The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday it would file a felony immigration charge against an illegal immigrant convicted of killing two California teens in a horrific DUI, who is now reportedly set to be released from prison early.
The move comes after Fox News reported Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, 43, would be released in July, having served 3-and-a-half years of a 10-year sentence he received for killing Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin in the Orange County crash in November of 2021.
Newsweek reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for comment Wednesday morning.
Why It Matters
Ortega-Anguiano’s potential release in California comes as the Trump administration continues to clash with sanctuary states and cities, accusing the Democrat-run states of hindering immigration enforcement and shielding illegal immigrants from removal. California’s Democratic leaders have repeatedly stated they will work with federal agents when it comes to serious and violent offenders.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
What To Know
The Mexican national was driving drunk on the 405 freeway in November 2021 when he slammed into the car carrying Varfolomeev and Osokin at around 100 m.p.h. The car burst into flames and the teens, who were in a relationship, were burned alive.
The following spring, Ortega-Anguiano was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and handed two 10-year sentences to run concurrently. He already had a series of other offenses on his rap sheet, including driving without a license.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had placed an immigration detainer on Ortega-Anguiano in June 2022. At the time, he was serving his sentence at the North Kern State Prison in Delano, California, but CDCR records currently show him at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.
After entering the country illegally a first time, a judge ordered Ortega-Anguiano be removed from the U.S. in November 2014. He filed multiple appeals, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told Newsweek, but ICE arrested and deported him on the same day in December 2016.
In February 2018, during the previous Trump administration, Ortega-Anguiano tried to reenter the U.S. with a counterfeit document. He was paroled into the U.S., the official said, and an expedited removal order was issued in June that year, at which point he was deported again.
Family handout
It was not clear when Ortega-Anguiano returned to the U.S. a third time, with ICE next tracking him down after the fatal crash in Orange County in 2021.
The Fox report on his potential release sparked outrage from the victims’ families, as well as Trump administration officials. The CDCR’s public records only show a parole eligibility date of July 2025, with no actual release date listed.
Bilal A. Essayli, the interim U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District, said Wednesday that his office had filed a felony immigration charge against Ortega-Anguiano. If convicted on the federal charge, he faces up to 20 additional years in prison. Essayli, a Republican, was appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi this month.
If Ortega-Anguiano were to be released by local law enforcement before the federal charge can move forward, it may be that the CDCR works with ICE anyway. As the agency placed its detainer in 2022, its officers would take Ortega-Anguiano into custody directly, as can be the case when it comes to serious offenders in California even with the state’s sanctuary policies.
What People Are Saying
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek in a statement: “This twice deported illegal alien was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, which resulted in the death of a young American couple. This tragedy was completely preventable. This criminal illegal alien should have never been in our country.
“Now, sanctuary state California is letting him out after serving just three years of a ten-year prison sentence. ICE has placed a detainer with the California Department of Corrections. We hope California law enforcement will work us to ensure this criminal alien is not released into American communities.”
Anatoly Varfolomeev, Anya’s father, speaking to Fox News: “It’s disgusting. You have two young, unbelievable future, productive American citizens killed for nothing and that illegal immigrant who already has been deported twice is going to be released again? For what? If even he is deported, he will come back.”
Essayli, in a post on X: “If the State of California will not seek the full measure of justice against this individual, the Justice Department will.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, on X: “This is absolutely unconscionable. What about Justice for these teens? What about the rights of their parents?”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office, on X: “After being deported in 2013, this individual unlawfully re-entered the US & committed heinous crimes. A GOP DA then gave him a plea deal instead of pursuing 2nd-degree murder. CDCR will again coordinate with ICE—as they have w/ 10,000+ inmates—to transfer him before release.”
What Happens Next
The families of the victims are writing to state leaders, asking them to keep Ortega-Anguiano in prison for the full length of his sentence.
CDCR has said it cannot comment on the specifics of individual cases.
