faced years in prison.

The felony charges "voice the intent of the people that gang-related crimes receive enhanced punishment," Rackauckas' office argued in front of Presiding Justice David G. Sills and Justices William F. Rylaarsdam and Kathleen O'Leary.

But it was Orange County Assistant Public Defender Martin F. Schwarz who won the day. He got the court to issue a pretrial ruling that concludes the DA had "criminalized" what the justices said were "otherwise innocuous acts": sitting in a lawfully parked car while consuming alcoholic beverages. The impact of the opinion written by Sills? Prosecutors can only file misdemeanor charges against gang members accused of being in contempt of a court's injunction.

"This is a huge blow to law enforcement," one veteran cop told the Weekly. "It knocks the teeth out of our ability to keep gangsters from dominating certain high-crime-rate areas."

In July 2006, Rackauckas, area politicians and local police gang units celebrated the injunction, issued by Superior Court Judge Daniel Didier, as a necessary tool to restore order where Santa Nita ruled over residents with fear and violence. The order named 137 gangsters (many of them teenagers) and called for mandatory neighborhood curfews, prohibitions against gang associations or violent activities, and a ban on gang-related clothing. The injunction zone is Harbor Boulevard to the Santa Ana River, and from Trask Avenue in Garden Grove to West McFadden Street in Santa Ana.

At the time of Didier's order, Deputy Alternate Defender Tony Ufland predicted that "it enjoins people from doing things that are completely legal . . . things like wearing certain colors, drinking in places where it is legal to drink, associating with people of your choosing. They are looking for a brass ring and going well beyond what the law says is constitutional in this injunction."

Ufland: candidate for soothsayer of the year?

But happy gangsters, don't order that new tattoo or fire your Glocks into the sky yet. Rackauckas, a gangster as a teen, isn't accepting the decision as final. "We're definitely asking the Supreme Court to review this," he said.

(See Anthony Lopez v The Superior Court of Orange County, G03925.)

—R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

Mike Schroeder will jump out of bed this morning in Corona del Mar, neatly hang his Darth Vader pajamas in the closet, shower, kneel at his USC football altar and don an expensive, natty suit befitting Orange County’s leading Republican strategist-slash-chiropractic insurance company king.

It’s a big day in Schroederdom. He’ll drive his jumbo-sized, black Hummer to the state court of appeal (COA) in Santa Ana in the hopes of teaching a onetime disciple a lesson: Don’t Mess with Mike. Schroeder—consigliere to both District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Michael S. Carona—wants the justices to toss First District Republican Supervisor Janet Nguyen from office.

Not gonna bore you with technical election junk, but Schroeder claims the Registrar of Voters certified the wrong Nguyen as the winner (by just three votes) in last February’s special election. He says the Republican who finished second, Trung Nguyen, should be seated. Surely coincidentally to the merits of the case, Trung is, to put it bluntly, Schroeder’s boy. Janet, on the other hand, has had the audacity to show occasional independence from local GOP bosses like Schroeder.

But there’s more at play here than petty, inside political baseball. If the COA tosses Janet’s election, Schroeder—the reigning mastermind of OC insider games—will be in excellent position when his pal—the federally indicted Carona—leaves office prematurely. How? In his corner, he’d have three likely votes on the board of supes: Trung Nguyen, Pat Bates and Bill Campbell. That board majority gives Schroeder key influence over who will complete the remainder of Carona’s term at the county’s most powerful government agency.

So if you see Schroeder running excitedly into the COA building on Spurgeon this morning, it's not a pit stop. It's not even to distribute Mitt Romney For Prez brochures. Half of his law enforcement empire is at stake.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

• Sheriff's Lawyer Pal Going to the Slammer: Somehow defense attorney Joe Cavallo—indicted Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s longtime drinking buddy—was able to operate a bail bonds scheme inside Carona’s jail. Hmmm. Wonder how that happened. Any ideas Mikey? Anyhow, yesterday Cavallo (pictured) became the latest in a series of Carona associates to win incarceration. Superior Court Judge Carla M. Singer ordered him to serve six months in jail, which—given his creativity—could prove profitable in the long run. But the 52-year-old won’t have to surrender until March.

  Cavallo became famous in this publication because of his vicious performance defending the Haidl Three, which included Gregory Scott Haidl—the son of Carona’s dirty Assistant Sheriff Don Haidl. (The elder Haidl has acknowledged to federal prosecutors that he’s a crook too.) The three men filmed themselves raping an unconscious 16-year-old girl on a Newport Beach pool table. Before they finished, they laughed as they repeatedly plunged a Snapple bottle, lit cigarette, apple juice can and pool cue into the victim’s vagina and rectum. Cavallo argued in court that the girl was a “slut” and should have been charged with raping the Haidl Three.

  Scorecard: Carona (pictured with a mob-tied contributor at a Newport Beach bar) indicted after an FBI investigation? Check. Carona’s wife indicted? Check. Carona’s top mistress indicted? Check. Carona pal nailed for illegal acts? Check. Carona’s two handpicked assistant sheriff’s convicted of public corruption? Check. Carona's Mafia-tied campaign contributor and party pal convicted? Check.

  Wonder who in Calamity Mike’s clan could be next…



• Rice in China? James Rice was born in Newport Beach, grew up in Costa Mesa, headed the Young Republicans at UCLA in the late 80s, graduated and with nothing but $100 moved to China to teach English. This weekend, the 42-year-old is featured by Don Lee in the LA Times. Why? Not because he speaks fluent Mandarin, commutes between China and California every few weeks and attends a “predominantly black West Angeles Church of God in Christ on Crenshaw Boulevard.” Tyson Foods Inc. uses Rice to sell $200 million worth of chicken annually to communist China. In recent Chinese product scandals, Rice played diplomat between Chinese leaders and the American government, according to Lee who writes from Shanghai.


