Hossein Nayeri is an Iranian-born former U.S. Marine serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in California for the 2012 kidnapping and torture of a marijuana dispensary owner in Newport Beach. He is also known for masterminding a 2016 escape from the Orange County Central Men’s Jail while he awaited trial in that case. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has called him “one of America’s most dangerous, conniving and manipulative criminals.”
The 2012 Kidnapping and Torture in Newport Beach
On October 2, 2012, masked intruders broke into a Newport Beach home and abducted two people: the home’s primary occupant, a marijuana dispensary owner identified in court records as “John Doe” or “Michael S.,” and his roommate, Mary Barnes. The victims were bound, blindfolded, and driven roughly 90 minutes into the Mojave Desert.1ABC7. Hossein Nayeri Sentencing
In the desert, the dispensary owner was beaten, whipped with a rubber hose, burned with a blowtorch, shocked with a stun gun, and sexually mutilated. The attackers severed his penis and took it with them so it could not be reattached. They poured bleach on him to destroy DNA evidence and abandoned both victims, still bound and blindfolded, on the side of a road. Barnes, who had been zip-tied but not physically harmed, freed herself and flagged down help. The dispensary owner spent an extended period in the hospital and was left permanently disfigured.2Orange County District Attorney. Man Convicted of Kidnapping, Torturing and Mutilating Marijuana Dispensary Owner3CBS News. Four Charged With Kidnapping, Torturing Marijuana Dispensary Owner
The motive was money. Co-defendant Kyle Handley, a Fountain Valley marijuana dealer who knew the victim through the cannabis trade, believed the dispensary owner had roughly $1 million in cash buried in the desert. Prosecutors likened the belief to a myth about “Ali Baba’s treasure.” The defendants had spent weeks surveilling the victim with GPS trackers and hidden cameras to confirm his desert trips before carrying out the kidnapping.4Los Angeles Times. Kidnapping and Torture Trial Coverage
Flight to Iran and Arrest in Prague
After the crime, Nayeri fled to Iran and remained there for months. His ex-wife, Cortney Shegerian, began cooperating with prosecutors after a detective contacted her in April 2013. At the direction of law enforcement, she re-established phone contact with Nayeri, recorded their conversations, and convinced him to leave Iran for a supposed romantic meeting in Barcelona. She sent him a fake passport and a fake green card.5ABC News. Wife of Convicted Kidnapper Torturer Hossein Nayeri
On November 7, 2013, the FBI and Czech fugitive police arrested Nayeri at the Prague airport while he was changing planes for Spain.6Radio Prague International. FBI Arrests a Torture and Kidnapping Suspect After extradition, he was returned to Orange County on September 15, 2014, and held without bail.7Los Angeles Times. Nayeri Extradition
Shegerian’s testimony was central to the prosecution. She said she was “terrified” of Nayeri and had followed his instructions to buy burner phones, drive him to locations so he could plant surveillance equipment, and research the victim using law school databases. She testified that she saw Nayeri and Handley in their garage handling a blowtorch before the kidnapping.8Orange County Register. Ex-Wife Testifies She Was Terrified of Man Accused of Kidnapping, Torturing and Mutilating Marijuana Dispensary Owner After the crime, she flushed a burner phone SIM card, disposed of bloodied socks at a gas station, and filed a false stolen-vehicle report. While Nayeri hid in Iran, she delivered between $50,000 and $60,000 in cash to him over three trips to Turkey and Dubai.9Los Angeles Times. Newport Beach Nayeri Trial Wife Testimony In 2017, prosecutors granted her transactional immunity for her cooperation.5ABC News. Wife of Convicted Kidnapper Torturer Hossein Nayeri
Trial, Conviction, and Sentence
Nayeri went to trial in the summer of 2019. In August 2019, a jury convicted him of two felony counts of kidnapping for ransom and one felony count of torture. The jury deadlocked on the aggravated mayhem charge and found an enhancement for infliction of great bodily injury “not true.” A burglary charge was dismissed.10Orange County District Attorney. Former Fugitive Sentenced to Three Life Sentences
On October 30, 2020, Nayeri was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in state prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional seven years to life.1ABC7. Hossein Nayeri Sentencing
