Andrew Luster — the Max Factor cosmetics heir convicted in 2003 of 86 felony counts for using the drug GHB to render women unconscious and sexually assault them, and sentenced to 124 years in prison — was released from California state prison earlier this month and is now reportedly living in Glendora, where the city's mayor called his presence in the community "unacceptable" and demanded that the state explain how a man sentenced to more than a century in prison walked out after twenty years.
Luster was convicted in absentia in 2003 — he had fled to Mexico in January of that year while free on $1 million bail during trial, and was captured by celebrity bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman in Puerto Vallarta before being extradited to the United States. Prosecutors said he had filmed himself assaulting the unconscious women at his beachfront home in Ventura County, creating a video record of his crimes. The original 124-year sentence was set aside in 2013 when a California judge found the trial court had failed to adequately justify imposing consecutive sentences. Following a resentencing hearing, Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz handed down a revised term of 50 years in April 2013. The California Department of Corrections applied sentencing credits under the state's sentencing structure, and Luster was denied parole in 2022 and again in 2025 before his calculated release date of October 2026 arrived. He is now on parole supervision.
"When California voters approved Proposition 57 in 2016, they were assured by Governor Jerry Brown and his administration that dangerous offenders would remain behind bars. The victims deserve better. The people of Glendora deserve better. California must do better." — Glendora Mayor David Fredendall
Mayor Fredendall's statement acknowledged the state's technical legal position — that this was not an early release under the law's own calculation — while rejecting the adequacy of that explanation. "The State may argue that this was not technically an early release. It can point to sentencing credits, legal calculations, and administrative requirements. However, those technical explanations do not address the larger concern: how an individual originally sentenced to 124 years in prison for heinous crimes is able to walk out of a secured facility after only 20 years." California Assemblywoman Blanca E. Rubio, who represents the 48th Assembly District covering Glendora, called the release "incomprehensible" and said it raises serious questions about whether the state's parole system adequately protects victims and communities. She said she is working with local officials to examine the supervision conditions imposed on Luster and what monitoring Glendora can lawfully conduct of his activities.
Luster's release is the product of several intersecting California criminal justice policies. The 2013 resentencing reduced his total term from 124 years to 50. California's sentencing credit system — which awards time credits for prison conduct, work programs, and educational participation — reduced his actual incarceration period. Proposition 57, a 2016 ballot measure promoted as targeting "nonviolent" offenders but with broader application, expanded parole consideration for categories of inmates that critics say was not adequately disclosed to voters. Luster was denied parole twice under that framework before his calculated release date simply arrived. He is now subject to parole supervision conditions, registered as a sex offender, and required to stay away from victims and their families, and from schools, parks, and other locations specified by his parole terms. Glendora police are working with state parole authorities to monitor compliance.
Andrew Luster is the great-grandson of Max Factor, the Polish-American cosmetics entrepreneur whose products and innovations transformed Hollywood's film industry in the early 20th century. At the time of his crimes, Luster was living off an inherited trust fund in a beachfront home in Ventura County. His 2003 conviction on 86 felony counts was one of the largest such conviction totals for a serial rapist in California history. The three women he was convicted of assaulting have spoken publicly about the lasting impact of the crimes. Their response to his October 2026 release had not been publicly reported as of publication.
Andrew Luster filmed himself raping unconscious women. He fled the country rather than face trial. He was sentenced to 124 years. And he is now living in Glendora, California, twenty years later. The state of California will offer a series of technically accurate explanations for how this is the legal outcome of the relevant statutes and parole calculations — and every one of those explanations will be both correct and profoundly inadequate as a response to what three women experienced in a Ventura County beach house and have been living with ever since. The Glendora mayor is right. California must do better. The explanation of how it managed to do this is not the same thing as a justification for the result.