• Where the hell is Adolf when you need him? This is not a good time to be a white supremacist in OC. Two of their boys are facing one way trips to San Quentin’s death row. On Friday, prosecutor Ebrahim Baytieh announced that he will seek the ultimate punishment against Billy Joe Johnson, the Costa Mesa product who has been featured in this publication. Earlier this year, Johnson—already a convicted killer for ambushing a young man in Huntington Beach with a hammer—claimed on the witness stand that he also executed a fellow member of Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squad. It’s believed in prosecution circles that Johnson made the admission in hopes of blocking convictions against two of his PENI pals in the case. Didn’t work. Jacob Rump and Michael Lamb got roasted. Lamb faces a second DP trial after one jury deadlocked on the issue. Rump is a lifer.

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

In preparation for an upcoming corruption story, I’ve been reviewing dozens of files I’ve maintained for nine years on Sheriff Michael S. Carona (pictured at a Newport Beach bar celebrating with Rick Rizzolo, a convicted felon tied to the Chicago Mafia and a man who thought so much of our sheriff he contributed to his re-election campaign).

This afternoon I re-discovered a hilarious old newspaper clip. Of course, it’s from the Register. The setting for the article is Carona’s January 1999 post-inauguration fundraiser at the Westin Hotel in Costa Mesa. Correa, a Democratic state assemblyman at the time, told the paper he was proud to attend the Republican sheriff’s event for at least two reasons: “Latino pride” and “because [Carona’s] a good man.”

Nice job, Lou.

Carona, who has been indicted by the FBI on corruption charges that he used his public office to receive bribes and obstruct justice, isn’t a Latino. Mike Carona is of Italian heritage. And as for the “good man” line . . . well . . . Lou, you blew that too didn’t you?

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

Christine Hanley at the Los Angeles Times is reporting late night that Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona (pictured in a Newport Beach bar with convicted felon Rick Rizzolo, a Chicago Mafia associate) "has been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a lengthy investigation into allegations that he misused his office for financial gain."

Larry Welborn and Peggy Lowe at the Orange County Register report tonight that George Jaramillo, Carona's handpicked ex-No. 2 at the department, secretly pleaded guilty in March in the same FBI corruption probe.

I could say, "I told you so," but I've just finished an 18-hour day of work. More on this historic news tomorrow.

Here are a few reminders that this media outlet told you what you needed to know first about Carona, recently named by the Weekly as one of the "scariest" people in OC:

*Dirty, Stupid or Both: Never mind the photo, Sheriff Carona denies Mafia ties

*Calamity Mike: X-rated recording is latest blunder for OC sheriff

*Blazing Saddles: Sheriff Carona takes his posse on a European tour

*Department of Homeland Stupidity: Master of Disasters Mike Carona breached secret anti-terrorism plans

*Sex, Bribes and Jailhouse Scams: Sheriff Carona working overtime to stop reports he's a serial adulterer

*Internal Affairs: Sheriff Mike Carona and his top deputy planned a dynasty but sex and money got in the way.

*Sheriff Funny Guy: Carona’s ironic reign

*Carona Cover-Up: Sealed records show sheriff's complicity in scandal

*Fourth Sheriff Carona Pal Convicted of Crimes

*Sheriff Con: Carona lied about his complicity in pot-bust scandal

*It's Saturday Night: Do You Know Who Our Sheriff is Hugging?

*Carona Lite

-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly / Orange County Weekly

The folks over at the Register are doing a fine job reporting on the massive Orange County arson fire that’s threatening to keep firefighters at work for another two days as winds approaching hurricane force continue to pound the region. Residents in Foothill Ranch are the latest to see their neighborhood in the path of a fire that’s consumed 8,800 acres in less than 18 hours. Reg reporters say that Orange County Fire Authority officials found three ignition points at Santiago Canyon Road near Lake Irvine. The arsonist must be sadistically thrilled. At one point last night, three miles of brush burned in 30 minutes, according to the paper. OC state Assemblyman Todd Spitzer is frustrated that more helicopter resources haven’t been available to fight the blaze. (Perhaps the taxpayer-funded pilots are busy whisking around Sheriff Michael S. Carona and some woman to a mountain site or simply spying on citizens again.) The Associated Press reported this afternoon that 1,000 inmates at the James Musick Facility were evacuated because of heavy smoke. Residents who've been displaced are staying in shelters. Anyone who knows the identity of the turd who committed this crime should call 800-540-8282.
-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

Last year, an Orange County jury convicted three young men for the 2002 videotaped rape and molestation of an unconscious 16-year-old girl on a pool table in a Newport Beach garage. The case made national headlines not just because the drunk men laughed as they repeatedly shoved a Snapple bottle, apple-juice can, lit cigarette and a pool cue in both of the girl's lower orifices, but because one of the defendants was the son to an assistant Orange County sheriff, Don Haidl.

If Haidl also happens to be exceptionally wealthy (via selling used government cars at auction), then he was more than a bit jaded. He spent millions to humiliate the victim. Private detectives tailed her, dug through her family's trash cans, filmed her day and night, illegally released her personal medical records, and hired a defense lawyer who called her "a slut" in court, claimed that she raped the three men (Gregory Scott Haidl, Keith James Spann and Kyle Joseph Nachreiner) and demanded her arrest. (The nastiness prompted me to write many stories, but in the end, there was this one.)

