A man serving a life sentence for kidnapping and mutilating a marijuana dispensary owner has been given extra time to plan a daring, elaborate escape from a Southern California prison

Mar 24, 2023 7:07pm ET

• 3 minutes read

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A man serving a life sentence for kidnapping and mutilating a marijuana dispensary owner was sentenced Friday to an additional sentence for plotting a daring, elaborate escape from a Southern California prison.

Hossein Nayeri, 44, was sentenced to a maximum of two years and eight months in state prison for escaping the Orange County Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana on Jan. 22, 2016 and stealing a van while fleeing.

Nayeri and two other men used smuggled tools to cut the 1/2-inch-thick bars on a metal grid in their maximum-security cell, then climbed through installation shafts inside the walls to reach the roof, where they rappeled down five stories with a rope made of bedding, according to authorities, and a cell phone video shot by Nayeri.

The men then kidnapped a 72-year-old unlicensed tax driver at gunpoint and forced him to drive them away at gunpoint, prosecutors said.

For five days, the man drove the fugitives around as they fled, stopping at various motels as they took his car and a stolen van hundreds of miles north to San Jose, prosecutors said.

One fugitive, Bac Tien Duong, later feared the driver would be killed and fled with him back to Southern California, authorities said.

Nayeri and Jonathan Tieu were arrested in San Francisco the next day after a man recognized them from media reports, prosecutors said.

The taxi driver testified at Nayeri’s trial and credited Duong with saving his life. Nayeri was found guilty of prison break and van theft last week but acquitted of kidnapping, a charge that carried a potential life sentence.

Duong was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021 for escape and kidnapping. Tieu is awaiting trial for the escape, prosecutors said.

At the time of his prison break, Nayeri was awaiting trial on charges that he and two friends kidnapped, tortured and mutilated a marijuana dispensary owner in 2012. The owner and an acquaintance were kidnapped from a home in Newport Beach because robbers mistakenly believed he had buried $1 million in the Mojave Desert, prosecutors said.

He was beaten with rubber hoses, shocked with a taser, burned with a blowtorch and finally his penis was cut off before the robbers fled, prosecutors said. The money was never found.

Nayeri fled to Iran. But later he was caught in the Czech Republic and extradited. In 2020, he was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole and a seven-year sentence for torture for kidnapping.

Nayeri’s co-defendants were also convicted.

The post California jailbreak mastermind sentenced for daring escape appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Sean Emery
The Orange County Registry

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — More than six years after three men brazenly escaped from an Orange County jail, the trial of the accused mastermind of the prison break: a Newport Beach cannabis grower and former international fugitive who has since been convicted and to was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and torture in prison.

Hossein Nayeri listens to opening statements at the Supreme Court in Santa Ana, CA. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft following his escape from an Orange County jail in 2016. (Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Hossein Nayeri, 44, has previously publicly admitted taking part in the 2016 escape from Santa Ana’s Central Jail Complex, even recording the escape on a contraband cell phone. An intensive week-long manhunt ended with Nayeri and his fellow fugitives being re-arrested.

On Monday, as Nayeri’s final trial began in a Santa Ana courtroom less than a block from the scene of the prison break, his defense attorney dismissed prosecutor’s claims that Nayeri was also involved in kidnapping a taxi driver or stealing a van, according to the headline-grabbing Escape.

At the time of the escape, Nayeri — whom prosecutors had previously likened to the fictional Hannibal Lecter and described as a “psychopath” and a “truly diabolical criminal” — was already accused of orchestrating one of Orange County’s most violent and shocking crimes in recent memory.

In 2012, Nayeri and two high school friends kidnapped and tortured a marijuana dispensary owner who they mistakenly believed had a non-existent million dollars buried in the Mojave Desert. The pharmacy’s owner was beaten with plastic tubing, shocked with a taser and burned with a blowtorch before his penis was cut off and he was left tied up in the desert.