In a jailhouse interview with ABC’s 20/20, Nayeri admitted conducting video surveillance of the dispensary owner for months but denied taking part in the kidnapping, torture, or mutilation. “Obviously, there was some involvement that I did have… I just had no clue that it was going to turn into [the] mess that it did,” he said, describing himself as “an average, ordinary person” who had always avoided conflict.11ABC News. Convicted Kidnapper Torturer Hossein Nayeri Talks Charges, History
The 2016 Orange County Jail Escape
On January 22, 2016, while awaiting trial, Nayeri escaped from the Orange County Central Men’s Jail with two other inmates: Bac Tien Duong, 43, held on an attempted murder charge, and Jonathan Tieu, 20, held in connection with a gang-related murder case.12ABC7. Timeline of Three OC Inmates Escape and Capture
The three cut through a metal grate covering a plumbing tunnel, crawled through internal piping, climbed vents using makeshift rungs, pushed aside barbed wire on the roof, and used a rope braided from bed sheets to rappel four to five stories to the pavement. Prosecutors later showed the escape had been planned for months, presenting photographs from Nayeri’s phone of him posing with a thumbs-up inside the jail’s plumbing tunnels.13Orange County District Attorney. Hossein Nayeri Press Release The escape went undetected for roughly 15 to 16 hours because intermediate headcounts did not verify identities.14CNN. California Jailbreak Questions
The three men were picked up near a Garden Grove restaurant by Long Hoang Ma, a 74-year-old taxi driver. According to Ma and later reporting, Duong held a gun to his stomach and the group commandeered his Honda Civic. Over the next week, Ma was forced to travel roughly 400 miles with the fugitives, check into motels under his name, and pick up $3,000 wired to Nayeri via Western Union. Ma said he feared for his life, particularly after hearing Nayeri and Tieu discuss killing him.15The Guardian. California Taxi Driver Expected to Die When Kidnapped by Escaped Inmates16NBC News. Kidnapped Cab Driver Thought He Would Die
On January 29, 2016, Duong drove Ma back to Southern California and turned himself in. The next day, Nayeri and Tieu were arrested near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park after a civilian spotted their stolen white van and flagged down officers.12ABC7. Timeline of Three OC Inmates Escape and Capture
Nayeri was tried separately for the escape in March 2023. He admitted planning and carrying out the jailbreak but denied kidnapping Ma and denied that any of the escapees had firearms. On March 16, 2023, a jury convicted him of escape and stealing a van but acquitted him of kidnapping the taxi driver and kidnapping during a carjacking.17Corrections1. Inmate Who Was Mastermind Behind Calif. Jail Escape Convicted On March 24, 2023, he received two years and eight months for those convictions, on top of his life sentences. DA Spitzer said he prosecuted the escape case because he had “no confidence” that Nayeri’s existing convictions would necessarily survive appeal or that the legislature would not retroactively change sentencing laws, and he wanted “the parole board to be able to consider this additional case” if that scenario arose.18ABC7. Orange County Jail Escape Sentencing
The Co-Defendantsh2>
Four people were charged in the 2012 kidnapping. Kyle Shirakawa Handley, who identified the victim as a target and supplied the vehicle, was convicted in January 2018 of kidnapping for ransom, aggravated mayhem, torture, and first-degree residential burglary. On July 20, 2018, he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole plus 14 years.19CBS News. Kyle Handley Kidnapping Torture Life Sentence Ryan Anthony Kevorkian and Naomi Josette Rhodus, Kevorkian’s former wife, were also charged with kidnapping for ransom, aggravated mayhem, and torture and faced life without parole; the public status of their cases has not been resolved in available reporting.20Orange County District Attorney. Former Fugitive Convicted of Kidnapping and Torturing Man
Duong was convicted in April 2021 and sentenced in July 2021 to 20 years, a sentence that also resolved his pending attempted murder case. Tieu pleaded guilty in April 2023 to escape and simple kidnapping and received eight years with credit for time served since his October 2013 arrest.21iHeartRadio. Last of Three OC Jail Escapees Accepts Plea Bargain
Appeals and Current Status
Nayeri’s kidnapping and torture convictions have gone through appellate review. In November 2024, the California Court of Appeal issued an order to show cause examining why his conviction and life-without-parole sentence for aggravated kidnapping should not be vacated. On July 23, 2025, the Supreme Court of California denied a petition for review in People v. Nayeri.22Supreme Court of California. Supreme Court Minutes
Nayeri remains in California state prison, serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping and torture, plus the additional time imposed for the jail escape and van theft.