Irvine Man Accused of Fentanyl Dealing and Identity Theft in 11 Open Cases Captured in Peru, Extradited to Orange County
SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Orange County District Attorney's Office announced on October 14 that Erick Grant Rustad, 44, of Irvine, an accused fentanyl dealer and identity thief with 11 open criminal cases in Orange County, has been captured overseas and extradited back to the United States. Rustad was arrested in Peru on February 13, 2026, escorted by FBI agents to Los Angeles International Airport on the evening of October 13, turned over to the Irvine Police Department, and booked into the Orange County Jail. He faces a combined maximum sentence of 29 years and 6 months if convicted on all charges. Prosecutors said he is the ninth fugitive since January to be successfully returned from a foreign country to Orange County to face criminal charges.
The capture and extradition resulted from a multi-agency effort involving the FBI, including its Legal Attaché office in Lima, Peru; the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs; the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service; the Orange County District Attorney's Office; the Irvine Police Department; the Orange County Sheriff's Department; the Tustin Police Department; and Peruvian law enforcement authorities.
According to prosecutors, Rustad was out on bail in two felony cases when he was arrested in April 2025 on suspicion of felony possession of fentanyl, having two prior convictions for possession of a hard drug. After posting a $100,000 bond, he failed to appear in court and instead fled to Mexico and then flew to Peru, where his mother is a citizen. On April 28, 2025, an Orange County Superior Court judge issued a $150,000 bench warrant for his arrest, and on November 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a federal warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
The 11 cases span several years. In May 2023, Irvine police searched Rustad's home and vehicle and found notebooks containing other people's names, Social Security numbers, addresses, credit card numbers and phone numbers, along with checks, blank access cards and identity documents belonging to others; 14 victims whose information was recovered said they did not know Rustad and had never authorized him to have it. Officers also seized printers, presses and methamphetamine.
Prosecutors further allege that in July 2023 Rustad was caught on surveillance video stealing a key to a Maserati; that in March 2024, while out on bail in the Maserati key case, he broke into a parking structure in an attempt to steal bicycles from a storage area and deposited a stolen, altered check for $2,795 into his account; and that he was arrested that month with another person with dozens of unused baggies and methamphetamine hidden in a compartment under the vehicle's hood, plus a license-plate flipping device in the trunk. In April 2024, while out on bail in two felony cases, he allegedly texted associates about drug purchases, pricing and supply chains and made multiple hand-to-hand drug sales; a search turned up fentanyl, methamphetamine, multiple phones and digital scales. In June 2024, after officers watched a weighted blue bag being delivered to his Irvine home, a search found a scale, bags of methamphetamine and fentanyl, empty baggies, crushed Xanax pills and two cell phones. He has also been charged with stealing a package from a stranger's doorstep, stealing sunglasses from Nordstrom, and drug possession with prior convictions.
Rustad was arrested in Peru on February 13, 2026, and, following extradition proceedings conducted with Peruvian authorities, was successfully extradited to the United States on October 13, 2026.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the pursuit of justice cannot be done unilaterally and requires partnership and a resolve that knows no borders, adding that Orange County will continue to go to the ends of the earth in the pursuit of justice.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：嫌疑人埃里克·格兰特·鲁斯塔德的登记照，橙县检察官办公室发布