Thanks to the work of the Orange County district attorney's office (in particular, Chuck Middleton, Brian Gurwitz and Susan Kang Schroeder), which overcame a 13-attorney defense onslaught and won convictions after a second trial, on March 10, 2006, Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno sentenced the weeping defendants to six-year prison terms.

Where are they now?

• Gregory Scott Haidl, 22, lives with 4,889 other inmates at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Fresno County.

• Kyle Joseph Nachreiner, 23, joins 3,700 other men who make their home inside Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe.

• Keith James Spann, 23, resides at Norco State Prison in Riverside County.

• Not Sure Why His Head Continued to Slam Into My Baton: Norberto Santana, Jr. at the Register reports that an unidentified “28-year-old inmate at the Orange County jail died Friday after deputies used a taser gun to subdue him.” Damon Micalizzi, the taxpayer-paid flack assigned to get Sheriff Michael S. Carona good ink, claimed, “Deputies tried to do what they could to remove him from other inmates. A confrontation ensued, a taser was deployed and then he was taken to the nursing station for examination. At some point, he stopped breathing. Emergency life-saving procedures were taken and paramedics were summoned.” Okay, so what if Micalizzi’s summary sounds well-rehearsed? His words are calm and thorough, right? And everyone appreciates that OC jail deputies wouldn’t spin events to their own advantage, tell half truths, lie or ever--ever--use excessive force. Well, I'm sure we can rely on the autopsy for clues about how much the dead guy was beaten. Wait. What did you say? Oh, yeah. Carona is the coroner too.
• Fingering OC: No need to buy the Saturday Times. The paper continues its abuse of its Orange County readers by placing only one OC related story in its online “Orange County: local news” section this morning. The other articles in the section involve a Los Angeles politician, a Los Angeles police raid, a Los Angeles hospital mess, a Los Angeles jail and “New San Diego facility cares for war’s worst wounded.” Once again, they had an OC story, Gil Reza’s report on an OC defense attorney’s role in a bail bond scam, but incredibly didn’t put it in the OC news section. No worries. It’s a pretty good Register today.
• They’re Dying for NOTHING: Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, coalition commander in 2003 and 2004, admitted Friday that the Iraq war is “a nightmare with no end in sight,” and blamed politicians in both major political parties for wasting the lives of American soldiers in a “lust for power.” According to CNN this morning, Sanchez said, "After more than four years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism." He also noted that the “intractable situation” is the result of “neglect and incompetence” in the George W. Bush administration. As of October 11, the Department of Defense reports 3,826 American dead. The month-old statistic for the number of American wounded was 27,753. Hey, you know the difference for us between now and next month in Iraq? Nothing but another 100 of our soldiers dead and 700 more wounded.
• The Benefits of Global Warming? The Register editorial boys slammed the Nobel Peace Prize going to former Vice President Al Gore for “advancing scary half-truths, flat-out errors and politically inspired schemes about global warming.” Their main evidence in the column? Well, it could be a first. They went all the way to Europe to find a judge there who thinks Gore’s documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, is “alarmism and exaggeration.” I was under the impression the political Right didn’t like Europe or judges. How much do the Reg boys disagree with Gore? According to them, “Mr. Gore completely ignores the benefits of a warming climate.”
• Running of the Bull . . . In Long Beach! KCBS Channel 2 in LA is reporting that a Long Beach probation officer who allegedly “ran nude down a street, head-butting cars and resisting arrest” has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from the September event. Jermaine Marcus Walton, 31, is set to return to court in November. He faces numerous felony and misdemeanor counts. (Nope. That's Britney Spears in the photo. Thought it adequately represented public meltdowns.)
• Little Saigon Island: For an estimated 250,000 Vietnamese fleeing harsh communist conditions in their own country during the 1970s and 80s, the island of Pulau Bidong was the first stop on the path to freedom. This week a newspaper in Malaysia reported that the local government there is “beautifying and conserving” the former camp in hopes of enticing Vietnamese tourists. (It’s also a great spot for snorkeling and diving, the locals say.) So far 500 Vietnamese boat people have returned but hundreds more are expected in coming months.
• Major Drug Bust: Laguna Beach police issued a press release about a Thursday raid where they found 30 weapons--including shotguns, handguns, martial arts weaponry, a stun gun as well as night-vision equipment and a bullet-proof vest, according to the Coastline Pilot. I’m not sure what’s illegal about any of that, but police also claim they recovered “under one ounce of marijuana and one marijuana plant” at the residence. Wow-wee! That must have been one huge plant. The paper claims police arrested Todd Colley, 26, in the case. He’s free on $45,000 bail.
• Question of the Day: Can Orange County's own Mark Sanchez lead the USC Trojans back to glory with a win today over Arizona? The Mission Viejo native and third-year sophomore takes over quarterback duties because John Wilkes Booth is injured (broken finger) and sucked in last week's loss to Stanford, a 41-point underdog. "I think I'm ready for it," Sanchez told the Times.

  Kickoff is set for 12:30 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Catch the game on Channel 7 or 710 on your AM dial.

Joseph G. Cavallo grew up poor in tough New Jersey neighborhoods, graduated from law school, made himself nationally famous as a California criminal-defense lawyer who earned millions of dollars. He owns an Orange County mansion, a small Caribbean island and a fleet of luxury cars Mike Tyson would envy.

But today, Cavallo—recognized for his passionate defense of gang rapist Gregory Scott Haidl—hit bottom again. During a 10-minute court hearing with 13 members of the news media present (including Los Angeles television and radio stations), the 52-year-old acknowledged that he is guilty of three grand-jury charges involving an illegal bail-bonds conspiracy. The crime spree was lucrative. At one point, Cavallo (pictured with Sheriff Carona and his wife) made a $50,000 payment by check to one of his co-conspirators.

