July 2011 Archives

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A Victorville man accused of killing as many as 20 wild rabbits in Ontario pleaded not guilty today to five counts of animal cruelty.

A judge also turned down a prosecutor's request to set bail for Shea Johnson, 22, who was arrested in May but released from jail on his "own recognizance" pending criminal charges. Today was his first appearance in West Valley Superior Court.

Johnson is accused of capturing wild rabbits at Fox Rent A Car, where he works as a driver, and killing the animals by hitting them with his fists or slamming them against walls and fences.

He was arrested after one of his co-workers secretly took video footage of the alleged abuse and presented it to police, authorities said.

After Johnson pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, Judge Raymond P. Van Stockum rejected Deputy District Attorney Deborah Ploghaus' request to set Johnson's bail at $50,000.

"He's a danger to the community without some kind of bail being set," Ploghaus said.

Johnson's attorney, Alphonse Provinziano, told the judge that Johnson "is not going to re-offend in any way."

Provinziano said Johnson has no prior criminal history, is enrolled in school, and continues to hold his job at Fox Rent A Car, 1776 E. Holt Blvd.

When Provinziano mentioned the business, Van Stockum interrupted him and asked, "Which is overrun with these animals?"

"Yes, your honor," Provinziano said.

After the hearing, Provinziano said Johnson will not be available for an interview. He declined to discuss Johnson's possible defense to the charges.

"At this time we're investigating the case," he said.

Johnson is next due in court Aug. 3.

CHINO -- A Rancho Cucamonga man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges that he murdered his wife, who was fatally shot Sunday and dumped on a residential street in Ontario.

Bobby Joe Winters, 74, is accused of shooting 70-year-old Angela Winters twice at the couple's daughter's home in Chino, and shooting her a third time before leaving her in the 300 block of West Elm Street at about 9:30 p.m.

About an hour after shooting his wife, Winters shot himself in the chest when confronted by San Bernardino sheriff's deputies near his home on Galatina Place.

Judge Gerard S. Brown on Wednesday turned down a request from Winters' attorney to set bail, leaving Winters jailed without bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Winters is next due Aug. 2 in Chino Superior Court.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A judge issued a $50,000 arrest warrant Wednesday for a suspected drunken driver who failed to show for a hearing in West Valley Superior Court.

Leone Tautuiaki Ahoia, 19, is charged with a felony for allegedly being under the influence of alcohol when he overturned his truck July 2 in Ontario, injuring his 17-year-old girlfriend, who was a passenger.

Police found a smashed can of beer near the overturned truck, and a test of Ahoia's blood yielded a blood-alcohol measurement of 0.05, according to a police report in Ahoia's court file.

Ahoia told police his truck overturned when he swerved to avoid another vehicle that cut him off, according to the report.

POMONA -- A Montclair man has been sentenced for participating in a 2002 street race in which his opponent crashed, resulting in three deaths.

Roque Torres, 28, was sentenced to five years in and four months in prison Monday by Judge Jack P. Hunt in Pomona Superior Court.

Torres pleaded no contest to three counts of voluntary manslaughter last month as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

On Dec. 20, 2002, Torres and another driver, 22-year-old Jamael Glenn Johnson, raced in Pomona at speeds of up to 100 mph, according to prosecutors.

Johnson's car collided with a van at Garey Avenue and Philadelphia, killing Johnson and two passengers: Jose Issac Batres, 26, and Carlos Mendoza, 20. All three were Pomona residents.

Because Torres fled the scene after the crash, his identity as one of the drivers remained unknown until police received a tip in October 2010. Torres was arrested in February.

CHINO -- A man accused of shooting his wife to death Sunday was unable to appear in court Tuesday because he remains hospitalized, according to a staff member in Chino Superior Court.

Bobby Joe Winters, 74, remained hospitalized at Loma Linda Medical Center, where he was being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office on Monday charged Winters with murdering 70-year-old Angela Winters.

Bobby Joe Winters allegedly shot his wife twice at about 9:30 p.m. at the couple's daughter's home in Chino, then shot her a third time before dumping her body on an Ontario residential street, authorities said.

Winters then drove to his home in Rancho Cucamonga, where he shot himself in the chest after being confronted by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies, authorities said.

