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Los Angeles: Ex-Doctor sentenced to 14 years for bogus cancer cure sold across U.S.

2013-05-18T01:22:41Z

By FRED SHUSTER

An ex-doctor who was also a minister was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison for selling a “brown sludge” made of suntan lotion and beef flavoring as a miracle cancer cure to patients across the country, via ads on a religious TV network and her Mission Hills clinic.

(Flickr/DonkeyHotey)

Christine Daniel, 58, of Santa Clarita, who operated a clinic under such names as the Sonrise Wellness Center, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Timlin, who remanded Daniel into custody following the four-hour hearing.

In addition to the prison term, Timlin ordered that Daniel forfeit nearly $1.2 million.

A federal jury convicted Daniel in September 2011 of four counts of mail and wire fraud, six counts of tax evasion and one count of witness tampering.

Prosecutors said the former physician and Pentecostal minister fraudulently marketed and collected more than $1 million for a medical treatment that she and her employees claimed could cure many diseases and conditions, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and hepatitis.

Daniel claimed her bogus cancer cure had a success rate of between 60 percent and 80 percent for the most advanced forms of cancer.

The evidence showed that a significant percentage of Daniel’s patients died within three to six months after they started taking the bogus cure.

Defense attorney Anne Hwang reminded the court that her client “did not cause the deaths. What she’s convicted of is making false statements.”

According to evidence presented at trial, Daniel’s product did not cure anyone of cancer, nor was it was made from herbs from around the world or blended for an individual patient, as she had promised patients.

Chemical analyses determined that the product contained sunscreen preservative and beef extract flavoring, among other ingredients, none of which could have had any effect on cancer or other diseases, according to expert testimony.

Victims from across the country told Timlin how now-deceased family members were duped by Daniel, who, they said, ordered end-stage cancer victims to stop taking pain medication and instead depend on her pricey home-made potion.

One woman testified that her sister, who had been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, contacted Daniel and was told that chemotherapy would not help.

After the victim traveled from her Georgia home to Los Angeles, Daniel told her that the herbal treatment program would shrink her tumors and kill her cancer cells.

For almost five months, the victim and her husband paid Daniel thousands of dollars for the herbal product.

After taking the herbal “cure” for four months and within two weeks after Daniel pronounced her to be cancer-free at a party held for patients, the woman died. The cancer had spread from her breasts to her bones and brain.

“She told my sister that she didn’t have cancer — it was all in her mind,” the victim’s sibling told the court. “She said God works through her hands. She gave us false hope.”

Evidence presented during the trial also showed that Daniel used her status as a minister to create a bond of trust with members of the Evangelical Christian community, an affinity that provided her with a market to sell her bogus treatment.

Daniel promoted the product under a variety of names — including “C-Extract,” “the natural treatment” and “the herbal treatment” — through a program televised on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, according to court papers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns said he is haunted by images of Daniel “pumping her noxious brown sludge through a feeding tube” into a child, who was one of her patients.

Depending on the purported level or strength of the herbal product, Daniel would charge her customers up to $4,270 for a one-week supply.

She also offered a six-month treatment program for between $120,000 and $150,000.

In a statement to the court, Daniel said clients came to her precisely because they didn’t trust traditional medical care.

“In faith-based churches, there are a lot of people who won’t go to doctors,” she said, and then went on to name the deceased and refute the allegations brought by family members in court.

“They know in their hearts that what they are saying is not correct,” she said, to audible gasps from observers.”They know the truth, and the Lord’s going to deal with this.”

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Man killed in Rancho Penasquitos crash identified

2013-05-18T00:27:16Z

(Credit: iStockphoto)

Authorities released the name today of a 22-year-old man killed in a possible DUI collision in Rancho Penasquitos while on his way to a family funeral.

Nick Hart of San Diego was heading west on State Route 56 when an eastbound 2002 Ranger Rover SUV veered across a center median and smashed head-on into his 2010 Toyota Scion near Black Mountain Road about 9:40 a.m. Thursday, according to the county Medical Examiner’s Office and California Highway Patrol.

