Son Turned in by Mom Sentenced

A robber whose mother turned him in after seeing his picture on a TV news show was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

“If only all mothers were so law-enforcement minded,” said Jerry Schaffer, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case.

Richard Micah Mafa Tuvale, 20, was arrested Jan. 25 after his mother, Moeitai Castrellon, saw his picture in a TV news report that police were seeking him in connection with more than a dozen liquor-store holdups in north county.

Police said Castrellon, 41, drove to her son’s Stanton home and told him, “Get in the car, we’re going somewhere.” She then drove him directly to the nearest Orange County sheriff’s station, where he was taken into custody.

“I love my son,” she later said, but feared he would be shot if he remained at large. “I think I saved my son’s life when I brought him in.”

On Thursday, Castrellon appeared at the West Justice Center in Westminster seeking leniency for her son. “She said that the conduct for which he was in court was not reflective of what kind of a person he is,” Schaffer said.

Tuvale could have received a 30-year sentence for the string of robberies, committed with a BB gun. Police said he robbed stores in Cypress, Garden Grove, Buena Park and Westminster, some of them more than once. No one was hurt.

In giving him only a third of that, the commissioner considered his age, lack of a criminal record and the fact he pleaded guilty at an early stage, Schaffer said.

“He was fairly forthright with the police regarding his involvement,” Schaffer said. “Once he was apprehended, he was fairly cooperative and helped clear up a lot of cases.”