“Yes,” a well-tanned, solemn Cavallo answered repeatedly to a series of questions by Superior Court Judge Carla M. Singer and Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh. They wanted Cavallo’s guarantees that he’d voluntarily made the guilty pleas and understood the potential consequences.

The maximum sentence possible for Cavallo is three years and eight months in prison. He could also lose his law license temporarily. Singer ordered a probation department report and recommendation on punishment. Jorge Andres Castro of Aliso Viejo and Alejandro de Jesus Cruz of Miami had already pleaded guilty and were sentenced to four months in jail. Cavallo, the mastermind of the crimes, is scheduled to learn his fate on Dec. 14.

Less than 10 feet away sat Susan Kang Schroeder, the district attorney’s media spokesman and Cavallo’s verbal sparing partner during the intense Haidl saga that spanned three years and ended with the three defendants going to prison for videotaping themselves rape and molest a minor on a pool table with a pool stick, apple-juice can, lit cigarette and Snapple bottle. It’s safe to report that the two strong-willed individuals don’t like each other. Perhaps in celebration of today’s news, Schroeder wore red. Cavallo cringed when she entered the courtroom. He asked me not to print his comment.

At a press conference afterward, John Barnett—Cavallo’s attorney—was blunt. “He’s guilty,” he said. But reporters wanted more, especially the answer to why Barnett had dropped his original claim from two years ago that Cavallo was the victim of vindictive prosecutors angry they’d lost a first trial conviction of the Haidl 3. “He said he is guilty,” Barnett replied again.

I’m sure it’s meaningless, but Cavallo is the second man convicted of felonies after a falling out over money, women and power with Sheriff Michael S. Carona. George Jaramillo (pictured with the sheriff), Carona’s former handpicked No. 2 at the department and a Cavallo pal, is currently serving a jail sentence after a bribery and misuse of public office investigation. Cavallo and Carona were longtime camping and drinking buddies.

The missing man from today's news is certainly Carona. Honest bail-bonds agents had complained to the sheriff for years that someone teamed up with jail deputies inside the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and was running a bail-bonds scam in his jails. Carona did nothing and, when pressed, claimed he’d checked but didn’t find any evidence of a scam.

Mob-tied, Las Vegas titty-bar owner Rick Rizzolo (pictured with his arm around a smiling Carona inside a Newport Beach bar) and con artist Joseph Medawar—two other men Carona made associates—are now serving federal prison sentences. Indeed, Rizzolo--whom FBI agents have recorded dining with La Cosa Nostra hitmen and bosses--was a campaign contributor to our sheriff until the local media exposed the tie.

Earlier this year, a well-respected international police organization voted to block access by Carona and the Orange County Sheriff's Department to its organized-crime databases. The reason? Carona's documented ties to criminals.

Mike Schroeder, husband of Susan Kang Schroeder and a high-powered Republican consultant to both Carona and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, claims "nobody credible" thinks there are legitimate questions about Carona's ethics.

Earlier this month, a federal judge refused the sheriff's demand to toss a lawsuit by ex-Lt. Bill Hunt, an underling essentially fired after daring to challenge Carona in the last election. His firing offense? Believing that he enjoyed 1st Amendment constitutional rights, Hunt mentioned the scandals.
-- R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly

According to police, James Bruno Rocha, 56, pedaled a bicycle 25 miles from Santa Ana to the Wells Fargo on Rancho Santa Margarita this morning before lunch, cased the joint in one outfit and returned 10 minutes later dressed as a construction worker.

The robbery might have worked but a teller thought Rocha’s first visit was suspicious and put the bank on alert. Ten minutes later, police say, the bandit re-entered the bank, held up a teller and walked into the waiting arms of two Brinks armored truck guards.

Rocha had planned to escape with the loot on a bicycle.

Before deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrived, Rocha wrote an apology note to the teller. He said he hoped he hadn’t frightened her. Touching.

Rocha is a fugitive on a felony theft case from June. In 2002, he was convicted of receiving stolen property, possession of narcotics and destorying evidence. He won a two-year prison sentence that apparently didn’t make a lasting impression. Using a different name, Gilbert Cervantes, Rocha also has drug convictions.

This afternoon Superior Court Judge William Froeberg sentenced convicted killer Jacob Rump, a 30-year-old Orange County gangster, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a 2002 ambush murder in Anaheim. Details about the case involving Rump (pictured), who is a member of Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squad, can be found here, here and here. Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh also won a conviction against Rump's white supremacist cohort, 32-year-old Michael Allen Lamb, but a jury could not agree on Baytieh's death penalty request. The prosecutor will ask another jury next year to give Lamb a one-way ticket to California's notorious San Quentin State Prison.

A violent gangster--who allegedly sought to intimidate witnesses and bragged to his buddies that he "always wins"--is smiling tonight. He won. Over the incredulous cries of prosecutors, an Orange County judge declared that Paul Javier Martinez (pictured) didn't receive a fair trial.

The decison by Judge Patrick Donahue voids a jury's April 2006 guilty verdicts against the 30-year-old member of the Los Angeles-based 18th Street gang. After a month-long trial, jurors believed that Martinez had attempted to murder an unarmed, innocent man in a Mission Viejo bar during a temper tantrum.

But that conviction, which would have carried stiff prison punishment, is now gone. Donahue, a former prosecutor who took more than 17 months to act, has called for a new trial in November.

The Orange County District Attorney's office wasn't happy with the ruling. "We obviously disagree with Judge Donahue's decision," said Deputy DA Susan Kang Schroeder. "We'll be weighing our options about what to do next."