Hart, a 2009 Poway High School graduate who worked at a Trader Joe’s market in Scripps Ranch, died in the wreckage of his car.

Medics took the other motorist, 18-year-old Timothy Barnette of San Diego, to a La Jolla trauma center for treatment of severe injuries, CHP public-affairs Officer Jake Sanchez said.

He remained hospitalized this afternoon.

Investigators suspect that Barnette was under the influence of some type of medication or other controlled substance at the time of the crash, and criminal charges may be filed against him, the spokesman said.

Hart, a former Cal State San Marcos student, was en route to a relative’s memorial service at the time of his death, a family member told KFMB-TV.

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Ex-con accused of killing homeless man to stand trial

2013-05-18T00:14:10Z

An ex-con accused of fatally beating a homeless man with a rock during a confrontation in a transient camp near Lake Elsinore must stand trial on murder and other charges, a judge ruled today.

Booking photo of Jason Schmidt (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)

Jason Lee Schmidt, 36, could face 51 years to life in prison if convicted in the June 8, 2012, slaying of 58-year-old Leopoldo Navarrete.

Following an hourlong preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dennis McConaghy determined there was sufficient evidence to bound Schmidt over for trial on the murder count, as well as resisting arrest and a sentence-enhancing weapon allegation.

McConaghy set a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for June 7 and left Schmidt’s bail at $1 million. The defendant is being held at the Southwest Detention Center.

According to sheriff’s investigators, Schmidt and Navarrete were loosely associated through encounters at a homeless camp known as the “Olive Groves,” off of Adelfa Street and Grand Avenue in the community of Lakeland Village.

In an interview with detectives, the defendant allegedly admitted killing the victim, saying he became enraged when Navarrete mentioned having molested one of his grandchildren. According to the District Attorney’s Office, relatives of the dead man vehemently denied that he ever had inappropriate contact with a juvenile family member.

Schmidt told sheriff’s Investigator Robert Cornett that he picked up a rock and slammed it into the back of Naverrete’s head, striking the man repeatedly until his arm “could not come up anymore,” according to a case brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Burke Strunsky.

Navarrete was reported missing by his family on June 14.

A sheriff’s dive team searched for his remains in the lake and scoured the area where he was last seen, without success. Last July 19, a man walking in the area of Akley and Gillette streets, about two blocks from the homeless encampment, stumbled onto Navarrete’s partially covered remains.

Interviews were conducted with transients at the camp, leading investigators to seek out Schmidt, who was staying at a group home in the 22000 block of Herbert Street in Good Hope.

When investigators showed up to question him on Aug. 20, the defendant took off running but was quickly apprehended, according to sheriff’s officials.

According to court records, Schmidt has multiple prior felony convictions, including for drug-dealing, burglary and attempted burglary.

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Riverside: Suspect shot during liquor store hold-up

2013-05-18T00:06:01Z

A man was shot by a security guard during an attempted hold-up at a Riverside liquor store today.

The shooting happened around 3:35 p.m. at Indiana Liquor and Market, 7580 Indiana Ave., just off the Riverside (91) Freeway, according to Riverside police.

Details were not immediately available, but reports from the scene indicated the suspect was shot in the head while allegedly attempting to rob the outlet.

The unidentified man was rushed to Riverside Community Hospital in serious condition.

The guard was not injured.

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Update: Castaic fire explodes to 250 acres

2013-05-17T22:39:32Z

Update@ 3:35 p.m.: A fast-moving fire scorched more than 250 acres of brush today near the Golden State (5) Freeway north of Santa Clarita, prompting authorities to close a southbound lane and evacuate nearby homes as a precaution.

(Flickr/hopefuldz9er)

The fire was reported near Castaic Road about 1:30 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Originally reported as a roughly quarter-acre blaze, the fire quickly grew to more than 40 acres within 30 minutes before exploding across 250 acres.

“(The fire) is burning right up against the 5,” fire Inspector Keith Mora said.

