Santa Barbara Rapper 'Sad Boy Loko' Gets Caught Up While Coming Up
Feb 20, 2020
OUTCOME: Attempted Murder, Robbery, and Felony Assault by Means of Force Likely to Create Great Bodily Injury with Strike and Gang Enhancements, Dismissed; Plea Deal to single count 245(a)(1), Credit for Time Served
Santa Barbara rap artist 'Sad Boy Loko' (known legally as Mario Hernandez-Pacheco), was sentenced on January 15th to Credit for Time Served after pleading no contest to felony assault and street terror...ism. Pacheco had been held in Santa Barbara County Jail without bail since his arrest on August 3, 2018, resulting in his release from custody in a few short months. Pacheco, 30, through his Santa Barbara Legal Team, Attorneys Adam Pearlman and J'Aimèe L. Oxton, were able to strike a plea deal with prosecutors on behalf of their client to avoid trial on the original charges of Attempted Murder and Robbery. Pacheco was an up-and-coming rapper who gained a large following in his hometown of Santa Barbara and had signed with platinum-selling rapper YG's record label 4Hunnid Records in 2015.
https://www.independent.com/2019/02/28/sad-boy-loko-speaks-independent-one-day-his-arrest/
Juvenile law
Protecting Juveniles from the Trauma of being placed into Deportation Proceedings by ICE
Aug 28, 2015
OUTCOME: Santa Barbara Probation Department has significantly revised its procedures for referring juveniles suspected of being undocumented to ICE, and narrowed the circumstances under which ICE is contacted.
Santa Barbara Criminal Defense Attorney J'Aimèe L. Oxton, who specializes in Juvenile and Criminal Law, has seen how the youth can be broken down by a system that not only isolates them from their sup...port network at home, school and the community, but also diverts them from any court-ordered rehabilitation they might have underway. Santa Barbara defense attorney J’Aimee Oxton, who practices juvenile law, has represented youth who were referred to immigration authorities by the Santa Barbara Probation Department. Since 2011, she has represented about a dozen juveniles referred to ICE, and in the majority of these cases, she said the youth were raised for most of their lives in Santa Barbara County and had parents or guardians in the community. The trauma of the separation is often too much for the minors to handle, said Oxton who had one client who was kept in federal custody for three fourths of the year.
“To be separated from their family for that long, it made it very difficult for him to readjust back into society and to succeed on probation,” Oxton said. “It starts to get exhausting – it wears on them.”
One young boy that Oxton represented chose to be deported to Mexico after a prolonged detention in an ORR facility, not just because he felt isolated, but also because he was concerned about the financial and emotional toll on his mother.
Both the boy and his mother were victims of domestic violence, and qualified to apply for a visa for crime victims. Oxton had already spoken to an immigration attorney on behalf of her client and initiated the visa application process, but expected the wait to be lengthy. It ended up being too long for a boy who had already experienced a childhood of abuse, she said. “He gave up. He didn’t want to fight,” said Oxton.
http://voiceofoc.org/2015/08/lost-boys-out-of-sight-out-of-mind/
Juvenile law
Santa Barbara Jury returns Guilty Verdicts in 1st-Ever Sex Trafficking of a Child Trial in Santa Barbara County History
Mar 13, 2015
OUTCOME: Conviction of Sex Trafficker of Minor Child
The words “human trafficking” may conjure up images of vulnerable victims from far-flung countries, but Santa Barbara County officials warn it’s a growing problem here. In fact, they say it’s particula...rly insidious because many of the cases they’re seeing are minors being trafficked for sex. The Court heard a heartrending witness statement from a young woman, through her victim-advocate Attorney, J'Aimee L. Oxton, who had been forced into prostitution since her early teens. The man convicted of forcing this child into prostitution, Brannon Lawrence Pitcher, was found guilty last month by a jury of two counts of human trafficking of a minor, along with the special allegation that he used force, fear, fraud, deceit, and violence while trafficking a girl, who was 15-16 at the time. Pitcher also was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine, and 73 counts of disobeying a court order. Judge Brian Hill sentenced Pitcher to 38 years to life in prison. Pitcher must also pay more than $15,000 in fines, including $3,091 in fines to the victim directly. The case came to light in July 2013, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Santa Barbara Police Department tracked down the child victim at a hotel in downtown Santa Barbara. Officers entered the hotel room and Pitcher was apprehended jumping out of the hotel room’s second-story window. The crimes occurred between May and August 2013, and again from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, 2013, when Pitcher continued to prostitute the child from behind bars after his arrest. Pitcher was prostituting another young girl at the time, whom he assaulted in front of the child victim, which sent a clear message of intimidation. Pitcher also beat the victim for not doing what he wanted. Judge Hill said that prior to this case, Pitcher had almost 12 years of criminal records and offenses, and displayed a pattern of disregarding court orders. The sentencing took on an explosive edge when the victim’s attorney-advocate, J’Aimee Oxton, approached the Court to read a statement from the victim-survivor. Pitcher began cursing loudly at the Court, Attorney Oxton, and Judge Hill directly, and in an outburst laced with expletives stated, “I don’t want to listen to this.” Judge Hill replied that he would have to listen to the statement. However, Pitcher ultimately would not quiet down and had to be physically escorted from the courtroom by several bailiffs.
