On August 31, 2020, a jury found Vidal Fregoso (DOB 11/04/69), of Camarillo, guilty of committing a hate crime against Luther Swayne, a 72-year-old African American. The jury also found Fregoso guilty of additional charges of committing an attempted vandalism and attempted theft. Fregoso faces up to one-year confinement in the Ventura County jail.
On September 25, 2019, Fregoso approached 72-year-old Luther Swayne while on an overnight offshore fishing charter originating in Ventura County. Fregoso used racial slurs and threatened to physically harm Swayne. A witness observed Fregoso attempt to throw Swayne’s fishing pole overboard. The boat’s crew intervened and separated the parties until the fishing boat came back into the dock. Several days after the incident, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation into the incident and ultimately arrested Fregoso.
Fergoso will be sentenced on October 5, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 44 of the Ventura County Superior Court.
Why are you doxing the victim?
One year is not nearly enough. Ventura County’s district attorney doesn’t consider anything racial to be significant.