A woman who was kidnapped along with the owner of the pharmacy managed to escape and waved for help. The missing body part was never found.

Nayeri quickly fled the country and traveled to his native Iran before being identified as a suspect in the kidnapping and torture.

Unbeknownst to Nayeri, his then-wife agreed to work with law enforcement to persuade him to travel to another country, where he was arrested and extradited to the United States.

[EARLIER: Calif. officials: Staffing issues aided inmates escape]

While at the local jail, Nayeri reportedly teamed up with two other inmates — Bac Tien Duong and Jonathan Tieu — and spent months cutting half-inch steel bars to gain access to plumbing tunnels inside the central prison complex.

During a visit to the prison, Duong Loc provided Nguyen, an old friend, with a list of items needed for the escape, including cell phones, rope, a utility knife, and civilian clothes.

During Monday’s testimony, Nguyen said he agreed to bring the items “out of fear.” He described walking out of the prison twice in the early hours of the morning, where he attached backpacks filled with the items to ropes with hooks, which inmates apparently used to pull the bags onto the prison roof.

“What did you think the items would be used for?” Assistant District Attorney David McMurrin asked Nguyen.

“Definitely wanted to use it to try to escape from prison,” Nguyen replied, adding that Duong once mentioned meeting another inmate who had “this fantastic plan” for a prison break.

On January 22, 2016, Nayeri, Duong and Tieu allegedly climbed rungs in the installation tunnels to get to the roof of the prison, where they rappel five stories down the side of the building using a makeshift rope made of bed sheets. Nguyen admitted picking up the three men not far away and driving them to a residence in Westminster.

Prosecutors said the three men were in high spirits after their escape.

“They laughed, they said they were famous that Mr. Nayeri planned this for seven and a half months,” McMurrin told jurors.

According to prosecutors, the men then contacted Long Ma, an allegedly unsuspecting independent taxi driver who advertised in local Vietnamese newspapers. Ma picked the men up and drove them to Rosemead, where he said they had a gun pointed at him.

“He didn’t want to be there,” McMurrin said of the cab driver. “He was afraid for his life”

The three escapees and Ma – who said he was being held against his will – spent several nights in hotels around Rosemead while a massive law enforcement trawl searched for them. The fugitives then stole a van in Los Angeles and drove to San Jose, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors have previously claimed that the “honeymoon phase” between the Bay Area fugitives had gone “sour,” culminating in Nayeri and Duong falling out during a heated argument in a hotel room over what to do with the cab driver. bumped into each other. Nayeri wanted to kill Ma, prosecutors claim, while the taxi driver said Duong fought to keep him alive.

Nayeri and Tieu eventually left the hotel room, McMurrin told jurors, and Duong decided to go with Ma and drive back to Santa Ana, where Duong turned himself in to authorities. Nayeri and Tieu were found in San Francisco a day later, ending the week-long manhunt.

During a previous trial, Duong’s lawyer framed Nayeri as the mastermind behind the escape, arguing that Duong simply wanted to get out of prison, meet some women, and then flee to Vietnam. The taxi driver credited Duong with saving his life and asked a judge for clemency. Duong was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for both escaping prison and the attempted murder case that landed him behind bars in the first place.

Nayeri, in his own testimony during the 2019 torture and kidnapping trial, admitted to escaping prison and stated that he felt he was being followed by law enforcement.

“Mr. Nayeri accepts responsibility for the escape,” defense attorney Michael Goldfeder told the jury Monday.

Goldfeder described Duong, not Nayeri, as the actual mastermind behind the escape and said Nayeri was not present when Duong stole the van in Los Angeles.

Defense attorneys also claimed that Ma was not kidnapped, arguing that the cab driver would be paid $10,000 for his role in escaping the manhunt. The defense attorney said Ma took remittances for the fugitives and checked them into motel rooms. He also showed the jury pictures of a smiling Ma and Tieu standing on a Northern California pier amid the manhunt.