CHINO -- A woman was shot and killed Sunday by her husband, who later shot himself when confronted by sheriff's deputies, according to a news release.

Bobby Joe Winters, 74, allegedly shot his wife twice at about 9:30 p.m. at the couple's daughter's home in the 12500 block of Arlington Lane in Chino. He then kidnapped his wife from the location, according to a news release.

Winters allegedly shot his wife a third time and left her body in the 300 block of West Elm Street in Ontario, according to a Chino news release.

Angela Winters, 70, was found by Ontario police at 9:36 p.m. and transported to Chino Valley Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department.

Officials have not offered a motive for the slaying.

At about 10:30 p.m., sheriff's deputies found Bobby Joe Winters near his home in Rancho Cucamonga, the news release said.

A neighbor said Winters drove past the home he shared with his wife in the 6900 block of Galatina Place, a small cul-de-sac near Milliken Avenue and Victoria Park Lane.

Deputies were outside Winters' home, and they appeared to recognize Winters' silver Mercedes-Benz sedan as it passed, the neighbor said.

Winters stopped his car about midway down Galatina, and five or six armed deputies approached Winters' car, the neighbor said.

As the deputies approached Winters, he shot himself in the chest with a handgun, the neighbor said.

The neighbor said he saw a gunshot wound on Winters' chest. Despite the wound, Winters was responsive to commands from deputies, the neighbor said.

Winters was transported to a local hospital and is in stable condition, according to the news release.

The neighbor, who asked to remain unnamed, said Winters and his wife have lived on Galatina for about 20 years.

"They're very nice people," he said. "I would have never suspected this would happen. (They're the) friendliest people on the street."

Winters is being held on suspicion of homicide, domestic violence and kidnapping, according to the news release.

A granddaughter of the couple who lives at the Chino home declined to comment to a reporter on Monday.

"Right now we don't want to speak about anything," Joanna Morris said.

People who live in the Chino neighborhood said Winters' daughter lives in the home in the 12500 block of Arlington Lane with her husband and three daughters.

Two men at the couple's home in Rancho Cucamonga declined to comment.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Chino Police Department at 909-628-1234.

SANTA ANA -- A 54-year-old Chino woman was sentenced to four years in state prison today for embezzling more than $82,000 from her Santa Ana employer, according to court records.

Rebecca Labelle pleaded guilty May 19 in Santa Ana Superior Court to four felony counts of computer access and fraud. She was arrested at her home May 11 after she was charged by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Labelle allegedly took money over 15 months from her employer, a sign and graphics company, to pay personal bills and mortgage payments, according to a Santa Ana police news release.

ONTARIO -- Prosecutors have charged a Victorville man with five counts of animal cruelty for allegedly killing an estimated 20 rabbits.

Shea Johnson, 22, allegedly killed the rabbits by hitting them and slamming them against a fence or wall outside a car-rental business where he worked near LA/Ontario International Airport, police and prosecutors said.

"He throws them up against the wall, he punches them, just killing them in various ways," said Deputy District Attorney Deborah Ploghaus.

Johnson was charged July 11. He is currently out of custody, and is scheduled to be arraigned July 28 in West Valley Superior Court, Ploghaus said.

Johnson, whose full name is Shea William David Johnson, was arrested May 25 after one of his co-workers showed police video footage he shot of Johnson abusing and killing rabbits, said Ploghaus and Ontario police Sgt. David McBride.

McBride said the footage shows Johnson striking each rabbit with his fist, then placing each animal in a bag and slamming it against a fence or wall outside the business, Fox Rent A Car at 1776 E. Holt Blvd.

The co-worker secretly filmed Johnson by hiding a camera inside a parked car, Ploghaus said.

The co-worker estimated Johnson killed about 20 rabbits in the month preceding his arrest, Ploghaus and McBride said.

When officers searched Fox Rent A Car they found about a dozen rabbit carcasses behind a back fence, Ploghaus said.

Johnson was interviewed by police after his arrest, McBride said.

"He initially denied any of the acts, and eventually partially admitted to some of it," McBride said.