Mora said structures were threatened, and two ranch homes were being evacuated around 3 p.m.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, nearly two dozen homes were being evacuated on Elk Ridge Road and Vista Point Place, just west of Castaic Lagoon.

The flames were initially bearing down on the campus of Northlake Hills Elementary School on Ridge Route Road north of Pine Crest.

Students were placed on lockdown, but were systematically released beginning around 2:30 p.m.

“Sheriff’s officials are taking kids in their cars and escorting them down the road to a meet their families in a more secure location,” Mora said.

No injuries were reported.

Original Story: One lane of the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway has been closed due to a swift moving brush fire in the Castaic area, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Ridge Route Road has been closed at Pine Crest Place, north of Lake Hughes Road. Unconfirmed reports from the scene indicate at least two structures may be threatened.

U.S. Forest Service crews are also responding.

(Flickr/hopefuldz9er)

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Update: Bomb squad finds nothing suspicious at Sherman Oaks McDonald’s

2013-05-17T21:43:20Z

Update @ 2:38 p.m.: The scene at the evacuated McDonald’s in Sherman Oaks has been cleared, LAPD officials said.

LAPD spokesman Richard French said the area was cleared by 2:15 p.m.

“They didn’t find anything,” he said.

No details were available about a person who was detained at the scene, and it was unknown if an arrest was made, French said.

Original Story: A bomb squad was sent to a McDonald’s in Sherman Oaks today after someone left a briefcase in the restaurant and left.

Officers sent to the 13900 block of Ventura Boulevard about 11:30 a.m. detained a person and summoned explosives experts to the scene, Los Angeles police spokesman Richard French said.

The eatery was evacuated and the bomb squad was working to remove the item, a process that continued almost 90 minutes later.

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Mother and son sentenced to life for murdering man in Buena Park motel room

2013-05-17T20:27:05Z

A 27-year-old man and his mother were given life sentences today for a robbery that turned deadly in a Buena Park motel room four years ago.

(Credit: Daniel Lane)

Noel Carrasco was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and his 53-year-old mother, Leticia Carrasco, was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars , according to Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons.

Noel Carrasco told Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals that he regretted the Dec. 22, 2008, murder of 42-year-old Matias Ojeda Vasquez at the Covered Wagon motel in Buena Park, and added that he felt he deserved a stricter punishment than his mother.

He was convicted April 3 of first-degree murder and second-degree robbery, with jurors finding true a special circumstance allegation of killing during a robbery. His mother was convicted in January of murder and second-degree robbery.

Leticia Carrasco met the victim at the La Barca nightclub in Stanton and lured him back to the motel — where her son was hiding in the bathroom — with a promise of sex for money, Simmons said.

The victim’s body was found wrapped in a blanket with a dog-food bag over his head a few yards from the Ontario (15) Freeway, near the San Bernardino County community of Yermo, in January 2009.

Vasquez had been strangled with a telephone cord, had multiple skull fractures and sustained five stab wounds to the chest and stomach, the prosecutor said.

Noel and Leticia Carrasco split their time between Orange County and Las Vegas, where they would stay with his girlfriend, Cheryl Madzelan, Simmons said.

After the victim was reported missing to Orange police on Dec. 31, 2008, detectives determined that someone used Vasquez’s phone to call Madzelan and send her text messages more than 100 times, Simmons said.

After Vasquez was believed to have been killed, his friends and family received “uncharacteristic” text messages from the victim’s phone, the prosecutor said.

When the Carrascos showed up at Madzelan’s home on Christmas Eve, her boyfriend told her that he “had done something really bad and he needed to talk to someone,” Simmons said.

Madzelan told authorities that Noel Carrasco said his mother set someone up to meet a girl in a women’s bathroom stall at a nightclub to rob him, but he resisted and the defendant and the victim ended up outside, where Noel Carrasco bashed the man’s skull against a wall until he lost consciousness, Simmons said.

