Two deny conspiring to kill Simi Valley man

April 08--Two men pleaded not guilty to charges they conspired to commit insurance and credit card fraud to fund a plot to kill a Simi Valley man involved in criminal convictions of the son of Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy.

Brandon Michael Adams, 29, of Simi Valley, and Vince Toncher, 48, of Calabasas, appeared before Ventura County Superior Court Judge Donald Coleman on Monday for arraignment. Adams and Toncher have been charged with felony conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation and conspiracy to commit a crime and four counts of identity theft.

Peter Charles Foy II, who is in jail in a separate case in which he pleaded guilty to transporting the drug oxycodone, money laundering and failing to file his income tax return, has not been charged in the case involving Adams and Toncher, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Derek Malan.

An investigation into the younger Foy's involvement in the new case is ongoing, Malan said.

"We have filed the charges we believe are appropriate at this time," Malan said. "As with any criminal invest, we will review additional charges if applicable at the appropriate time."

The younger Foy was sentenced March 7 to six years and was awaiting transfer to state prison when allegations of his possible involvement in the conspiracy-to-kill case surfaced last weekend.

Officials said Adams and Foy were co-defendants in a 2012 narcotics case. Foy was sentenced in July 2012 to a year in jail after he pleaded no contest to conspiring to manufacture a human growth hormone, officials with the U.S. deputy attorney general said.

Foy instead served his time through work furlough and was under three years of probation when he was arrested again August 16, 2013. According to court records, Foy conspired with Adams and Toncher to commit identity theft on or before the day he was arrested.

Malan said the four identity theft victims were from California, Nevada and Texas.

Prosecutors say the money funneled through the identity theft was to finance the killing of Simi Valley resident Robert Ortiz Jr. and possibly another unnamed person.

Sheriff's deputies said in a news release the men initially discussed a plot to kill two people, but Malan said the District Attorney's Office found only enough evidence to file charges involving Ortiz.

Sheriff's deputies said Ortiz was involved in Foy's past criminal convictions.

According to deputies, Foy told Adams during a monitored jail phone call to expect a call from a confidential informant whom Foy trusted and who also was in jail. Unbeknown to Foy, the individual was an undercover police agent, authorities said.

According a complaint filed by prosecutors Monday, Foy on Feb. 27 provided the agent with Adams' telephone number so the agent could call Adams when the agent got out of Ventura County Jail.

After meeting with the agent twice in March, Adams and Toncher allegedly provided the agent with personal information belonging to the four identity theft victims.

On or about March 31, Adams allegedly sent a text to the agent with a password to an email account that had the personal information of the identity theft victims. Adams and Toncher allegedly authorized the undercover agent to use the money to finance Ortiz's killing.

On Monday, Coleman denied defense attorneys' request to lower Adams and Toncher's $5 million bail and said the men "appeared to have bragged and joked to other people about how easy it was to make large amounts of money."

Adams and Toncher will return to court April 21 for an early-disposition conference. If convicted, each could face multiple life sentences, Malan said.

Foy will appear in court Tuesday regarding minor paperwork issues involving his six-year sentence, said Rebekah Mathis of the Public Defender's Office.

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