Ploghaus said Johnson has no prior criminal history.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A former police detective has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges that he kidnapped a woman at gunpoint last year at Ontario Mills and sexually assaulted her for more than an hour.

Anthony Nicholas Orban, 32, entered the pleas Friday in West Valley Superior Court. He'd previously pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the April 3, 2010 incident.

The new pleas mean that a trial in Orban's case will consist of two phases, attorneys said today.

A jury will first be asked determine whether Orban is guilty of rape and other crimes. If he's convicted in the first phase, the jury will then hear evidence about Orban's mental state and deliberate over whether he was sane at the time of the incident.

If Orban is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be held indefinitely for treatment in a state mental hospital rather than be sentenced to prison, said his attorney, James Blatt.

Prosecutors say Orban, a former Westminster detective, was off-duty and armed with his service weapon at about 5 p.m. when he confronted a Dave and Buster's waitress who was walking to her car after her shift.

According to the woman's testimony at a preliminary hearing, Orban ordered her into her car and directed her driving until telling her to park at a Fontana shopping center.

He then sexually assaulted her in the car for more than an hour. He also choked her, punched her, and took photos of the assault with his cell phone, the woman testified.

Blatt said the defense doesn't dispute the woman's account of Orban's abuse. But he said Orban's behavior was the result of a "psychotic break from reality" brought on by prescription drugs.

Orban, a former Marine, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home from Iraq War combat.

He was prescribed the anti-depressant Zoloft, as well as an anti-seizure medication called Neurontin, Blatt said.

"At the time of this incident we believe he was overly prescribed for the drugs," Blatt said. "... Mr. Orban did not know right from wrong."

Blatt said two doctors have examined Orban and they will testify during a trial about the effects the drugs had on Orban's mental state. A judge on Friday appointed two additional doctors to examine Orban.

"The issue that the jury will be facing is, 'Why would this outstanding man who gave his entire adult life to his country and community all of a sudden be involved in these heinous crimes?'" Blatt said.

"We are confident that when the jury hears of the effects one may have with regard to Zoloft and Neurontin that it will seriously consider our defense that he was legally insane at the time of the incident," Blatt said.

Orban's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus, said she believes Orban was sane during the incident despite his drug use.

"It doesn't change our case at all," she said. "We still feel, obviously, that he's guilty."

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An alleged pimp accused of raping and torturing two women was released from jail Saturday after prosecutors dropped criminal charges against him.

The prosecution of Tremaine Ulysses Smiler was dropped Friday -- with his release from West Valley Detention Center coming shortly after midnight Saturday -- because his victims couldn't be found to testify against him, a prosecutor said.

With the victims unavailable, prosecutors had no choice but to dismiss Smiler's 18 felony counts alleging torture, forcible rape, forcible sodomy and other crimes.

Smiler, of Ontario, refused to waive his constitutional right to a speedy trial, Deputy District Attorney Karen Schmauss said.

"If you have no witnesses, you have no case," Schmauss said.

She said prosecutors will refile charges against Smiler, 39, if one or both of his alleged victims are found.

"I would file in a heartbeat if I had my witnesses right now," Schmauss said.

In July 2009, Smiler allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl and burned her pubic area with an electric hair straightener.

The same month he allegedly burned a 30-year-old woman's lips with a clothing iron, leaving her face disfigured.

Authorities believe Smiler was grooming the women, who he met in Ontario, to work for him as prostitutes.

Schmauss called Smiler a danger to the community. He was sentenced to prison 1998 for torturing and sodomizing a girlfriend, and he was again sentenced to prison in 2004 for raping a woman at knifepoint in Upland.

Smiler is not currently on parole or probation, Schmauss said.

Both the alleged victims in the case have active warrants for their arrest, Schmauss said, and if they are arrested they can be asked to testify against Smiler.

The 17-year-old victim is wanted for failing to appear in West Valley Superior Court to testify against Smiler, while the other victim has failed to appear in Pomona Superior Court on prostitution charges, Schmauss said.

"All is not lost, but these kind of victims are very difficult victims in this kind of life," Schmauss said. "Finding them and keeping them is very hard."

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A Riverside County woman accused of murdering and dismembering her boyfriend appeared in court today for a brief hearing in which attorneys told a judge of their progress in the case.

