Andrew Stuart Luster, the great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor, has been released to parole supervision, prompting significant outrage in the San Gabriel Valley community where he is reportedly residing.
Luster, 62, was convicted in 2003 on 86 felony counts, including poisoning, rape, sodomy, and oral copulation of unconscious victims. A jury viewed video Luster made of himself engaging in sexual acts with women rendered unconscious by GHB, commonly known as the date-rape drug.
Glendora Mayor David Fredendall issued a statement Friday, saying his community was “outraged” by Luster’s release. He attributed the situation to California voter-approved laws designed to ease the release of individuals convicted of nonviolent felonies. Mayor Fredendall criticized a system that allows "an individual with a history of rape and violence to now live in close proximity to schools, parks, playgrounds, churches, and community centers."
Luster was released on October 11, "after serving his full sentence as required by law," according to a statement last week from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The department noted Luster accumulated 977 days of work time and good conduct credit toward his release, emphasizing, "This is not an early release."
Despite the nature of Luster's crimes, the Ventura County district attorney’s office explained to KCLU in 2023 that the rape of an unconscious person technically qualifies as a nonviolent offense under state law. Typically, those convicted of a nonviolent felony must serve 50% of their sentence. Luster was originally sentenced to 124 years in prison in 2003, but that sentence was reduced to 50 years in 2013. He has served approximately 25 of those years, including time spent under house arrest and in pretrial custody.
Two years ago, a corrections department board moved to grant Luster’s early release on parole. This decision was met with objections from all three victims, who appeared at the hearing to speak against it. Prosecutors with the Ventura County district attorney’s office also challenged the move, arguing Luster continued to misrepresent his crimes and remained a threat to public safety. The parole board subsequently reversed the decision.
Ventura County Dist. Atty. Erik Nasarenko said last year his office would "continue to strenuously oppose any early release from state prison." However, his office also pointed out that, due to the reduction of Luster's sentence despite prosecutors' "vehement opposition," Luster would be released regardless by late 2026.
The reduction of Luster's original 124-year sentence in 2013 was made by Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz. While expressing skepticism about most of the arguments made by Luster’s attorneys during more than a week of hearings, Judge Stoltz agreed his sentence was unusually long and warranted reconsideration, according to archival coverage from The Times. She called the crime tapes from his trial “disturbing," with victims appearing lifeless. Luster, she wrote, "leers, grins and gloats for the camera." Stoltz also highlighted that while he was a fugitive in Mexico, Luster compiled a “payback list” containing the names of Ventura County prosecutors, sheriff’s deputies, his victims, and one of his own attorneys.
Luster’s case gained major media attention in 2003 when he fled to Mexico after posting $1 million in bail. He was later captured in Puerto Vallarta by American bounty hunter and reality TV personality Duane “Dog” Chapman. Judge Stoltz, in her ruling, made clear her belief that Luster's departure to Mexico was voluntary, despite his attorneys arguing he was frightened into running by a former lawyer.
The voter-approved law Proposition 57, passed in 2016, was intended to address overcrowding in state prisons. Under this law, state corrections officials gained new authority to award sentencing credits to reduce time spent in prison and allow nonviolent offenders to go before the parole board more frequently, among other changes. This legislative framework is what Mayor Fredendall criticized in his statement regarding Luster's release to the community.