Prosecutors could ask the state court of appeal to reverse Donahue and reinstate the jury's findings against Martinez, a convicted felon from another violent case in Ventura County. Schroeder says District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and his top aides will make a decision in coming weeks.

In August, the OC Weekly revealed that Donahue was on the verge of taking the drastic action because two men, both gangsters, should not have been ordered out of the courtroom during closing arguments in the Martinez trial. A bailiff and a veteran prosecution investigator took the action after jail deputies intercepted a message from a locked-up Martinez, who seemingly wanted to intimidate witnesses if not jurors.

Bu the officers hadn't asked permission from Donahue, who was clearly unnerved by their actions. After the incident, the judge fired his bailiff. A defense attorney for Martinez called the eviction an "“illegal, premeditated . . . egregious" act of prosecutorial misconduct and, yet, waited to see the outcome before seeking a mistrial. Numerous courthouse observers thought that the officers had acted properly given the circumstances.

The Orange County District Attorney's office announced late this afternoon that rapper Snoop Dogg has pleaded guilty to knowingly carrying a dangerous weapon into John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana a year ago.

The 35-year-old international celebrity, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, was sentenced to three years probation plus 160 hours of community service. He must also pay $10,000 to the charity Right Trak, according to prosecutors.

DA officials say they blocked the rap singer from completing any community service work with groups involved with kids, gangs or football. He's often been seen standing on the USC football team's sideline during games.

The case began when Snoop Dogg attempted to board a flight in OC with two bodyguards, but was carrying a 20-inch collapsible baton in a laptop case. He claimed the weapon was only a tool for a video he planned to film. Sheriff's Deputies didn't care.

• Welcome to the Real IC: We should change the name of this place to Irony County. Latest reason? Peggy Lowe, a sleuth at the Register, reports today that during the very same meeting that the Orange County Board of Supervisors talked about slicing into generous pensions for sheriff’s deputies they spiked their own. Yes, the all-Republican board so often yelling about looming pension funding disasters increased the taxpayer contribution to their own retirement plans from six percent to eight percent. Lowe also found that the supes “nearly doubled the number of annual leave hours they may cash in for a salary jump and increased their monthly car stipend to $765.” Larry Yellin, president of the Orange County Attorney’s Association and a damn fine prosecutor to boot, told the Reg: “It's the height of hypocrisy to carry a banner of pension reform while quietly spiking your own pension.” County CEO Tom Mauk said his bosses needed a more lucrative package because his bosses had recently sweetened pay and perks for county executives and—I swear to God I’m not making this up—the supes have to have a “higher category of compensation” than the execs. Hey, these people are going to continue to rob taxpayers blind because the public isn’t paying attention.
• Please get some effective help now: The Daily Pilot reports that Kurt Eric Reiter allegedly fell asleep intoxicated behind the wheel of his Toyota SUV at about 8 a.m., jumped a curb into a Newport Beach elementary school area and crashed into a tree this week. The paper claims that if the crash had happened minutes earlier, kids could have been injured or killed. They also noted that Reiter has been convicted of possession of narcotics and multiple traffic violations. What they left out was that the 44-year-old has three drug convictions, about a dozen traffic violations including exceeding 100 mph and has been locked up for grand theft. With the help of Costa Mesa criminal defense lawyer Paul S. Meyer, Reiter’s often received light punishment if anything. Your honors, what is it going to be this time if he's found guilty again?
• More Lost in OC: Top five Times stories in the paper’s online Orange County news section: Los Angeles is still the reigning champ of traffic delays, (story listed twice); Google spokesman is pushing a project in San Francisco; L.A. Unified “can’t figure out the math on employee paychecks"; and Schwarzenegger seeks funds for dam projects in the Bay Area, Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. I’m not saying each isn’t a good story. But this embarrassing trend says the Times is okay with OC’s 3 million residents turning elsewhere for local news.
• Bootlicker Likes Police Tool: Register columnist Gordon Dillow writes today that—quick: would it be gung-ho pro-police or gung-ho pro-soldier?—that citizens have only themselves to blame if they get in the way of a lethal police Taser. Background: Yesterday, sheriff’s deputies unknowingly shot Tasers into a 15-year-old autistic kid darting into traffic. The event prompted some controversy around the question of excessive force claimed by the kid’s mother. Dillow, who probably had been working on a column about the evils of Miranda warnings, quickly dropped the hot, stiff Glock he was fondling at his desk and called—drum roll—a police officer to find out if police believed police had overreacted. Cop to Gordo: Nope. Gordo to his readers: Nope. See how the facts line up so easily? Anyhow, Bootlicker ended his column with his usual cowboy code: “Statistics make it pretty clear that Tasers are not the instruments of death that they're often portrayed to be. And if you get high on dangerous drugs and get in a fight with the cops and get Taser-ed and then die, it almost certainly wasn't the Taser that killed you. Instead, through your own reckless behavior, you managed to kill yourself.” Ok, Bootlicker. You've done your deed for the day. Go back to the Glock.
• OC Waitress Finishes Second on Big Brother: The CBS reality series Big Brother 8 ended last night with 21-year-old Huntington Beach waitress Daniele Donato finishing second to her father, LA night club manager Dick Donato for the $500,000 grand prize. Other contestants preferred Dick, 44, to the daughter even though he was a nightmare to live with during the 70 some days of filming. Daniele’s big contribution to the show was an on-the-air romance with Nick Starcevic, a former European League professional football player considered the stud on the show.

