Andrew Stuart Luster was released to parole supervision on Oct. 11 after serving his sentence, ending a prison term that began with his 2003 convictions on 86 felony counts. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said last week that he left prison “after serving his full sentence as required by law.”
That release puts Luster back under supervision after about 25 years, including time spent in pretrial custody and under house arrest. It also puts Glendora residents in the position of watching a case that has long carried public attention because he fled to Mexico in 2003 after paying $1 million in bail and was later captured in Puerto Vallarta by Duane Chapman.
Glendora reaction
Glendora Mayor David Fredendall said in a Friday statement that his community was “outraged” by the release. In a news release, he said, “The people of Glendora should not have to worry about their safety because of a decision by the State 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. They deserve better than explanations that hide behind the mechanics of a deeply flawed system.”
Fredendall attributed the release to California voter-approved laws that make it easier for some people convicted of nonviolent felonies to leave prison earlier. The Ventura County district attorney’s office said in 2023 that the rape of an unconscious person technically qualifies as a nonviolent offense, and people convicted of a nonviolent felony typically must serve 50% of their sentence.
Sentence changes
Luster was convicted in 2003 on 86 felony counts of poisoning, rape, sodomy and oral copulation of unconscious victims. He was sentenced to 124 years in prison that year, and Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz vacated that sentence in 2013, reducing it to 50 years.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Luster was eligible for and accumulated 977 days of work time and good conduct credit toward his release. It also said, “This is not an early release.”
Prosecutors and parole
The Ventura County district attorney’s office said a corrections department board moved two years ago to grant Luster early release on parole over the objections of all three victims. Prosecutors challenged that move, and a majority of parole board commissioners later reversed it.
Ventura County Dist. Atty. Erik Nasarenko said last year that his office would “continue to strenuously oppose any early release from state prison.” Even so, the district attorney’s office said Luster would be released in late 2026 because his sentence had been reduced despite prosecutors’ vehement opposition.
What remains in front of Glendora now is not another court fight, but the terms of his parole supervision. Residents of Glendora are left with a man convicted on 86 felony counts living in Southern California under a system that the state says has already run its course.