“Mr. Ma is a willing, consenting participant in moving these people around,” Goldfeder said. “It’s just four people working together in unison.”

Tieu will be tried separately for his alleged role in the escape.

Nayeri is already serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping and torture case, regardless of the outcome of the prison escape trial.

©2023 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Visit ocregister.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BEFORE: A year later, escaping from a California prison remains a fresh wound

The post Trial begins for alleged mastermind behind Calif. jail escape appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Hossein Nayeri listens to opening statements in the Supreme Court in Santa Ana, California on Monday, March 6, 2023. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft following his escape from an Orange County jail in 2016. At the time, he was awaiting trial for the kidnapping and torture of a marijuana dispensary owner, for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

More than six years after three men brazenly escaped from an Orange County jail, the trial of the accused mastermind of the prison break, a Newport Beach marijuana grower and former international fugitive who has since been sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and torture, began Monday became .

Hossein Nayeri, 44, has previously publicly admitted taking part in the 2016 escape from Santa Ana’s Central Jail Complex, even recording the escape on a contraband cell phone. An intensive week-long manhunt ended with Nayeri and his fellow fugitives being re-arrested.

On Monday, as Nayeri’s final trial began in a Santa Ana courtroom less than a block from the scene of the prison break, his defense attorney dismissed prosecutor’s claims that Nayeri was also involved in kidnapping a taxi driver or stealing a van, according to the headline-grabbing Escape.

• Assistant District Attorney David McMurrin delivers his opening statement at Hossein Nayeri’s trial in Superior Court in Santa Ana, California on Monday, March 6, 2023. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft following his escape from an Orange County jail in 2016, following Bac Duong and Jonathan Tieu. Also pictured is her accomplice Loc Nguyen, below. At the time, he was awaiting trial for kidnapping and torturing a marijuana dispensary owner, for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Hossein Nayeri’s attorney, Michael Goldfeder, shows the jury a photo during opening remarks in the Supreme Court on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Santa Ana, California. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft after escaping an Orange County jail in 2016. For a time, he awaited trial for kidnapping and torturing a marijuana dispensary owner, for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Hossein Nayeri appears before the Supreme Court on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Santa Ana, CA. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft following his escape from an Orange County jail in 2016. At that point, he was awaiting trial for kidnapping and torturing a marijuana pharmacist, for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Judge Larry Yellin addresses the jury Monday, March 6, 2023 before the trial for Hossein Nayeri in the Superior Court in Santa Ana, California. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft following his escape from an Orange County jail in 2016. At the time he was awaiting trial for kidnapping and torturing a marijuana dispensary owner, for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

• Hossein Nayeri listens to opening statements in the Supreme Court in Santa Ana, California on Monday, March 6, 2023. Nayeri is accused of kidnapping and vehicle theft following his escape from an Orange County jail in 2016. At the time, he was awaiting trial for the kidnapping and torture of a marijuana dispensary owner, for which he has since been convicted and sentenced to multiple life sentences. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

At the time of the escape, Nayeri — whom prosecutors had previously likened to the fictional Hannibal Lecter and described as a “psychopath” and a “truly diabolical criminal” — was already accused of orchestrating one of Orange County’s most violent and shocking crimes in recent memory.

In 2012, Nayeri and two high school friends kidnapped and tortured a marijuana dispensary owner who they mistakenly believed had a non-existent million dollars buried in the Mojave Desert. The pharmacy’s owner was beaten with plastic tubing, shocked with a taser and burned with a blowtorch before his penis was cut off and he was left tied up in the desert.

A woman who was kidnapped along with the owner of the pharmacy managed to escape and waved for help. The missing body part was never found.

Nayeri quickly fled the country and traveled to his native Iran before being identified as a suspect in the kidnapping and torture.

Unbeknownst to Nayeri, his then-wife agreed to work with law enforcement to persuade him to travel to another country, where he was arrested and extradited to the United States.