On Monday, Orange County conservative activists lost the fight to block liberal law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky from becoming the first UC Irvine law school dean. But this morning must feel better. The United States Attorney's Office based in Los Angeles announced that it has won a guilty plea from William S. Lerach, a plaintiff's lawyer who successfully sued corporate America in class-action lawsuits.

Lerach, a 61-year-old Rancho Santa Fe resident and major campaign contributor to Democrats, now acknowledges that he obstructed justice and made false statements under oath to federal judges throughout the United States. Thom Mrozek, a government spokesman, said that Lerach must forfeit $7.75 million, pay a $250,000 fine and, depending on a judge's mood, face up to two years in a federal prison.

Federal prosecutors with assistance from postal inspectors and the IRS Criminal Division allege that Lerach (pictured) and his cohorts (some of whom haven't gone to trial) organized a kickback scheme in class-action and shareholder derivative-action lawsuits. The feds say Lerach's old firm, Milberg Weiss, took more than $200 million in fees from these types of lawsuits in the last two decades.

Lerach, literally despised in Orange County business circles, frequently clashed with Newport Beach Republican politician Christopher Cox, who now serves as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jeffrey Ray Nielsen, a former Washington, D.C. aide to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (pictured) and OC GOP boss Scott Baugh, was charged Thursday with 10 additional felonies in a second man-boy sex case, according to court records obtained by the Weekly.

Nielsen already faces pedophile-related charges for allegedly having an intense sexual affair with a Westminster, CA high school freshman he met in a gay sex chat room.

The new case involves a Virginia boy featured in a 2006 Weekly cover story that published copies of a series of passionate love letters from Nielsen. That boy says that while he was in the 7th grade Nielsen, who rented a room in the boy's home, repeatedly used him for sex in the 1990s. The new charges stem from this person's claim that Nielsen also molested him during a trip to Orange County, according to prosecutors. Among the witnesses in the Virginia case is an FBI agent.

Judge Luis A. Rodriguez issued a $100,000 arrest warrant for Nielsen on Thursday.

Earlier this year, a jury deadlocked in the Westminster case after several blunders by the DA's office and an aggressive performance by Nielsen defense attorney Paul S. Meyer. A retrial is set to begin within weeks. DA Tony Rackauckas has assigned a new prosecutor to the case.

Nielsen claims he privately met the California boy several times only to mentor him outside the presence of his mother, who was at work during several of the daytime encounters.

For background on Nielsen, go here ("NAMBLA Fantasy") and here ("Boy Crazy").

Though Rohrabacher hired Nielsen, 36, to serve him in the nation's capital for years, the Huntington Beach/Long Beach congressman angrily claims he doesn't know Nielsen. Baugh was one of Nielsen's best friends and had insisted that a prominent national law firm hire his pal before news of the Westminster high school case.

Nielsen's gruff father, Ben, is a former Republican mayor of Fountain Valley, CA.

After his arrest, Nielsen came out of the closet and has sought positive public relations by informing the media that he worked for a save-the-puppies campaign following Hurricane Katrina. The Orange County Register carried the publicity stunt without telling its readers that Nielsen faced child molestation charges.

A police search of his Ladera Ranch home recovered several hundred graphic images of man-boy and boy-boy sex on his computers.

In May, Nielsen pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs. A judge sentenced him to probation for three years, fined him and ordered him to attend alcohol abuse classes.

At a hearing this morning in Newport Beach, prosecutors notified Nielsen of the new charges. He was not taken into custody. A judge ordered him back on October 12.

From the Dec. 23, 1993, issue of Roll Call magazine in Washington, D.C.:

Folks seem to have trouble getting Sen. Larry Craig's (R-Idaho) name right. Things started to go bad for Craig back in June, when he not-so-inadvertently referred to President Clinton in a floor speech as President Carter. The next week, Craig received a letter from the Drug Enforcement Administration addressed to "Sen. Mary Kraig."

But perhaps it wasn't just the federal bureaucracy that was wise to Craig's double life as conservative-Bible-thumper-Republican-congressman and airport-bathroom-sex-slut.

Did the heavens know too?

Here was the senator's published horoscope for Monday, June 11, 2007--the day Craig tried to commit sex acts with an undercover male police officer in a Minnesota airport bathroom:

If a dark cloud has been hovering over a personal relationship, it may be time to reevaluate. Cancerians desire respect at all times. In fact, they demand it. Look closely, and make sure that you're not repeating a mistake. Is it a pattern of self-destruction? Take the steps to rectify the situation.

Tell me that's not eerie.

While serving in the House in the 1980s, Craig (who denied persistent gay sex rumors for 30 years) was pals with the nation's then biggest anti-gay congressman: Robert K. Dornan from Garden Grove.

Bob, any insight into this fella?

Matt Coker, our beloved ex-colleague who is now editor at the Sacramento News & Review, couldn't hide his contempt for MTV's world-(in)famous Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. I'd swear his right eye would uncontrollably twitch at the mention of it.

The last season of MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County really sucked. I'd rather freebase crack than watch those petty, talentless-on-the-verge-of-incarceration juveniles. Did the show have to feature people who grunt, smirk or whine at every situation?

Now, the producers have moved the show slightly north to Newport Harbor High. As a crime reporter, I know this means one thing: increased business.

Newport Beach is where Gregory Scott Haidl (nincompoop son of a nincompoop now-ex-Orange County assistant sheriff) and two pals video taped themselves gang raping a 16-year-old girl they'd gotten drunk and high in July 2002. After the girl passed out, they repeatedly shoved an apple-juice can, Snapple bottle, lit cigarette and a pool stick into her lower orifices—laughing, high-fiving, dancing as they filmed. They prized the 21-minute trophy, showing it to buddies before losing it. Someone gave the video to police.

