Prison Escapee Arrested in Anaheim
A prison escapee described by authorities as a major figure in the pornography industry was arrested Tuesday morning inside an apartment he had been renting since January.
Ruben Sturman, 68, was surprised by federal marshals at 7:10 a.m. at the apartment in the 2500 block of West Ball Road.
He was arrested without incident, but officers found a loaded .45-caliber pistol in an open briefcase next to his bed, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Jan Axthelm.
“Through a lot of good investigative work, they were able to find him,” Axthelm said.
Sturman, formerly of Van Nuys, had pleaded guilty last May in Las Vegas to federal racketeering and obscenity charges. He was serving a four-year sentence.
He also recently had been convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Cleveland, Ohio, for income tax violations and non-disclosure of foreign bank accounts.
On Dec. 7, Sturman escaped from the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp in Boron, Axthelm said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