An attorney for Carmen Montelongo, 44, said she was waiting for prosecutors to turn over remaining "discovery," such as police reports, about the investigation into Samuel Wiggins Jr.'s slaying.

Prosecutors believe Montelongo fatally stabbed Wiggins, 62, in April or early May at his Diamond Bar home.

She then allegedly cut off Wiggins' head and arms and concealed the body parts in large flower pots that she brought to a relative's home in Bell Gardens on May 8.

She allegedly buried the rest of Wiggins' remains in early May in the backyard of a relative's home in the 700 block of North Holmes Avenue in Ontario.

She was arrested on May 29 when she returned to the Ontario home, exhumed Wiggins' body, and loaded the partial remains into a trash can that she wheeled 200 yards down residential streets.

One of her cousins lives at the home, and he called police after he saw Montelongo exhume Wiggins' body.

Montelongo, of Jurupa Valley, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges.

Deputy District Attorney Erica Gallegos said the investigation into Wiggins' death is not complete, and she's awaiting a final coroner's report as well as reports from the Los Angeles County sheriff's investigation into Wiggins' finances.

Montelongo allegedly spent her ex-boyfriend's money after his death.

Also addressed during today's hearing in West Valley Superior Court was Montelongo's true last name. Some authorities have identified her as Montenegro.

Her attorney, Rebecca Taft, told Judge Michael Libutti that her client's name includes both Montelongo and Montenegro, which respectively are her mother and father's last names.

Montelongo told Libutti her full name includes both names, with Montelongo appearing first.

Montelongo is next due in court Aug. 17. She remained jailed without bail today at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An alleged drunk driver from Montclair has been charged with vehicular manslaughter for allegedly killing a motorcyclist in a May traffic collision.

Chris David Wilcox, 33, allegedly collided with motorcyclist Sebastian Bobby Orioli Jr. on May 25 at Euclid Avenue and Holt Boulevard in Ontario.

Orioli, of Upland, was thrown from his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he collided with Wilcox's 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe at about 5:30 p.m.

Orioli, 38, suffered severe injuries and later died at Loma Linda Medical Center, according to a police report in Wilcox's court file.

Wilcox failed field sobriety tests, and breath tests at the scene yielded blood-alcohol measurements of 0.26 and 0.24, about three times the legal limit of 0.08, according to the police report.

Wilcox has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, and is next due July 27 in West Valley Superior Court.

He remained jailed Friday in lieu of $500,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

According to the police report, Wilcox made an illegal left-hand turn from southbound Euclid onto Holt.

As he entered the intersection, the passenger side of his vehicle was struck by Orioli, who was traveling north on Euclid and had the right-of-way, according to the report.

Wilcox suffered minor scrapes to one of his arms in the collision, possibly from when an airbag deployed in his car.

At the time of the collision, Wilcox, a manager at Old World Delicatessen in West Covina, was driving his children to hockey practice, according to the police report.

He told police he only drank one glass of wine prior to the incident. He said he drank wine while he was at work about three hours before the crash.

In addition to vehicular manslaughter, prosecutors have charged Wilcox with a DUI-related felony and two counts of felony child abuse. Wilcox's two young children were in his car at the time of the incident.

FONTANA -- A former administrator at the Fontana Unified School District pleaded no contest this week to embezzling about $8,500 from the district.

Shawn Kingsley, former director of maintenance and operations, entered his plea to a misdemeanor count of embezzlement Thursday in Fontana Superior Court.

Kingsley, 56, of Fontana was sentenced by Judge Phillip Morris to 45 days in jail, and was placed on probation for three years, according to court records.

Kingsley was charged in January after a Fontana police investigation revealed evidence that he took about $8,500 generated through sales of the district's scrap metal.

According to a police report in Kingsley's court file, he used the embezzled money for personal expenses, including donations to his church, Cross Pointe Community Church in Fontana.

Kingsley's embezzlement reportedly began in 2007, when he was named director of maintenance and operations, and continued until November 2010, when police received a tip about the embezzlement from a district employee.

Kingsley, a district employee of 28 years, was initially placed on administrative leave. He later resigned.