Thanks to Daddy Haidl's large fortune (used government car sales; pal of Sheriff Michael S. Carona), the three defendants fought prosecutors for more than three years. The girl had raped them, they claimed.

Don't laugh. CBS' 48 Hours bought their bull. And then tried to sell it to the nation. Sadly, they've never apologized for their incompetence.

Thanks to prosecutor Chuck Middleton, a jury eventually convicted the trio. In hopes of a soft punishment like probation, the rapists finally wept and admitted their nasty crimes. It didn't work. They live in prison now. Read a flashback here.

That's one ugly backdrop to the new season.

MTV's commercial for the upcoming series is here.

KNBC is reporting today that Orange County Republican Congressman Ed Royce thinks the Japanese government hasn't adequately apologized for converting 200,000 Asian women into sex slaves — or "comfort women" — for its soldiers during World War II. Though Japan's prime minister has already apologized, Royce wants more.

The LA-based television station reports that the Fullerton congressman has introduced House Resolution 121, which advises the prime minister to apologize once more in front of his nation's legislature, and then win approval of the sentiment from that nation's cabinet officers. Congress could take a break from fighting over Iraq and vote on the resolution by the end of July.

At lunch today, I overheard a conversation between some Japanese men. They might have been organizing a plan to get the U.S. cabinet to apologize to the world for George W. Bush. But they didn't appear to be hopeful.

A federal judge in San Diego removed Mark Geragos from a sensational bribery case yesterday because the (in)famous Orange County-based defense lawyer refused to agree to a federal background check before receiving classified national-security-related data.

Geragos—who worked for convicted wife-and-baby-killer Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder—was attempting to represent defense contractor Brent Wilkes in a bribery case involving tearful, ex-Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

Along with Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, a childhood friend of Wilkes and formerly the third-highest official in the CIA, the two are charged with numerous counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering relating to the bribery scandal that brought down Cunningham.

The San Diego paper reported that Geragos may ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the judges' order.

For decades, Cunningham was a highly praised conservative—especially among Orange County Republicans—before he admitted in 2005 he was a crooked politician who took millions of dollars in bribes on military matters.

Federal investigators say Cunningham secretly accepted more than $2.5 million from defense contractors who wanted favors from his lofty, arrogant position as a know-it-all Bible-thumping ex-soldier.

Yes, the famous theme park calls itself the "Happiest Place on Earth" and countless kids and adults love the place with good reason, but there's a dark side to the Disneyland area.

As a public service for park visitors please remember that the streets around Disneyland are crime magnets.

If you don't believe it, consider a summary of only reported Anaheim crime for the week leading up to July 3:

Stolen vehicles ..................................................... 26
Prostitution ............................................................ 3
Drunk driving arrests ............................................. 24
Identity thefts ........................................................ 8
Drug busts ............................................................. 7
Grand thefts ........................................................... 18
Shootings, hit and runs, overdoses and assaults ........ 4

White supremacists Michael Lamb and Jason Rump must have sighed in relief this afternoon. Despite a week of deliberations following their nine-week trial, the panel hasn't been able to reach unanimous verdicts on the murder and attempted-murder counts.

But at lunchtime today, jurors announced they had found the Public Enemy Number One (PENI) Death Squard hoodlums guilty of street terrorism and possession of a firearm by a felon. Lamb was also convicted of conspiracy to commit a crime.

One juror asked to be dismissed for medical reasons. Later today, Superior Court Judge William Froeberg is expected to formally call an alternate juror into the deliberations.

If convicted of murder, Lamb faces the death penalty for the 2002 excution-style slaying of a fellow PENI gangster in Anaheim and for the subsequent attempted murder of a police officer.

Rump faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Photo: Michael Lamb

Related stories: See Moxley's White Meat, Please and White Power with a Lisp.

The Orange County district attorney's office reports this afternoon that former El Modena High School principal Brent Bailey has been convicted of masturbating in a Fullerton public park.

Bailey, 56, must have forgotten that weenie whacking in public is considered lewd.

After Bailey changed his plea to guilty today, Superior Court Judge Douglas Hatchimonji sentenced him to three years' informal probation, ordered him to stay away from Brea Dam Trails park and is forcing him to attend the Sex Offenders Solutions program. He won't, however, register as a sex offender. Public masturbation is a misdemeanor.

Police say that on the afternoon of Dec. 27, 2006, Bailey stood on a trail in the crowded park and began touching himself when he saw another man approach. Bailey then removed his penis from his pants and masturbated, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Olivieri. The man, an undercover cop, asked Bailey if he wanted to go to the parking lot with him. No telling what Bailey hoped for during his Christmas break, but he ended up cited and released.

Police officers throughout Orange County have historically conduct undercover operations at public parks. Shopping mall restrooms also seem to attract public masturbation spectacles. You'd be amazed at how many horny men the cops nab.

Our apologies to Oscar Mayer.

My pals over at OC Blog highlighted today an upcoming television program written by conservative Republicans who've gotten PBS to air a program called "Islam vs. Islamists," according to a press release. The show is happily billed as "the film PBS doesn't want you to see," a less than subtle slap at the so-called liberal media.

According to the May 24 edition of the Washington Times, "the often-disquieting 52-minute film explores the struggles of moderate American Muslims at the hands of their radical brethren and gives details about a "parallel" Islamist society that is slowly but surely developing within the U.S. borders. The film was produced by conservative columnist Frank Gaffney Jr., founder of the Center for Security Policy, filmmaker Martyn Burke and Middle East scholar Alex Alexiev."

