EXCLUSIVE: The families of the victims of an Orange County, Calif., high-speed car crash are sending letters to the state to keep an illegal immigrant convicted felon behind bars, as he’s expected to be released from prison over six years before his 10-year sentence is up.
Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, 43, was driving drunk, high, and speeding at nearly 100mph on the 405 freeway in Orange County in November 2021, when he crashed into a car being driven by a young couple, 19-year-olds Anya Varfolomeev and Nicholay Osokin, killing them both as they burned alive. In 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
“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,” Anatoly Varfolomeev, the father of Anya, told Fox News in an interview. He has not changed Anya’s room since her death.
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Anya Varfolomeeva and Nicholay Osokin were killed in an Orange County, Calif., car crash in 2021. (Courtesy of the Varfolomeev and Osokin families)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put out a detainer for his arrest following his likely release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. However, the Golden State’s sanctuary laws lead to questions about whether the state will adhere to that detainer. CDCR does typically cooperate with ICE detainers.
Before the tragedy, Ortega-Anguiano had multiple felonies on his record, as well as several convictions for driving without a license. Border czar Tom Homan vowed on Fox News to honor the detainer and swiftly place him into federal custody upon his release.
In spring 2022, he was convicted of two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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Mugshot of manslaughter convict Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer with North Kern State Prison, Delano, California, June 9, 2022, on Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano, 43, of Mexico. He is serving time after being convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. His previous criminal convictions include burglary in 2005; vehicle theft in 2007; and battery on spouse with kidnapping in 2014,” the statement from ICE explains.
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“An immigration judge ordered Ortega removed Nov. 3, 2014; he filed several unsuccessful appeals and was taken into ICE custody Dec. 2, 2016, and removed to Mexico the same day. Ortega attempted to reenter the United States Feb. 2, 2018, near Otay Mesa, California by presenting a counterfeit document; he was paroled into the U.S. pending criminal prosecution for illegal reentry after removal. An immigration official issued Ortega an expedited removal order and removed him June 1, 2018, to Mexico; after his latest removal, he again illegally reentered the U.S. on an unknown date and location. ICE issued a detainer with the Orange County Jail, California, Nov. 27, 2021, where he was being held on vehicular manslaughter charges at the time,” it continues.
Fox News reviewed the obtained notice of release sent to Varfolomeev, which suggests releasing him in Garden Grove.
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New sections of the steel bollard-style border wall, comprising primary and secondary barriers, stands along the US-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana (L) during a tour with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on May 10, 2021 in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego County, California. – Few issues have as long a history of bedeviling both Democrats and Republicans as immigration and asylum on the approximately 2,000-mile (3,000-kilometer) US-Mexico frontier. ((Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images))
“For safety and security reasons CDCR cannot provide information on an incarcerated person’s release date or location in advance of their release. Incarcerated persons may earn credits for participating in rehabilitative programming, which may move their parole dates to an earlier date,” the department stated.
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The families say this is a slap in the face to them, given how early he’s expected to be brought back into the community. They remain fearful that even if he is deported, that he could re-enter the country as a gotaway, as he’s done twice before.
“I hope he’s going to stay in prison. I hope that he’s gonna get old in prison and I hope he’s getting kicked out from our country in the end,” Pavel Osokin, Nicholay’s father, said.
“Three years for killing two kids! It’s confusing to me. Why you give them 10 if they’re gonna spend five, and then three? Give them three in the beginning, at least we know what to expect. It’s sort of spitting in my face,” he said.
