Fred Joe Ruiz, 55, a convicted sex offender, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for stealing from victims at high school wrestling meets in Anaheim and Yorba Linda, after he plead guilty.
Ruiz pleaded guilty on Wednesday, March 11, to felony charges of two counts of burglary and one count each of grand theft and theft of property. He also admitted to misdemeanor charges of three counts of identity theft and two counts of being a sex offender on school grounds without lawful business.
Ruiz accepted a plea deal offered by Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin. The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Meghan Sullivan, objected as they were seeking a life term, and wanted at least 10 years in prison.
Ruiz stole from victims on Jan. 25, 2025, at Esperanza High School in Anaheim and March 9, 2025, at Yorba Linda High School, as reported in the criminal complaint.
Ruiz was previously convicted of multiple counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 years old on March 29, 2000, in Los Angeles County.
Ruiz was at a high school wrestling meet committing multiple thefts and then used the stolen credit cards at a Target store in Yorba Linda.
Investigators said that a search of Ruiz’s cell phone showed “further evidence of Ruiz going to multiple athletic events of high school aged boys where he recorded them.”
According to prosecutors, from 1992 through 1995, Ruiz coached a youth boys baseball team in Baldwin Park and molested ninth and 10th graders on the team, prosecutors said. He was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to 30 years in prison, according to the prosecutor.
Before sentencing, Ruiz fled to El Paso, Texas, where he coached youth boys sports under a pseudonym and was accused of molesting four more victims, prosecutors said. He was convicted in Texas in 1999, according to the prosecutor.
Ruiz got out of state prison in California on Nov. 11, 2019, according to the prosecutor.
The prosectuor argued that “Not every case should settle for a low sentence; justice sometimes requires that defendants be held accountable for organized, sophisticated, maliciously exploitative conduct,”
Ruiz was also accused of stealing at athletic events in Los Angeles County, where he is being prosecuted in a separate case, according to the prosecutor.
Before taking the bench, Yellin served as a Senior Deputy District Attorney for Orange County for 15 years (2001–2016). During his 2016 campaign, Yellin was linked to the Orange County jailhouse informant scandal. While he was accused of failing to disclose evidence (a Brady violation) in a 2006 murder case during his time as a prosecutor, a judge later ruled in 2021 that he and another colleague had judicial immunity for their past conduct.