2 OC Inmates Won't Leave Prison Before Sentences End: Spitzer

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Two Orange County inmates with "serious and violent criminal histories" won't be released from state prison after serving only 1/3 of their sentences, District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced Monday.

Their early releases would have come about because of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which adopted "emergency regulations" that would have expedited prisoners' releases by increasing their "credits."

Normally, "second strikers" — individuals previously convicted of serious and violent felonies who are imprisoned for similar crimes — can only receive credits of up to 20 percent, Spitzer's office said in a news release. But the CDCR's "emergency regulations" increased them to 66 percent.

On Dec. 22, Spitzer and 27 other district attorneys filed a petition for a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of that emergency regulation, and the Court granted their petition on Dec. 29.

That means that, at least for now, two Orange County inmates will not be released early.

One inmate is Terry Hammond Williams, who was sentenced to eight years in state prison for human trafficking after he contacted an investigator with the Orange County Sheriff's Department who was posing on Facebook as a 16-year-old girl named Megan.

"Williams learned that 'Megan' and another 15-year-old girl, 'Jessica' were working as prostitutes in Orange County," officials said in a news release. "Williams encouraged Megan and Jessica to leave their present pimp after stealing his cash, guns and jewelry and told them that he'd come get them after he received money from them via a wire transfer."

Williams was aware that the girls were 15 and 16 years old, officials said, and he traveled to an Orange County motel with a plan to pick them up after authorities transferred the money to him.

He has twice been convicted of felony residential burglary, in 2013 and 2016.

Another inmate is Sergio De Rosas, a convicted drug dealer and gang member who repeatedly violated a domestic violence restraining order against the mother of his one-year-old son. De Rosas would contact her with phone calls and texts and would show up at locations where she was, officials said.

On Oct. 12, 2019, he showed up at a laundromat where she was located, asked her for his son, and claimed he had a gun and would shoot cops.

"The investigation later revealed hundreds of messages he sent to the woman threatening to shoot and kill her and kill as many police officers as he could," officials said.

De Rosas was sentenced to 11 years in state prison on Aug. 7, 2020. He has previously been convicted of robbery, possession of methamphetamine for sale, and being a felon in possession of a firearm along with gang enhancements.

"Serious and violent felons should not be given a get-out-of jail free card after serving only a third of their sentence," Spitzer said in a statement. "These reckless policies do nothing to enhance public safety and only serve to re-traumatize the very victims who have had to endure countless court hearings to see these criminals finally sentenced to state prison only to watch them walk right back out years before they should."