It's ironic and surely frustrating for Congressman Dana Rohrabacher that a Republican website would tout Gaffney and his program. Until now, OC Weekly is the only local news organization that informed the public about Rohrabacher's close, lengthy relationships with individuals tied to anti-American terrorism. One of our sources? Gaffney.

Here is just one tidbit of the alarming information that Gaffney discovered:

The Center for Security Policy obtained an affidavit from a former staffer for U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) in December 2001. It described a conversation she had had with Khaled Saffuri in the Congressman's offices in which he acknowledged "sponsor[ing] the child of a suicide bomber." Redacted excerpts of the affidavit appeared in Insight Magazine. Shortly thereafter, Rep. Rohrabacher appeared at the Wednesday Group meeting to provide a personal endorsement for Saffuri.

Mr. Taliban indeed.

That I relied on a credible, conservative Republican like Gaffney to help expose Rohrabacher's hypocrisy greatly disturbed local Republicans. If he's not hailed as a hero in the Bush War on Terror, the congressman--who skipped combat duty during the Vietnam War--gets upset.

I know this firsthand. Last year, he chased me down a street--wet hair, carrying a towel, no shoes and enough anger to fill the Rose Bowl. How dare I question his relationships with certain Arabs the FBI considered terrorist associates, he said. The Jews were out to get him and I'd played into their hands, he continued. Yelling loud enough to drive neighbors from their houses, he pointed his finger in my face and declared that he'd personally risked his life for this country!

Then he asked: Where was my appreciation for this fearless warrior?

Ha.

Let's see if the local mainstream media finally acknowledges the truth about this rogue statesman.

My bet: no way.

Nam H. Nguyen is a little stumpy guy with a bad attitude, no expression and a violent streak from here to Ho Chi Minh City. Among his notable accomplishments: murder and mayhem. Nonetheless, beautiful women inexplicably love the nut.

In December 2002, Nguyen (wrongly) suspected that his ex-girlfriend slept with Ryan Truong Cheung, a 19-year-old Fullerton College student. In the wee hours of the morning, he tailed an unsuspecting Cheung from a Huntington Beach hotel parking lot to the Garden Grove freeway where he shot him to death. Then Nguyen attempted to murder Cheung's best friend who was driving in another car. Luckily, bullets didn't strike that person.

A fugitive in 2003, Nguyen was driving on Interstate 10 in Los Angeles when he got into an argument with Linda Tran, his next girlfriend. For some reason, Nguyen threatened to kill Tran's brother. They argued more and Nguyen took out a gun and, while driving, shot the girl in the right thigh. He then drove behind a shopping center in Temple City, sprayed Tran with lighter fluid and set her on fire.

Like the coward he is, Nguyen fled on foot while the girl burned. An ambulance eventually took Tran to Western Medical Center. She was treated for serious burns on her face, neck and breasts.

Skip ahead to this year. The Orange County District Attorney's office had Nguyen, 32, on trial for murder in the highway killing. Who did I see in court each day giving this thug emotional support?

Sadly, it was Tran.

Steven Greenhut at the Register's Orange Punch Liberty Blog attended today's Board of Supervisors meeting and reports that Sheriff Mike Carona lost his bid to kill the concept of a civilian review panel.

Thanks to a surprising last-minute switch by Supervisor Bill Campbell, the vote was 5-0, according to Greenhut.

In 60 days, a detailed proposal will come back to the all-Republican board for consideration. Led by Supervisors John Moorlach and Chris Norby, the board has worked to increase scrutiny of Carona. Campbell had been vocally siding with Carona, who'd lobbied hard on the issue.

There are two versions of what is happening:

1. In late 2006, an inmate was beaten to death over an extended period of time in front of a jail deputy who claimed he didn't see the violence because he was watching television. Supervisors are alarmed at the apparent ineptitude and fear a knee-jerk departmental coverup.

or

2. Moorlach is dishing out cheap political payback against the union that represents deputies who opposed his election. Jail deputies--and their managers--say they can police themselves because honesty is their virtue. The officers also claim that their actions are skeptically reviewed by numerous other law enforcement officers.

The laughter you hear is Greenhut, a conservative who has lead the charge in the media for a review panel and sides with Moorlach. In his report, Greenhut also observed:

The sheriff was prickly, occasionally snide and always defensive, which is disappointing but not surprising. Unfortunately, we don't have a forward-thinking sheriff like they have in Los Angeles County, where Lee Baca introduced the idea of independent oversight when he took office. DA Tony Rackauckas was professional in his demeanor, but he did nothing but criticize the idea.

Stay tuned. I'm sure the fight is far from over.

It's only Monday evening, and yet we've found the best product of the week: Photoblocker spray for the license plate on your vehicle!

Yes, you folks who fear photo tickets for running yellow or red lights or blowing through toll-road sensors can now relax. A company has developed an invisible spray that it claims will mask your license plates from photographs.

And it's all yours for just $29.99!

From the company website:

A majority of red-light and speed cameras utilize strong flash to photograph the license plate on your car. Once sprayed on your license plate, PhotoBlocker's special formula produces a high-powered gloss that reflects the flash back toward the camera. This overexposes the image of your license plate, rendering the picture unreadable. With PhotoBlocker, your license plate is invisible to traffic cameras yet completely legible to the naked eye.

Ha, you're thinking. We've beaten the bureaucrats and bean counters!

Not so fast.

Frank Barbagallo, deputy bean counter at the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) of Orange County, told the Sacramento Bee in a recent interview that the TCA has tested its cameras and allegedly found the spray ineffective.

Frank's a funny guy.

The TCA is the key advocate of a new state law, Assembly Bill 801, to outlaw the spray.