CIG000003751.topic”>Al Qaeda with three other suspects was ordered Monday to be held without bail until trial.

Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym found that Arifeen Gojali, 21, was too much of a flight risk and danger to the community, based on the allegations by federal investigators.

Gojali was led by federal marshals into U.S. District Court in Riverside on Monday, bound by handcuffs and leg irons and wearing a bright orange, jail-issued uniform. He showed little emotion during the hearing, chatting briefly with his attorney, John Aquilina.

Aquilina told the judge that neither his client nor his family had the financial means to post bail.

“If we can’t get over that hurdle, what’s the point?” Aquilina told reporters outside the courtroom after the brief hearing.

Gojali and three other men from the Inland Empire have been accused of plotting to join Al Qaeda or the Taliban in Afghanistan to attack American troops or coalition forces.

Gojali and two other suspects, Bart Deleon of Ontario, 24, and Miguel Santana of Upland, were arrested during a vehicle stop in Chino on Nov. 16, a day after they booked airline tickets from Mexico to Afghanistan.

Deleon and Santana are being held without bail. The alleged ringleader, Sohiel Omar Kabir, 34, was taken into custody the next day. Kabir has lived in Pomona and served a year in the U.S. Air Force.

The native Afghan and naturalized U.S. citizen converted Deleon and Santana to Islam in 2010, then left for Afghanistan, intent on joining the Taliban or Al Qaeda and paving the way for Santana and Deleon to join him, according to authorities.

Santana and Deleon allegedly recruited Gojali in September. Deleon’s attorney, Randolph K. Driggs, last week criticized the federal government’s case for hinging on evidence gathered by a paid confidential informant who had been convicted of drug-related charges.

The informant, who received $250,000 from the FBI and “immigration benefits” for his work over a four-year period, infiltrated the group in March and wore recording devices that provided evidence crucial to the case.

phil.willon@latimes.com

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

Substance-abuse counselor charged in fatal DUI

Sherri Wilkins, 51, was charged with murder Tuesday and faces life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said. She was scheduled to be arraigned on felony charges of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, drunk driving while causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

From Mather and reporter Ruben Vives’ Tuesday story:

Sherri Wilkins wrote in a Myspace profile that she “used to be into drugs very heavy” and “with that came terrible choices.”

Wilkins was trying to turn her life around: She wrote that she had been sober for 11 years, had reconnected with family and, according to state records, earned a certification in drug and alcohol counseling. She was working at a Torrance treatment center, helping others battle the addiction she tried to put behind her.

But over the weekend, Wilkins struck a pedestrian while driving drunk on Torrance Boulevard and kept driving for more than two miles with the man embedded in her windshield, police alleged.

Torrance police arrested the 51-year-old on suspicion of driving under the influence and manslaughter. Wilkins told officers she “panicked” after the crash Saturday night and simply kept driving, said Sgt. Robert Watt.

Other motorists managed to stop Wilkins and grab her keys at 182nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard, Watt said. Phillip Moreno, 31, of Torrance still had a pulse when officers arrived, but was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Wilkins had a blood-alcohol level more than double the legal 0.08% limit, Watt said. He said she told police she was on her way home from work at the time of the crash, but officials at the treatment center said it had only daytime meetings on Saturdays and was closed.

“There was absolutely nothing that gave us an indication that she was in a danger zone,” said David Lisonbee of Twin Town Treatment Centers.

“We feel just absolutely appalled and horrified that this happened to both families,” he added. “It’s a horrible tragedy.”

Black Friday panty brawl leads to four arrests, police say

Black Friday brawl at a Sacramento-area mall that was captured on a cellphone video and uploaded to YouTube has now led to four arrests, police said.

The fight, allegedly sparked by a fight over panties at a Victoria’s Secret at the Roseville Galleria, has captured national headlines. Stephen Colbert even tweeted about it this week.

But Roseville police said the fight didn’t end at the mall. Five hours later, four people showed up at the home of a man on the other side of the fight, and smashed out the windows and headlights of his car. They used hammers and bats, leaving behind a dented mess, police said.

Roberto Volz, 21, and Sandy Orellana, 19, both of Citrus Heights, were arrested along with two teens, ages 16 and 17. They were arrested on suspicion of vandalism, conspiracy and gang charges.

Investigators said the brawl was likely also related to a long-simmering dispute.

Although the fight itself lasted less than a minute, witnesses said the two groups had been arguing for about 10 minutes.

“They were throwing things,” said one man. “I saw a trash can lid almost hit a couple of bystanders.”

Police respond to false report at Simon Cowell’s home

Beverly Hills police responded to a call that someone had been tied up and needed help at “X Factor” judge Simon Cowell’s house, but the report turned out to be false, authorities said Monday.

The caller initially told Beverly Hills police that the person had been tied up with duct tape and gave an address outside of city limits, according to authorities. The caller then said the incident was taking place at “Simon Cowell’s” house, which is in Beverly Hills.

“Officers responded to the Cowell residence and contacted Mr. Cowell and confirmed that the call was a false report of an emergency,” the Beverly Hills Police Department said in a statement.

The incident took place Sunday shortly before 1 p.m. No additional details were immediately available.

Father pleads guilty to killing his children in SUV blaze

A father who set his sport utility vehicle ablaze six years ago in a murder-suicide attempt, killing his two children, but who jumped out in time to save himself, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of murder.

Dae Kwon Yun, 61, agreed to serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. In exchange, prosecutors said they would no longer seek the death penalty.

Just before he entered the courtroom, a sheriff’s deputy told the judge the man’s status had been changed to “suicidal.” Yun appeared in a thick dark green frock, chained and handcuffed at the waist and his hair disheveled.

He responded to the prosecutor’s question’s regarding the terms of his plea in a barely audible voice through a Korean interpreter, his eyes a blank stare.

A Toyota Sequoia containing Yun and his two children burst into flames in downtown Los Angeles in April 2006, two weeks after the businessman shut down his T-shirt manufacturing business and a week after his wife of 13 years filed for divorce.
Detectives said at the time that Yun appeared to have doused the interior of the SUV with fuel before setting it on fire. A witness testified in 2008 that he saw Yun shouting at his 11-year-old daughter, Ashley, before grabbing her and shoving her into the back seat of his car.

After the vehicle went up in flames, Yun rolled out onto the ground with his legs aflame, the witness, Nelson A. Calderon, recalled at a preliminary hearing. Yun yelled for help, but never once gestured toward the SUV, the witness said.

A firefighter testified that the burned body of Ashley’s brother, 10-year-old Alexander, was positioned in a way that showed he was trying to open the back door. Yun suffered burns to his face, hands and legs but survived.

Yun had faced financial difficulties due to gambling debt, as well as $100,000 he owed in back taxes.

His wife and the children’s mother, Sun Ok Ma, testified that he repeatedly beat her and threatened to kill her and burn down their home, leading up to their separation and divorce.

He had previously pleaded guilty in 2004 to beating Ma, and was sentenced to two years’ probation.

This area is widgetised! To make use of this area, put some widgets in the 'Main Sidebar' section.

• Trending Now

  anaheim arrest arrested burglary california children chp crime death drugs dui fbi gang gang violence gunman hollywood homicide investigation irvine jail killed lapd las vegas law enforcement lawsuit los angeles los angeles news los angeles police murder northern california orange county police police officer shooting protest rape robbery san bernardino san diego security guard shooting shot southern california suicide violence violent crime