Judge Morris ordered Kingsley to report to Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore by Oct. 14 to begin serving his jail sentence, which he is eligible to complete through a work release program, according to court records.

Kingsley must finish serving his jail sentence by April 14, 2012, according to court records.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An 18-year-old Ontario man has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter for allegedly losing control of his car while driving drunk and colliding with another vehicle, killing a passenger.

Jairo Gutierrez Zavala's blood-alcohol content was 0.10 on May 19 when he allegedly lost control of his 1999 Dodge Durango in Ontario, according to a police report in his court file.

He collided with a 1996 Honda sedan at Euclid Avenue and Philadelphia Street, killing a man in the back seat.

Jose Cortez, 60, of Ontario was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the 9 p.m. crash.

Zavala has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and two DUI-related felonies, and he remained jailed today in lieu of $750,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

He is next due July 27 in West Valley Superior Court.

Witnesses told police the crash occurred when Zavala tried to make a right turn or U-turn from from southbound Euclid, according to the police report.

Zavala tried to accelerate quickly and lost control of his car, witnesses said.

He narrowly missed a traffic signal and decorative boulder in the median of Euclid before colliding with the Honda, which was waiting to make a left turn onto Euclid from the westbound lanes of Philadelphia, according to the report.

Zavala's car overturned after the collision, but he suffered minor injuries and was able to crawl to safety from underneath the vehicle.

The Honda was struck on the rear driver's side, where Cortez was sitting.

Cortez's daughter-in-law was driving the car, his son was in the front passenger seat, and his grandson was beside him in the back seat, according to the police report. None were seriously injured.

Zavala told police he drank four or five beers with friends after work.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A jury found a Montclair man guilty today of sexually abusing his stepdaughter.

Juan Trujillo Barajas, 40, was convicted of 24 felony counts, including continuous sexual abuse of a child, after jurors deliberated about four hours in West Valley Superior Court.

Barajas' 16-year-old stepdaughter accused him of first abusing her when she was 12, with the abuse escalating at age 13 when he began forcing her to have sex several times a week. Barajas was arrested May 12, 2010 after the girl first disclosed the alleged abuse to a relative.

The forced intercourse took place at a home where the girl lived with Barajas, her mother and her siblings, as well as at a Baldwin Park Mexican restaurant where Barajas and the girl worked, the girl said.

Relatives and other supporters of Barajas cried as the verdicts were read by a courtroom clerk. Barajas and his stepdaughter, who was in the audience, did not visibly react.

The girl's mother -- Barajas' husband -- said after the hearing that the guilty verdicts were an injustice. She and other members of her family believe the girl lied about the alleged abuse.

"All we know is there's no evidence that points to what they're saying is true," said Magdalena Perez, one of Barajas' relatives.

The jury of six men and six women convicted Barajas of one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, 13 counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child of 14 or 15 years old, six counts of forcible rape, and two counts of oral copulation by threat.

Barajas is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 2 by Judge Stephan G. Saleson.

Deputy District Attorney Karen Schmauss said Barajas faces a maximum sentence of about 80 years in prison.

Barajas rejected a plea agreement from prosecutors before the trial that carried a three-year prison term, said Schmauss and Barajas' attorney, Thomas Avdeef.

Avdeef said after the hearing that he believes Barajas is not guilty.

"I didn't see any evidence that he did it," he said.

In his closing argument to jurors on Tuesday, Avdeef said the girl falsely accused of Barajas of sexually abusing her after she learned that Barajas was not her real father.

The disclosure made the girl angry at Barajas and her mother, said Avdeef, who called the alleged victim a "mentally troubled teenager."

"Jane Doe is a liar," Avdeef said.

Avdeef noted that his client did not confess to police, nor were there any witnesses to the alleged abuse or physical evidence to support the girl's claims.

In her final remarks to the jury, Schmauss said the girl's accusations against Barajas were consistent and believable. She downplayed the significance of the case's lack of eyewitnesses.

"He is not going to rape that child in front of witnesses," Schmauss said. "It's not that kind of crime."

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A church choir director pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he committed lewd sexual acts with a 15-year-old choirgirl.

Mark William Michaels, 53, pleaded guilty in West Valley Superior Court to three counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child of 14 or 15 years.

