A Mexican national with a history of criminal activity, including a vehicular manslaughter conviction for the deaths of two teenagers in Orange County, has been arraigned on a federal immigration charge. Oscar Eduardo Ortega, 43, who has been deported twice before, pleaded not guilty to being an illegal alien found in the United States following removal.
United States Magistrate Judge John D. Early ordered Ortega to be detained and set a trial date for September 8.
“After being deported to Mexico twice, he returned to our country, where he killed two young people in a DUI accident and where he served only 3½ years out of a 10-year sentence in California state prison,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Governor Newsom let down the victims’ families by allowing this criminal to be released from prison after barely serving a third of his sentence. The state of the criminal justice system in California is dire, the prisons are being emptied at lighting speed. Thankfully, the federal government is able to step in and help deliver justice for the victims and their families in this case.”
“Ortega never should have been in our country, and he should never have been given an early release after killing Anya Varfolomeev and Nikolay Osokin,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar stated. “Today, a small amount of justice has been done. The grief will never go away, but we continue to pray for Anya and Nikolay’s families as well as all Americans harmed by illegal immigration.”
The indictment states that Ortega was removed from the United States in December 2016 and June 2018. In November 2021, while under the influence of alcohol and drugs and driving at high speeds on the 405 freeway in Seal Beach, Ortega crashed into another car, resulting in the deaths of two 19-year-olds.
In 2022, Ortega was convicted on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and sentenced to ten years in California state prison but was released after serving approximately three-and-a-half years.
On Thursday, U.S. immigration officials took him into custody again.
Ortega’s past convictions include grand theft of personal property and unlawful taking of a vehicle in Los Angeles Superior Court (2005) and false imprisonment by violence and deceit in Orange County Superior Court (2014).
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime; every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
If convicted on this federal charge, Ortega could face up to ten years in federal prison.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating this case with Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence E. Kole prosecuting it from the Orange County Office.
