Matthew Ormseth is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Before joining The Times in 2018, he covered city news and state politics at the Hartford Courant.
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Gabriel Zendejas Chavez, indicted in an investigation of the Mexican Mafia’s rackets in L.A. County jails, pleaded guilty to a rarely filed charge called ‘misprision of a felony’ in a deal that may spare him prison time.
Sept. 19, 2024
A young couple targeted four cannabis dispensaries for robberies during a six-week-long spree, prosecutors say. Detectives titled the case file “Romeo and Juliet.”
Sept. 18, 2024
Prosecutors across the country have increasingly turned to murder charges to deter fentanyl sales, but critics say the tactic punishes only low-level suppliers. And in one of L.A.’s first cases, evidence shows how the line between accused dealer and customer can blur into friendship.
Sept. 12, 2024
Ralph Rocha was a suspect in the death of Lucio Rodarte, whose body was found in an alley, blindfolded, gagged and handcuffed. Then Rocha became an informant for the ATF.
Sept. 6, 2024
Ralph Rocha infiltrated negotiations between the Mexican Mafia and a cartel for the ATF. His handlers didn’t know he made secret tapes that would jeopardize the case.
Sept. 5, 2024
Ralph Rocha made secret tapes documenting his tenure as an informant. Were they an insurance policy? A way to blow off steam? An early stab at a screenplay?
Sept. 4, 2024
A Chinese millionaire, a cop for hire and an Irvine family: Inside a twisted global business dispute
Federal prosecutors say former L.A. County Sheriff’s employees helped a woman in China extort her former business partner for $100 million in disputed shares.
Aug. 30, 2024
Former law enforcement and military officers are accused of using threats and violence in an effort to extort an Irvine man for nearly $37 million.
Aug. 12, 2024
Alyssa Esquivel claims she was eventually suspended without pay for wearing a “Trump-themed” backpack to the San Gabriel school where she worked as a teacher’s aide.
Aug. 3, 2024
Daniel Mayer Selznick, the last immediate member of a family that produced some of Hollywood’s most iconic films, died Thursday of natural causes. He was 88.
Aug. 3, 2024