Michaels' pleas came as part of plea agreement with prosecutors that carries a prison sentence of four years and four months, and requires that Michaels register as a sex offender for life, according to a document in Michaels' court file that details the agreement.

Michaels is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 25.

Michaels was arrested June 4 after a Montclair police officer saw him allegedly committing lewd acts with the girl in a car parked in an alley behind businesses in the 10200 block of Central Avenue.

Michaels and the girl were both parishioners at Bethany Baptist Church, 9950 Monte Vista Ave. in Montclair. They met two years ago, police said.

Prosecutors initially charged Michaels, of Upland, with nine felonies, but as part of the plea agreement they agreed to drop all counts besides the ones to which Michaels pleaded guilty.

Michaels remained jailed today in lieu of $250,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

POMONA -- The final defendant charged in connection with the shooting deaths of two teens last year at Ted Greene Park has been sentenced to prison.

Devin Adel Omar, 17, was sentenced to nine years in state prison on June 29 by Commissioner Wade Olson after he pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in Pomona Superior Court.

Omar's plea came four weeks after five other teens charged in the case pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and received similar prison sentences.

Timmy Moore, 17, and Prithesh Dunn, 15, died after they were shot the afternoon of Jan. 29, 2010 during what authorities described as a fight between rival gangs at the park, located at Orange Grove and La Verne avenues in Pomona.

The accused shooter, 15-year-old Denzel Isaiah Omar, fired 13 rounds with a .22-caliber rifle after a member of the other gang waved a gun above his head, police said. A third teen was wounded by the gunfire.

On June 1, Denzel Omar and four other teens charged in the case were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 12 years.

Besides Denzel Omar, the teens who were sentenced June 1 are Johnny Moore, 17, Davontay Jenkins, 17, Samuel Boyd, 18, and Dayveon Thomas, 18.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An alleged drunk driver pleaded not guilty to criminal charges this morning in connection with a crash last week in which his girlfriend, a passenger, was seriously injured.

Leone Tautuiaki Ahoia, 19, was arraigned in West Valley Superior Court on a felony count of DUI causing bodily injury. Prosecutors filed the case Wednesday.

Ahoia's Ford F-150 overturned at about 6 a.m. Saturday in the area of Grove Avenue and State Street in Ontario.

Ahoia, of Norwalk, told police his truck overturned when he swerved to avoid a vehicle that cut him off, according to a police report contained in his court file.

Ahoia's 17-year-old girlfriend, who authorities have not identified, suffered major head injuries in the crash, according to the report.

Police found a smashed 12-ounce can of Bud Light at the crash scene, and Ahoia told police he drank two Bud Lights during a barbecue the previous day, according to the report.

A test of Ahoia's blood yielded a blood-alcohol measurement of 0.05, according to the report.

Ahoia told police he attended a barbecue at his uncle's home in Riverside on Friday, then drove to his aunt's home in Ontario to spend the night, the report says.

He said he left his aunt's home shortly before the crash because his girlfriend wanted to buy food and go to her cousin's home, according to the report.

Ahoia remained jailed Thursday in lieu of $50,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He is next due in court July 13.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Three Mexican citizens were sentenced to three years in state prison after pleading no contest to charges that they held three illegal immigrants captive for ransom.

The men were sentenced by Judge Raymond P. Van Stockum June 30 in West Valley Superior Court after pleading no contest to false imprisonment.

Jose DeJesus Horta Gutterrez, 34, Leonardo Rios Sanchez, 24, and Alvaro Barajas, 38, were arrested June 17 after San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies found them with the captives at a home in Rancho Cucamonga.

Deputies went to the home after receiving a phone call from one of the captives. The captives, all Mexican citizens who were smuggled across the border, were being held by the defendants in lieu of $1,000, according to authorities.

Two other immigrants were in the home when deputies arrived in the 13000 block of Arrow Route, though they were not being held by the defendants for further payment, authorities said.

The five immigrants were taken into custody at the time of the defendants' arrest, and may be deported, authorities said.

Before they were smuggled into the United States, each immigrant paid between $2,000 and $3,000 for assistance crossing the border, authorities said.