A child dead, weighing less at age 11 than she had at age 5. A beloved teacher accused of molesting a young student. A notorious con man back behind bars after escaping custody.
They are the among some of the most closely-watched criminal cases in San Diego County over the last few years that are expected to land in courtrooms over the coming months.
Here’s a look at the high-profile criminal cases the Union-Tribune will be watching in 2024.
‘Fat Leonard’ returns
Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian military contractor behind the worst public corruption scandal in U.S. Navy history, will be back in front of a San Diego federal judge to face the sentence he tried to escape. And he is likely in even more trouble now.
Better known as “Fat Leonard” for his immense size, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges in 2015 — admitting to bilking the Navy out of at least $35 million in overcharges — and spent several years on house arrest in San Diego, cooperating as federal prosecutors chased criminal cases against military officers.
But on Sept. 4, 2022, with those cases wrapped and just days before he was to be sentenced, Francis cut off his GPS tracker and fled from the upscale Carmel Valley-area home he shared with family.
Interpol agents arrested him 16 days later in Venezuela, ready to board a plane to Russia. He remained in South America for more than a year, returning to the U.S. a few weeks ago as a big name in a prisoner swap agreement with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Francis was flown to Miami, and on Dec. 23 a federal judge ordered him returned to San Diego. As of Friday, he remained in federal custody in Florida. Federal prosecutors said new charges related to his escape were likely.
Antifa conspiracy
In this Jan. 9, 2021, photo, black-clad anti-fascist counterprotesters fight a person on the Pacific Beach boardwalk.
(Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego prosecutors have charged several people in what is believed to be one of the first cases to use conspiracy charges — in this instance, conspiracy to commit a riot — to target alleged members of antifa, a term often used to describe the anti-fascist movement.
The case traces to three days after supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. On Jan. 9, 2021, several dozen local Trump backers rallied in Pacific Beach. The local march had been scheduled before the Capitol riot.
Black-clad anti-fascists showed up to counterprotest. With about 100 people on each side, the groups clashed throughout the day.
Several months later, in December 2021, prosecutors charged 11 counterprotesters with conspiracy to riot and other felonies.
While people on both sides of the conflict were seen carrying out acts of violence, prosecutors alleged that counterprotesters had committed most of it.
Five people have pleaded guilty. Trial for some of the remaining defendants is slated for March — which means picking a jury when presidential election politics will make daily news. California is one of 16 states slated to vote March 5 on Super Tuesday, and several other states will have primaries in following weeks. The judge overseeing the politically fraught case has encouraged both sides to settle.
Political intrigue
Political consultant Jesus Cardenas, far left, and Chula Vista Councilmember Andrea Cardenas, far right, during their arraignment Nov. 9 at San Diego Superior Court.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego’s political class was shaken with the November announcement of charges filed against a prominent Democratic fundraiser and his sister, a Chula Vista councilmember. Prosecutors accuse the pair of defrauding a federal COVID-19 relief program.
Political consultant Jesus Cardenas and politician Andrea Cardenas face felony charges including conspiracy.
Jesus Cardenas was once chief of staff to San Diego Councilmember Stephen Whitburn. The political consulting firm he founded has historically been one of the biggest fundraisers for the county Democratic party, and has raised and spent millions for San Diego County candidates and ballot measures in several elections.
Andrea Cardenas is running for reelection in March — pulling papers to run after she was charged.
The two are accused of illegally collecting $176,000 in Paycheck Protection Program funds to assist Grassroots Resources, the political consulting firm founded by Jesus, 41. Andrea, 32, is an employee of the company.
Prosecutors allege the firm was not eligible for the money. Among the reasons: The company said it had 34 employees whose jobs would be saved with federal pandemic aid, but most of those employees actually worked for a local cannabis dispensary, prosecutors allege. Federal law still classifies marijuana as an illegal substance.
Their preliminary hearing in the case is slated for Feb. 20 in San Diego. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Doctor, nurse accused in jail death
San Diego County jails for the past several years have faced criticism for the high ratio of deaths among those in custody. One case led to criminal charges against jail medical staffers — a doctor and a nurse.
Dr. Friederike Von Lintig and nurse Danalee Pascua have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Elisa Serna, 24, who died days after she was booked into Las Colinas Detention Facility in November 2019.
