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Feds, family members angered by pending early release of man who killed teens in OC

April 24, 2025

The pending release of a twice-deported illegal immigrant who has served only about a third of his prison sentence for the DUI deaths of two teens in Orange County has ignited a national uproar reaching both the governor’s office and the Trump administration.

Anatoly Varfolomeev, the father of one of the teens, said the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation notified him that 43-year-old Oscar Eduardo Ortega-Anguiano will be released in July to an undisclosed location in Garden Grove. He has served just 3 1/2 years of a 10-year sentence for the deaths of Anya Varfolomeev, and her boyfriend, Nicholay Osokin, who were both 19.

Ortega-Anguiano is slated for early release due to state sentencing laws that classify vehicular manslaughter as a nonviolent criminal offense.

“It’s a crazy law,” Anatoly Varfolomeev said in a Wednesday phone interview with the Southern California News Group. “Two teenagers were killed when they were burned to death. That’s not a violent crime?”

Ortega-Anguiano was intoxicated and driving a Volkswagen at high speed when it plowed into the 2000 Honda occupied by Anya and Nicholay on the southbound 405 Freeway near Seal Beach Boulevard shortly before midnight on Nov. 13, 2021.

According to Orange County Superior Court records, prosecutors charged Ortega-Anguiano with two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence as well as other related felony counts for the crash. There also were multiple sentencing enhancements for causing bodily injury.

Ortega-Anguiano pleaded guilty to Judge Kazuharu Makino to the two felony vehicular manslaughter charges and a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid license. The remaining charges, as well as the sentencing enhancements, were dismissed.

Facing a maximum of 12 years and six months in prison, Ortega-Anguiano was sentenced by Makino to concurrent 10-year sentences on the manslaughter charges and 10 days for driving without a license. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office argued for a stronger sentence and did not offer a deal.

Ortega-Anguiano was given 334 days of credit toward his sentence. That covers the 167 days he spent in the Orange County Jail while awaiting trial, and the 167 days of credit for his good conduct.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on the social media platform X that Spitzer is to blame for Ortega-Anguiano’s early release.

“After being deported in 2013, this individual unlawfully re-entered the US & committed heinous crimes,” the post states. “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.”

Spitzer fired back Wednesday, accusing Newsom and state lawmakers of facilitating the release.

“Under the law, Ortega-Anguiano’s nonviolent offender status makes him eligible for early release once he has accumulated enough prison credits for good behavior and time served,” Spitzer said. “Years of California’s crusade to put the rights of criminals over the rights of victims has resulted in the unimaginable pain inflicted on the grief-stricken parents.”

Spitzer also noted an anomaly in the law by which drunken drivers who injure people are eligible for harsher sentences than those who kill people, adding that his office has tried unsuccessfully to get the laws tightened.

“California’s creative concoction of good time, education, and other credits has resulted in criminals being released quicker than ever before,” he said. “It is another stab to the heart of victims across California by Governor Newsom and a state Legislature who are hell-bent on releasing as many criminals as possible without any accountability and without any punishment.”

The CDCR confirmed in an email to the Southern California News Group that Ortega-Anguiano is eligible for early release.

“Shortly before a person’s release, CDCR reviews an incarcerated person’s file for state and federal holds, warrants, and detainers, including ICE detainers,” the email said. “CDCR confirms with ICE if they intend to take custody of the person upon release and coordinates with ICE only for purposes of the transfer of custody.”

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the deaths of Anya and Nicholay were preventable because Ortega-Anguiano should not have been in the United States.

“Now, sanctuary state California is letting him out after serving just three years of a 10-year prison sentence,” McLaughlin said. “ICE has placed a detainer with the California Department of Corrections. We hope California law enforcement will work with us to ensure this criminal alien is not released into American communities.”

Ortega-Anguiano has a lengthy deportation history, according to federal officials.

An immigration judge ordered Ortega removed from the U.S. on Nov. 3, 2014. He filed several unsuccessful appeals and was taken into ICE custody on Dec. 2, 2016, and removed to Mexico the same day.

Ortega then attempted to reenter the U.S. on Feb. 2, 2018, near Otay Mesa 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 at an unknown location. ICE issued a detainer with the Orange County Jail on Nov. 27, 2021, where he was being held on the two vehicular manslaughter charges, federal officials said.

In 2022, while Ortega-Anguiano was incarcerated following the manslaughter convictions, federal prosecutors obtained an indictment charging him with illegally being in the United States after being previously deported.

The indictment cites three previous convictions that led to deportation, including grand theft, for which he was sentenced to 365 days; unlawful driving, for which he was sentenced to 19 days; and false imprisonment, for which he was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

The indictment remains in effect, and the maximum potential sentence on the immigration charge is 20 years.

“If the State of California will not seek the full measure of justice against this individual, the @TheJusticeDept will,” Bilal Ali “Bill” Essayli, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said on X.

Meanwhile, Varfolomeev clings to the fond memories of his daughter, who was a skilled ballerina studying chemistry at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.

She had known Nicholay, who was also originally from the Bay Area and later relocated to Huntington Beach, since childhood. The pair had a long-distance relationship, Varfolomeev said.

On the day of the fatal crash, Nicholay had given Anya a tour of Pepperdine University, where he was enrolled. Varfolomeev said his daughter was considering transferring to the school.

Varfolomeev recalled that he was awakened about 3 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2021, by police who informed him that his daughter had been killed and asked him to provide dental records so that her remains could be identified.

“It was just like a horror movie from Hollywood,” he said.

Varfolomeev believes Ortega-Anguiano has played the legal system to his advantage. “He is a career criminal and knows the prison system in and out,” said Varfolomeev, who has written letters to Newsom along with state and federal lawmakers protesting Ortega-Anguiano’s pending release. “He has used everybody, including the judge, the victims, and the District Attorney.”

Pavel Osokin, who is Nicholay’s father, could not be reached immediately for comment. However, he told Fox News that Ortega-Anguiano should be quickly deported.

“Three years for killing two kids! It’s confusing to me,” he said. “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.”

Orange County Register

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Feds, family members angered by pending early release of man who killed teens in OC

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