Burning of George Jakubec Escondido Home Goes As Planned

It took barely an hour to complete a “controlled burn” of the Escondido rental property that has been linked to an explosives-and-bomb scandal. The house had been rented by George Jakubec, who is currently under arrest on a number of charges. According to San Diego criminal defense attorney Michael Berg, who is representing George Jakubec, there was no need to rush ahead with the burning of the property, considering that Jakubec, his wife and their daughter had lived there for four years without any major explosion.

Before the controlled burn, bomb squad members went back into the house to collect personal documents, including Jakubec’s passport as well as his wife's immigration documents. However, according to Berg, when he requested that the bomb squad members also retrieve some papers that were very relevant to the case, his request was denied. These papers would have provided evidence in the case. Jakubec’s criminal defense lawyer is now preparing to file a motion because of the destroyed evidence.

Jakubec was arrested on November 18th. He was jailed on a $5.1 million bond. He was initially charged by local prosecutors, but state charges were dismissed after a federal grand jury indictment against him. He faces eight charges, including those related to bank robbery, attempted bank holdup, possessing explosive devices, brandishing a firearm during a robbery and illegal manufacture of explosives. He has entered a not guilty plea to each of the charges.

Slow Initial Response to Parenting Classes for Gang Parents

A new California law that allows judges to send parents of gang members to parenting classes when their children are convicted of gang crimes for the first time, has seen a slow initial response.

The Parent Accountability Act is the first state law that allows judges to require that parents of young gang members undergo special parenting classes to help deal with the teenagers. According to the promoters of the law, the slow response has been mainly due to judges who may be ignorant of the law. Besides, it can be difficult to get parents of gang members, many of whom struggle with two jobs, to make the time to attend these classes. In other cases, it has been a result of parental apathy towards their children.

In fact, the initial response to the program has been so low, that several classes had to be canceled because of the low turnout. However, a class held last month saw six parents attending, and San Diego criminal defense lawyers believe that as parents of young gang members convicted of crimes take part in these programs and are able to gain the parenting skills necessary to prevent such behavior by their children, the program will receive a better response.

During the program, parents receive exposure to drug paraphernalia, and are also alerted to the signs of drug addiction. Parents are exposed to the images of drug addicts before and after the addiction, and signs of drug crimes in their own children. They are also exposed to possible signs of gang involvement, including sudden emergence of tattoos, changes in musical tastes and the use of secret gang hand signals.

The fee for the classes which is about $20, is currently being waived in order to coax more parents to attend. If parents continue to fail to attend, they may be held in contempt by the court.