Undated photo of Elisa Serna
(Family photo)
During booking into jail, she reported she used alcohol and drugs. But Serna was not started on the jail’s withdrawal protocol until four days later — the day before she died.
That afternoon, Nov. 11, 2019, Dr. Von Lintig examined Serna after a seizure but did not check on her after a second seizure two hours later, according to prosecution testimony.
Later that evening, Serna collapsed and struck her head in her cell, then suffered a seizure, according to testimony and evidence from a five-day preliminary hearing last summer. A deputy and nurse Pascua had watched her fall and entered the cell. They left her slumped against the wall, according to video shown at the hearing. When she was checked on an hour later, she was dead.
Attorneys for both defendants have pointed to the failure by others to immediately start Serna on the jail’s withdrawal protocol as a factor in her death.
The trial is set for Jan. 17 in El Cajon. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Adoptive family accused of starvation
When Arabella McCormack died at age 11, she weighed just 48 pounds — less than she weighed at age 5. Also known as Aarabella, she had been denied food and water, according to prosecutors. So had her younger sisters, they said.
Arabella McCormack, 11, died Aug 30 in what authorities say was a case of child abuse.
(San Diego County Sheriff’s Department)
Her death certificate indicates she died from COVID-19 in a “setting of severe malnutrition/neglect.”
Sheriff’s investigators quickly eyed her adoptive parents Leticia and Brian McCormack, an East County couple who also served as foster parents before taking the girls in permanently.
When deputies approached Brian McCormack to talk the day the Arabella died, the 19-year Border Patrol veteran shot and killed himself.
Within months, Leticia McCormack, 50, and her parents were arrested in the case. She and her father Stanley Tom were charged with murder, child abuse and torture in the girl’s death. McCormack’s mother, Adella Tom, was charged with child abuse and torture. All three pleaded not guilty.
Last summer, a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Arabella’s sisters targeted the several agencies that had contact with the girl, accusing them of negligence and failing to report concerns. That suit is still in its early stages.
The criminal case has seen repeated delays. The preliminary hearing is slated for Jan. 30 in El Cajon Superior Court.
Murder charge but no body
Button and candles at a prayer vigil in Chula Vista for May “Maya” Millete on Jan. 8, 2022.
(Sandy Huffaker/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
January will mark three years since May “Maya” Millete, a Chula Vista woman with three young children, vanished. Prosecutors charged her husband, Larry Millete, with murder — though no body has been found.
During a 10-day preliminary hearing last January, about 20 prosecution witnesses — friends, family and investigators — testified. Some said the 39-year-old Maya was determined to get a divorce. Among her last known phone calls was to make an appointment with a divorce attorney.
In the months before Maya disappeared, Larry Millete sought help from online “spellcasters.” He first sought to buy spells to control his wife, then later to injure her enough to keep her with him.
On Jan. 7, 2021, he sent several messages begging spellcasters for help to save his marriage. One message read: “I am shaking inside ready to snap.” That was the last day Maya was seen alive.
The next day, Larry Millete was gone for 12 hours, leaving no cellphone trail. A few days later, he bought one more spell, and with a new request: “Can you remove or stop hexing my wife May.”
Millete’s trial had been scheduled for this past fall. It is now scheduled for Aug. 26 in Chula Vista Superior Court. Millete, 42, faces up to life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
Honored teacher accused of molesting student
Jacqueline Ma at her preliminary hearing in Chula Vista Superior Court on Dec. 12, 2023.
(Alejandro Tamayo/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Jacqueline Ma, 35, had long been a favorite fifth- and sixth-grade teacher for nearly a decade in National City, and in August 2022 was selected as a Teacher of the Year, one of five selected by the county.
Seven months later, in March, National City police made a shocking announcement: Ma had been arrested, accused of molesting child who had been a student at her school. Authorities said the parent of a 12-year-old boy contacted police to report a suspected inappropriate relationship.
Ma was charged with several felony counts, including lewd acts on a child and seduction of a minor.
The investigation uncovered a second alleged child victim, also a former elementary student at the school, but that physical relationship did not progress as far, according to testimony at her preliminary hearing in Chula Vista Superior Court in December.
At the end of that hearing, she was ordered to stand trial. No date has been set. She faces life in prison if convicted of all charges. Ma has pleaded not guilty.
