In the Pasadena Courthouse This Week

This week, five high-profile Pasadena criminal cases will move forward in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena. 

OCT. 6-Pretrial Hearing for Antonio Nozar

Antonio Nozar, aka Ali Nozar, 52, of Glendale, faces one misdemeanor count each of practicing medicine without a certificate and sexual battery. Nozar was the owner of a Glendale laser hair removal business, who on Aug. 5, 2015, was accused of sexually assaulting a client during her treatment at his Smooth Skin Laser Clinic, prosecutors said. 

Also named in the complaint is co-defendant Hooshang Tabibian, 81, of Los Angeles, who faces one misdemeanor count of conspiring, aiding, or abetting another to practice medicine without a certificate. 

Nozar is alleged to have been performing laser hair removal procedures using Tabibian’s name and medical license to make his business appear legitimate, prosecutors said. 

On Aug. 5, 2015, Nozar was accused of sexually assaulting a client during her treatment at his Smooth Skin Laser Clinic. He was arrested on Aug. 17, 2016. Police called on other possible victims of Nozar to come out. 

If convicted as charged, Nozar faces one year and six months in county jail and Tabibian faces one year in jail. Both defendants also face a maximum $10,000 fine. 

OCT. 7-Sentencing Hearing for Robert Allen Stout and Jose Anthony Valdivieso 

Robert Allen Stout, 20, of Van Nuys, and Jose Anthony Valdivieso, 21, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in connection with a man’s shooting death outside a party in Burbank on March 2, 2019. 

During the trial, prosecutors said Stout and Valdivieso were allegedly involved in a fight in which Christian Guevara, 21, was shot to death with a handgun. 

Both men initially pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned on March 11, 2019.

Stout could face a possible maximum sentence of 40 years to life in state prison, and Valdivieso faces 16 years to life. 

OCT. 7-Preliminary Hearing Setting for Sean David Sigler

Sean David Sigler, 56, of Burbank, a former elementary school teacher, pleaded guilty on Sept. 5, 2019, to federal criminal charges for sexually exploiting his 15-year-old former student by producing pornographic images of her. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said Sigler pleaded guilty to two felony counts of production of child pornography. 

Sigler, whom a federal grand jury indicted in May 2018, previously taught fifth-grade students at Bret Harte Elementary School in Burbank and at Gardner Street Elementary School in Hollywood. 

He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 60 years in federal prison. Each count of production of child pornography also carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. 

OCT. 7-Pretrial Hearing for Telly R. Johnson

Telly R. Johnson, 42, of Los Angeles, is charged with stabbing a 52-year-old man at an apartment complex in Pasadena on March 1, 2019. 

Johnson was arrested in Los Angeles hours after the crime. 

Authorities said officers had conducted a block-by-block search in Pasadena, in an area bounded by Green Street and California Boulevard, from Los Robles Avenue to Marengo Avenue. Mayfield Junior School was placed on lockdown for several hours. 

The victim, identified as Byron Young Nettles, was attacked in the 100 block of South Euclid Avenue. Nettles succumbed to his wounds at a nearby hospital.

Johnson is in custody, with bail set at $2 million. 

OCT. 9-Preliminary Hearing Setting for Jordan Byrd and John Poh

Jordan Byrd, 23, and John Poh, 24, are charged with three counts of murder in connection with the killings of three men in Glendale on April 18, 2019, in what detectives believe was a targeted home-invasion robbery. 

The victims were identified as  Deandre Tyronne Sims, 36; Leon Gough, 50; and Christian Moukam Wamba, 35. 

Prosecutors said the murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, murder for financial gain, murder during the commission of a robbery, and murder during the commission of a burglary, along with allegations that both men personally and intentionally discharged a handgun. 

The two men were arrested in June in the Murfreesboro, Tennessee area, and pleaded not guilty to the charges on Dec. 6, 2019. They could face the death penalty if convicted.