LA jury convicts ex-Marine in sex tourism case

A retired Marine captain from Oxnard has been convicted by a federal jury in Los Angeles of traveling to Cambodia to have sex with underage girls.

Concluding a three-week trial, a federal jury today convicted a retired Marine Corps captain who traveled to Cambodia for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors.

Michael Joseph Pepe, 54, a resident of Oxnard, faces up to 210 years in federal prison as a result of the guilty verdicts on seven felony counts.