How a Sentencing Error and One Victim’s Letter Freed Andrew Luster

A 2013 judicial finding that a Ventura County judge failed to follow California sentencing statutes ultimately dictated when Max Factor heir Andrew Luster would walk free, overriding prosecutors who fought for more than two decades to keep him locked up. Luster was released to parole supervision Oct. 11 after completing his legally calculated prison term, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The release traces directly to a procedural failure at his original 2003 sentencing. Judge Ken W. Riley imposed 20 consecutive six-year terms for rape convictions plus a four-year term, totaling 124 years, court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show. But California law requires judges to make specific factual findings before stacking sentences consecutively for sex offenses. Riley did not.

That omission gave J. David Nick, Luster’s former attorney, the opening needed to force a new hearing. Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz granted it in March 2013, determining the original court had not adequately explained its reasoning, Nick told Fox News Digital.

Stoltz resentenced Luster on April 16, 2013, cutting the term to 50 years. The reduction was not automatic. It hinged partly on a letter from one of the three women Luster drugged and assaulted — a woman who had previously been in a relationship with him. She asked the judge for leniency, Nick said.

Nick paraphrased her message to the court: “This is really gross what he did, but I think the guy’s got some good character and you should be lenient on him.” He noted she did not approve of the crimes committed against her. Without that intervention, Nick estimated Luster would have faced 60 to 65 years rather than 50. Court records show several rape counts received lower three-year terms instead of the original six-year penalties during the resentencing.

Luster was convicted in January 2003 of 86 felony counts involving the drugging and sexual assault of three women. He fled the country mid-trial and was captured in Mexico by bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman.

Prosecutors opposed every attempt to reduce his sentence. “Our office fought at every opportunity to preserve Andrew Luster’s original 124-year prison sentence,” the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. They also joined Luster’s victims in successfully opposing early parole bids in 2024 and 2025.

None of those efforts could alter the math established in 2013. CDCR public information officer Kyle Buis stated the October release was not an early release. Luster received 977 days of pre-sentence credit and earned additional time off through good conduct, work and participation in prison programs. Under California law, inmates serving fixed sentences must be released once they complete their calculated terms, regardless of whether discretionary parole is denied.

Proposition 57, a 2016 ballot measure expanding parole consideration and credits, shortened Luster’s confinement by roughly two years, Nick estimated. However, the underlying credit system allowing offenders convicted of rape by intoxication to earn time off predates the proposition.

California changed its penal code in 2025 to classify drug-facilitated sexual assaults as violent felonies, which forces offenders to serve a larger share of their sentences. The Ventura County DA’s office noted the amendment came too late to apply to Luster.

Nick defended his former client’s character despite the convictions. “I’ve known this person, and I’ve known a lot of serious criminals in my life too. A lot of violent criminals, a lot of deranged criminals,” Nick told Fox News Digital. “My own personal opinion is I never found him to be dangerous. I found him to have done something that was crass and that he needed to pay a price.” Nick said Luster called him around the time of his release to say it would be his last call from prison. He has not heard from him since.

Luster must register as a sex offender for life, remain under parole supervision for three years and is prohibited from contacting his victims, the DA’s office said. Local leaders in Glendora, California, where he is reportedly residing, have raised concerns about public safety.