
The District Attorney’s Office also has said it would not seek any consideration from the judge for Perez on those two cases. Prosecutors later agreed not to use evidence gathered by Perez in the two cases.

The following year Dekraai, the Seal Beach shooter, landed in a cell next to Perez after Dekraai’s arrest on charges of killing eight people at a hair salon.Īssistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, who represents Wozniak and Dekraai, accused prosecutors of planting Perez next his clients in violation of constitutional law and then hidingevidence about his role.
DESIREE PEREZ INFORMANT TRIAL
Perez also gathered incriminating statements in 2010 from community theater actor Daniel Wozniak, who was awaiting trial on double-murder charges. Later, after Perez became an informant, the same prosecutor described Perez in a future court appearance as a credible informant who turned his life around, according to court records.ĭuring his time behind bars, Perez provided information about pending attacks on jail inmates and sheriff’s deputies, saving about 11 people from being hurt or killed, his defense attorney, Richard Curran said in a court motion. The prosecutor on the case presented Perez to a jury as a liar and a hardened criminal. Do not use.” Perez was caught keeping a gun at his home.Īround 2009, Perez – a rising Mexican Mafia member – took another shot at working as an informant after his conviction in the third-strike gun case. His confidential informant card contains the notation, by an Anaheim detective: “Terminated as a CI. He has been jailed in Orange County for about eight years.Īccording to court documents, Perez’s tenure as an informant almost ended before it began around 2001. Perez’s rap sheet also includes convictions for robbery, gun charges, possession of a stolen vehicle and enhancements for being a gang member. In a separate case, from a 2006 arrest, he is charged with methamphetamine possession.

The current case against Perez stems from his 2007 arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Prickett described the case as “unique.” He then postponed sentencing to Friday. Judge Prickett listened as local and federal prosecutors and an FBI agent praised the informant for nearly an hour in his packed Santa Ana courtroom.
DESIREE PEREZ INFORMANT SERIES
Perez’s testimony against a top Mexican Mafia leader and 100 other gang members has led to a series of convictions “like dominoes falling,” McNally said.