A tenant at the Covered Wagon, who previously was a neighbor of the Carrascos, told authorities that when she asked Noel Carrasco for money one evening, he said he had a scheme to lure a man back to the motel, where he would “beat the crap out of the guy and take his money,” Simmons said.

The woman declined the offer, Simmons said.

A DNA analysis of blood found in the motel room the Carrascos rented showed it came from Vasquez, Simmons said. Noel Carrasco’s DNA was found on the steering wheel of the victim’s Honda Accord, which he drove to his girlfriend’s home for Christmas, the prosecutor said.

Thomas Watts, a cellmate of Noel Carrasco’s, told investigators that while they were playing chess, the defendant told him how he killed the victim.

Noel Carrasco told Watts that he only intended to rob the victim, not kill him, but was drunk and desperate to steal the man’s money to pay their rent, Simmons said.

The Carrascos stole a watch and about $800 from the victim, the prosecutor said.

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Rock climber plunges 100 feet in Idyllwild

2013-05-17T20:25:16Z

A helicopter was sent to rescue a rock climber who fell about 100 feet in the Humber Park area in Idyllwild today, a county fire department spokeswoman said.

(Flickr: Edmond Mein Felder)

The fall was reported about 10:45 a.m. in the “Vampire” climb area.

The victim’s condition was unclear, Riverside County Fire Department spokes woman Melody Hendrickson said.

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Alhambra police shoot, kill knife-wielding man at police station

2013-05-17T20:06:18Z

A man who authorities say was brandishing a knife was shot to death by police today in the lobby of the Alhambra police station.

(Facebook)

The shooting was reported about 7:30 a.m. in the 200 block of South First Street, sheriff’s Deputy Guillermina Saldana said. No officers were hurt.

Authorities withheld the name of the man, who died at the scene, pending notification of kin.

According to the preliminary investigation, the man entered the lobby of the police station and stood there for a few minutes, sheriff’s Lt. Dave Coleman said.

Officers tried to speak with him, but he was “non-responsive,” Coleman said.

“(Officers) tried to speak with the individual, who was clutching a large black backpack,” Coleman said. “Again he was non-responsive — appeared to be incoherent — wouldn’t respond to the questions of the officers. They obviously were concerned that he was either mentally impaired or under the influence of possibly a narcotic.”

“They asked for additional officers to respond, and approximately five officers were in the lobby of the station when the suspect produced a large carving or kitchen knife, and an officer-involved shooting occurred,” Coleman said.

Three officers opened fire, Coleman said.

Sheriff’s detectives assisted Alhambra police in the investigation.

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Riverside County’s jobless rate falls below 10 percent

2013-05-17T19:50:03Z

For the first time in nearly 4 1/2 years, Riverside County’s unemployment rate dipped below 10 percent, state officials reported today.

(Flickr/Waponi)

The county’s non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in April, based on preliminary estimates, was 9.6 percent, compared to 10.5 percent in March, according to the California Employment Development Department.

The rate was two percentage points below the level of April 2012, when unemployment stood at 11.6 percent.

The last time Riverside County’s unemployment rate was below 10 percent occurred in November 2008, when it was 9.9 percent, according to EDD data.

The deepening recession drove the figure to as high as 15.2 percent in August 2010, where it peaked and afterward began a languid descent.

According to EDD figures, the civilian labor force last month numbered 941,700 people, with 90,200 out of work.

The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide, at 24.5 percent, followed by Mecca at 19.5 percent and Homeland at 19.1 percent, according to the EDD.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in April was also 9.6 percent, down from 10.5 percent the prior month.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded in all but five sectors of the regional economy.

The largest increase was in professional and business services, where around 2,900 positions were added.

Farming, trade, transportation and utilities, financial services and uncategorized industries altogether added another 1,700 jobs.

Payrolls shrank in the public sector, leisure and hospitality, educational and health services, construction and manufacturing. which shed a total 3,100 jobs last month, with the hospitality sector leading the way down, accounting for 45 percent of the loss.

The state’s non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in April was 8.5 percent, according to the EDD.

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