3 ‘Slick 50’s’ Teens Set to Plead Guilty

Three South County teenagers charged in last summer’s near-fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old said Tuesday that they will probably plead guilty to being gang members and participating in the assault in exchange for more lenient jail terms.

The teenagers--Steve Crader, 17, of Aliso Viejo; Kurtis Pinedo, 17, of Laguna Hills; and Joshua Riazi, 16, of Dana Point--each faced 15 years to life in prison if convicted at trial. They continue to deny being gang members but said they are prepared to accept a prosecutor’s offer to plead guilty in exchange for a one-year jail sentence.

“We have to say we’re something we’re not, and plead guilty to something we don’t believe in, just to get less jail time for something that shouldn’t have gotten this far in the first place,” Steve Crader said outside court.

While not uncommon in Orange County’s more urban areas, the gang allegation shook the sprawling communities where the boys live and sparked widespread debate. Sheriff’s deputies said the charges were warranted, even though the boys--who have no criminal records--defy the stereotype of gang members. But some residents believe officials overreacted. Many were caught off-guard by charges of gang activity in their neighborhoods.

The morning’s dry legal proceedings were capped off by an emotional reunion for Steve Crader. As he walked out of the Orange County Superior Courthouse in Santa Ana, he spotted his father, whom he had not seen in years.

“Oh my God, it’s my dad!” he said, rushing into his father’s arms. “No way!”

Ken Crader, 34, said he learned about the charges his son was facing in a story in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times. The article examined questions the case raised about gangs and life in the suburbs, where many parents--and often single moms--struggle to rear their children. The elder Crader, of Chino Hills, said he “got the chills” when he read that his son was being asked to plead guilty to an assault charge--the same crime he himself was accused of when he was just 17.

“I had to be here,” Ken Crader said. “I care about what happens to him, even if I haven’t been the best at showing it.”

Ken Crader and his ex-wife, Yolanda Radig, said they hope their son will accept the plea agreement.

“They’re caught here,” Ken Crader said. “They don’t have a choice, and I wouldn’t bank on the sympathies of the public when it comes to the word ‘gang.’ ”

The teens continue to insist that their group of friends, who go by the name “Slick 50’s,” is nothing more than a harmless club for boys who enjoy music and memorabilia from that decade.

The Times generally doesn’t identify juvenile crime suspects, but in this case, the teenagers are being prosecuted as adults. Under the proposed plea agreement, authorities would also allow the defendants to serve the time in a local jail facility closer to home.

The Aug. 11 incident occurred in a gated community in Aliso Viejo, where a group of teenagers from Aliso Niguel High School were having a party. Orange County sheriff’s deputies said the suspects, well-known for their trademark cuffed pants, white T-shirts and greased back hair, attacked 16-year-old Galen Thorne of Aliso Viejo, cracking a beer bottle over his head and stabbing him three times.

If accepted Monday, the plea agreement bolsters sheriff’s deputies’ claim that the boys and their group meet the legal definition of a gang. They say the suspects are part of a new breed of suburban gangs that they’ve labeled “bully gangs,” because they often target individual victims and assault them as a group.

Investigators have long promoted a “zero tolerance” approach to gang activity to prevent them from taking hold as they have elsewhere in the county.

Two additional suspects, Jesse Grist, 17, of Laguna Niguel, and Josh Carlsen, 21, of Dana Point, were not offered the same agreement because prosecutors believe they played a more active role in the attack. The only suspect with a criminal record, Carlsen is expected to plead guilty in hopes of receiving a lesser sentence, but no formal arrangements have been made.

Jesse Grist, however, will likely go to trial because he feels he has nothing to lose.

“We don’t know what else to do,” said his mother, Janice Grist, 55. “At least with a jury, we have a chance, some hope, that they will see the truth.”

Radig and the other teens’ mothers said they hope Judge Frank F. Fasel will take other factors into consideration when sentencing their sons, including their efforts to keep up with school in the months since they were released on bail.

The boys also volunteered for several community service events in Dana Point and renewed their involvement in their church youth groups, they said.

“I don’t see how more time in jail is going to help these kids,” Radig said. “They know they made a mistake. But they have so much going for them now.”

The thought of returning to jail frightens the teens, who grew quiet when the conversation centered on the topic. Steve Crader said he hopes to be released before his 18th birthday next February, and vowed to write letters to Gov. Gray Davis asking for permission to take his guitar with him to jail.

“If I have my guitar, I’ll be fine,” he said after the hearing Tuesday. “That’s the only way I’ll make it.”