Björn af Kleen: Mobben speglar Trumps väljarkår dn.se - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dn.se Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After unprecedented deal, key Orange County informant again faces life in prison
Oscar Daniel Moriel
By Meghann M. Cuniff
Print
In December 2017, federal prosecutors visited Orange County Superior Court to support something even more unusual than their cross-jurisdictional courtroom presence: an exceptionally light sentence for an attempted murder defendant who once testified he’d killed “up to five, maybe six” people.
Oscar Daniel Moriel originally faced life in prison under California’s three-strikes law when he was charged in 2005, but he spent more than a decade helping federal and state authorities as a jail informant in exchange for unprecedented leniency. Praised by federal and Orange County law enforcement officials as “instrumental” in securing convictions for major crimes, Moriel’s deal was described as fair justice for a man whose work against the Mexican Mafia mitigated his crimes and lessened his threat to public safety.
In December 2017, federal prosecutors visited Orange County Superior Court to support something even more unusual than their cross-jurisdictional courtroom presence: an exceptionally light sentence for an attempted murder defendant who once testified he’d killed “up to five, maybe six” people.
Oscar Daniel Moriel originally faced life in prison under California’s three-strikes law when he was charged in 2005, but he spent more than a decade helping federal and state authorities as a jail informant in exchange for unprecedented leniency. Praised by federal and Orange County law enforcement officials as “instrumental” in securing convictions for major crimes, Moriel’s deal was described as fair justice for a man whose work against the Mexican Mafia mitigated his crimes and lessened his threat to public safety.