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/sentencing_explosive_ending_to_countys_first_human_trafficking_trial
Sex crime
Sentencing Hearing an Explosive Ending to Santa Barbara County's 1st Human Trafficking Trial
Mar 13, 2015
OUTCOME: Human Sex Trafficker Brannon Pitcher, who was sentenced to 38 years to life in prison for trafficking a 16-year-old child before being physically removed from the courtroom by bailiffs
Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Brian Hill said the defendant’s sentence is “commensurate” with his actions. While the Minor Child's Victim-Advocate Attorney, J'Aimèe L. Oxton, read a state...ment on behalf of the child victim-survivor, she was interrupted by a barrage of profanity coming from the defendant, who was seated at the table in front of Attorney Oxton. He laughed as Defense Attorney Oxton began to read the Victim’s history of an unstable home environment, and he banged on the courtroom table so that Attorney Oxton was nearly inaudible in the courtroom. Ultimately, defendant Brannon Pitcher was removed from the courtroom by Judge Hill for his repeated obscenity-laced outbursts while the child victim's Attorney-Advocate, J'Aimèe L. Oxton, read an Impact Statement on behalf of the Victim-Survivor, a minor child...
https://www.noozhawk.com/sentencing_explosive_ending_to_countys_first_human_trafficking_trial/#at_pco=cfd-1.0
Criminal defense
Santa Barbara Superior Court 1444479
Oct 27, 2014
OUTCOME: All felony charges dismissed, formal probation and plead no contest to Battery per 242 Penal Code, misdemeanor and Cont. to Del. of Minor 272(b)(1) Penal Code, misdemeanor
261(a)(3) Rape of a Drugged Victim & 286(i) Sodomy of Intoxicated Victim
DUI and DWI
Facing More than 10 Years In Prison, Woman Sentenced to Probation
Jun 01, 2014
OUTCOME: Facing More Than 10 Years In Prison, Woman Sentenced to Probation after Prosecutors had declined to offer any kind of plea deal and argued against probation
Prosecutors refused to offer any kind of plea deal, instead arguing against probation and in favor of a lengthy prison sentence. However the woman's Criminal Defense Attorney, J'Aimèe L. Oxton, success...fully convinced the Judge that probation was a far more appropriate sentence for her client. “I feel this is absolutely the most fair results under the circumstances,” Oxton said, explaining the sentence is sufficiently punitive, while simultaneously providing her client with the treatment and services Oxton believes is necessary to prevent something like this from happening again. “I fell it is my job to look a little deeper" than simply focusing on the events of the DUI crash and her client's arrest, Oxton said. As a Criminal Defense Attorney, my goal is to always find solutions for my clients "that address the underlying cause of their arrest," and she finds that taking a holistic approach "reduces the chances" of reoffending and maximizes public safety upon release from custody...
https://www.independent.com/2014/03/04/woman-sentenced-probation-dui-crash-that-broke-sons-neck/
DUI and DWI
Facing More Than 10 Years In Prison, Woman Sentenced to Probation for DUI Crash That Broke Son’s Neck
Mar 14, 2014
OUTCOME: Facing More Than 10 Years In Prison, Woman Sentenced to Probation
Prosecutors refused to offer any kind of plea deal, instead arguing against probation and in favor of a lengthy prison sentence. However the woman's Criminal Defense Attorney, J'Aimèe L. Oxton, success...fully convinced the Judge that probation was a far more appropriate sentence for her client. “I feel this is absolutely the most fair results under the circumstances,” Oxton said, explaining the sentence is sufficiently punitive, while simultaneously providing her client with the treatment and services Oxton believes is necessary to prevent something like this from happening again. “I fell it is my job to look a little deeper" than simply focusing on the events of the DUI crash and her client's arrest, Oxton said. As a Criminal Defense Attorney, my goal is to always find solutions for my clients "that address the underlying cause of their arrest," and she finds that taking a holistic approach "reduces the chances" of reoffending and maximizes public safety upon release from custody...
https://www.independent.com/2014/03/04/woman-sentenced-probation-dui-crash-that-broke-sons-neck/
DUI and DWI
Santa Barbara Superior Court 1428870
Mar 03, 2014
OUTCOME: 4 years felony probation, credit for time served, 12 mo. residential treatment, various fines, fees, parenting classes and other std. terms
Driving Under Influence Causing Injury, Felony; Felony Child Endangerment, various enhancements with maximum possible exposure of 8 years in State Prison
Criminal defense
Santa Barbara Superior Court 1426852
Aug 09, 2013
OUTCOME: Aquittal-Finding of Factual Innocence by Court
DUI/Driving Under the Influence of a Controlled Substance
