Cesar Valle, 22, faced a life term in prison if convicted of robbery, burglary and other charges. But with potential jurors waiting outside Superior Court Judge W. Valle and co-defendant Christian F. Cabrera, 22, were arrested in April after Santa Ana police were dispatched to an apartment on North Ross Street on a call of a home-invasion robbery in progress. By the time police arrived, the robbers were gone.
But police did find seven men dressed as women in the small apartment with several mattresses on the floor, according to Deputy District Attorney Erik Petersen. One victim had a deep laceration on his head, and all appeared to be frightened and some were crying, according to court records.
A victim reported that Valle and others returned around midnight on April 17, assaulted one of the prostitutes, demanded money, stole a laptop and a cell phone from a table and fled in a white sedan before police arrived, according to the transcript. Valle and Cabrera were arrested three days later when they cruised by the apartment in a white sedan while police detectives were conducting a follow-up interview, Petersen said. Cabrera pleaded guilty in to street-gang activity and second-degree robbery and is serving a five-year prison term.
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