While at the local jail, Nayeri reportedly teamed up with two other inmates — Bac Tien Duong and Jonathan Tieu — and spent months cutting half-inch steel bars to gain access to plumbing tunnels inside the central prison complex.

During a visit to the prison, Duong Loc provided Nguyen, an old friend, with a list of items needed for the escape, including cell phones, rope, a utility knife, and civilian clothes.

During Monday’s testimony, Nguyen said he agreed to bring the items “out of fear.” He described walking out of the prison twice in the early hours of the morning, where he attached backpacks filled with the items to ropes with hooks, which inmates apparently used to pull the bags onto the prison roof.

“What did you think the items would be used for?” Assistant District Attorney David McMurrin asked Nguyen.

“Definitely wanted to use it to try to escape from prison,” Nguyen replied, adding that Duong once mentioned meeting another inmate who had “this fantastic plan” for a prison break.

On January 22, 2016, Nayeri, Duong and Tieu allegedly climbed rungs in the installation tunnels to get to the roof of the prison, where they rappeled five stories down the side of the building using a makeshift rope made of bed sheets. Nguyen admitted picking up the three men not far away and driving them to a residence in Westminster.

Prosecutors said the three men were in high spirits after their escape.

“They laughed, they said they were famous that Mr. Nayeri planned this for seven and a half months,” McMurrin told jurors.

According to prosecutors, the men then contacted Long Ma, an allegedly unsuspecting independent taxi driver who advertised in local Vietnamese newspapers. Ma picked the men up and drove them to Rosemead, where he said they had a gun pointed at him.

“He didn’t want to be there,” McMurrin said of the cab driver. “He was afraid for his life”

The three fugitives and Ma – who said he was being held against his will – spent several nights in hotels around Rosemead while a massive law enforcement trawl searched for them. The fugitives then stole a van in Los Angeles and drove to San Jose, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors have previously claimed that the “honeymoon phase” between the Bay Area fugitives had gone “sour,” culminating in Nayeri and Duong falling out during a heated argument in a hotel room over what to do with the cab driver, bumped into each other. Nayeri wanted to kill Ma, prosecutors claim, while the taxi driver said Duong fought to keep him alive.

Nayeri and Tieu eventually left the hotel room, McMurrin told jurors, and Duong decided to go with Ma and drive back to Santa Ana, where Duong turned himself in to authorities. Nayeri and Tieu were found in San Francisco a day later, ending the week-long manhunt.

During a previous trial, Duong’s lawyer framed Nayeri as the mastermind behind the escape, arguing that Duong simply wanted to get out of prison, meet some women, and then flee to Vietnam. The taxi driver credited Duong with saving his life and asked a judge for clemency. Duong was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for both escaping prison and the attempted murder case that landed him behind bars in the first place.

Nayeri, in his own testimony during the 2019 torture and kidnapping trial, admitted to escaping prison and stated that he felt he was being followed by law enforcement.

“Mr. Nayeri accepts responsibility for the escape,” defense attorney Michael Goldfeder told the jury Monday.

Goldfeder described Duong, not Nayeri, as the actual mastermind behind the escape and said Nayeri was not present when Duong stole the van in Los Angeles.

Defense attorneys also claimed that Ma was not kidnapped, arguing that the cab driver would be paid $10,000 for his role in escaping the manhunt. The defense attorney said Ma took remittances for the fugitives and checked them into motel rooms. He also showed the jury pictures of a smiling Ma and Tieu standing on a Northern California pier amid the manhunt.

“Mr. Ma is a willing, consenting participant in moving these people around,” Goldfeder said. “It’s just four people working together in unison.”

Tieu will be tried separately for his alleged role in the escape.

Nayeri is already serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping and torture case, regardless of the outcome of the prison escape trial.

The post Trial begins for alleged mastermind behind Orange County jailbreak – Orange County Register appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.