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Nine men, all serving the last of their prison terms in a halfway house, were charged Thursday with defrauding the state unemployment fund of $160,000 in benefits, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office announced.
The arrests and charges are part of a larger investigation into prison inmates across the state who are suspected of defrauding the program of as much as $2 billion. The scam was uncovered in December, and locally District Attorney Summer Stephan has said that inmates at both the local jails and the Richard J. Donovan state prison in Otay Mesa ripped off the state of at least $5 million.
LOS ANGELES
In an unprecedented move, a judge allowed the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office to move to reclaim jurisdiction Monday over several charges filed in Los Angeles connected to a violent crime spree that left two people dead, marking one of the strongest rebukes yet of newly elected L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón’s policies.
In a motion filed last week, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan asked a judge to give her office control over five robbery counts filed against Rhett Nelson, 31, part of a broader slate of charges he faces for his alleged role in a days-long crime spree that spanned across Southern California and left two people dead in 2019, including Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Solano.
Sentence enhancements still on the table for alleged cop killer
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Rhett Nelson
LOS ANGELES - A judge Monday denied a request by Los Angeles prosecutors to dismiss allegations and enhancements that could send an alleged cop killer to prison for life without the possibility of parole if he s convicted.
The judge also agreed to let San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan reclaim jurisdiction to prosecute Rhett Nelson for five San Diego-area armed robberies he allegedly committed in the days leading up to the June 10, 2019, shootings of Los Angeles County sheriff s Deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano in Alhambra and Dmitry Alekseyevich Koltsov in downtown Los Angeles, which occurred hours apart.
DA Summer Stephan seeks to take over alleged cop killer case from LA
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and last updated 2021-01-08 19:36:11-05
SAN DIEGO (CNS) San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan is trying to take over a case from Los Angeles County s District Attorney.
Stephan is accusing the newly elected top prosecutor of watering down the case by dropping sentence-enhancing allegations. Sh is asking to take over prosecution of an alleged cop killer for a series of armed robberies he s accused of committing in San Diego County.
The move is the latest criticism leveled at Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, who was elected on a platform of reforming the prosecution system and quickly issued directives to eliminate sentencing enhancements and other allegations that can lead to higher prison terms for defendants.