CALIFORNIA RELEASES ANDREW LUSTER FROM PRISON

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Andrew Luster left state prison on 11 October after serving roughly two decades. California’s Megan’s Law database lists him as living in Glendora. Glendora Mayor David Fredendall called the release “unacceptable” in a statement on 16 October. Assemblywoman Blanca E. Rubio said she was working with local officials and law enforcement to establish the conditions of Luster’s parole and the measures in place for residents. Luster is the great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor.

Luster’s 2003 conviction covered 86 felony counts, including poisoning, rape, sodomy and oral copulation of unconscious victims. Prosecutors said he drugged three women with GHB at his beachfront home in Ventura County and recorded two of the assaults. A court initially sentenced him to 124 years in prison, then reduced the term to 50 years in 2013 over prosecutors’ objections. Luster fled to Mexico during his trial. Duane “Dog” Chapman captured him there months later.

A two-person parole panel approved Luster’s early release in August 2024 after all three victims objected. Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko challenged that decision, and the full Board of Parole Hearings reversed it that October. Prosecutors subsequently acknowledged that Luster would leave prison by late 2026. Fredendall said Proposition 57, which California voters approved in 2016, expedited the release. Rubio said she co-authored Senate Bill 268 in 2024 to classify rape involving drugged or unconscious victims as a violent felony. Fredendall said Glendora police would work with state parole authorities to enforce the conditions of Luster’s supervision.