News

New Deputy DAs Sworn In for 2024

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced the swearing-in today of a new class of 14 Deputy District Attorneys, who took their oath at the Superior Courthouse downtown. The members of the new class, who have diverse professional and personal backgrounds, bring an array of rich experience to the DA’s Office. “I am very […]

San Marcos Man Sentenced to Prison for Killing His Mother with a Hammer

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that a 32-year-old San Marcos man, who pleaded guilty in October to the first-degree murder of his 68-year-old mother, has been sentenced to 31 years-to-life in prison. In June 2021, Sean McCarthy broke into the home of his parents through the back sliding door and attacked […]

Rapist Sentenced for Crimes Committed in 1999

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that defendant Mark Thompson Hunter, 66, was sentenced to 130 years-to-life in state prison for kidnapping and raping a teenage girl multiple times on February 17, 1999 in Escondido. Judge Robert Kearney handed down the lengthy sentence after Hunter was convicted by a jury in October […]

Fatal DUIs Spike Amid COVID-19

DUI Driver Sentenced for Hit and Run That Killed a 19-Month-Old Toddler

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that a defendant who drove drunk, struck and killed a 1-year-old child has been sentenced to 15 years-to-life in prison plus an additional four years in prison for fleeing the scene. Margarito Angeles Vargas, 47, was driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than double the […]

4S Ranch Man Duped Friends in Ponzi Scheme; Additional Victims Sought

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced felony charges today against 52-year-old Rodolfo Villareal of 4S Ranch, who is suspected of engaging in a Ponzi scheme with multiple victims he befriended. Villareal was charged with two counts of securities fraud, three counts of grand theft and one count of forgery, for his role in […]

DA Stephan Testifies Before Congressional Committee About Strategies to Fight Organized Retail Crime

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan testified in Washington, D.C. today before the House Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence, providing her perspective on the increasing crime of organized retail theft. At a hearing titled, “From Festive Cheer to Retail Fear: Addressing Organized Retail Crime,” DA Stephan discussed the scope of the problem […]