New indictment issued in death-at-sea case involving Fountain Valley man

A new indictment has been issued in a case concerning the death of a man who was allegedly shot on a boat before being thrown overboard into the sea near Oceanside on Oct. 15.

Hoang Xuan Le, 39, of Fountain Valley, and Sheila Marie Ritze, 40, of San Juan Capistrano both face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after a federal grand jury returned a 10-count superseding indictment on Wednesday.

Ritze, a registered owner of the boat, had previously been charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact. Le, who was known as “Wayne” or “Wangsta,” faced one count of first-degree murder at sea and one count of possessing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime in the initial three-count indictment. Both pleaded not guilty in January.

Le and Ritze are being held in federal custody. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Scott previously denied bond to the defendants in their initial federal court appearances in Santa Ana on Dec. 19.

They are now scheduled to be arraigned on the new indictment on July 6 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

Additional charges in the amended indictment include narcotics charges against Le connected to drug deals with an undercover operative. Authorities allege that Le twice distributed cocaine and distributed methamphetamine on two occasions during the murder investigation.

Le is also charged with possession of methamphetamine and two firearms when he was arrested, the release said. The firearms were a shotgun and an AR-15-type “ghost gun.”

Ritze has also been charged with lying to federal investigators following her arrest. The indictment alleges that she falsely stated that she had never met the victim prior to the boat trip.

The victim, a man around 40 years old and identified by the initials “T.D.,” was lured onto a boat in Dana Point Harbor on Oct. 14, under the pretense that it would be an overnight fishing trip, authorities said.

Prosecutors allege that Le told a source cooperating with investigators that “he took the victim out on the boat, confronted the victim about a debt owed, shot the victim, tied weights to the victim’s ankles and sank the victim’s body in the ocean,” according to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaints.

According to the affidavit, Le confessed in a secretly recorded conversation that he committed the murder because the victim owed him $30,000 to $40,000.

Le also allegedly told a source during recorded meetings that he was willing to be hired as a “hit man.” .

Investigators suspect that Ritze was also on the boat during the killing, citing video footage from the harbor and cellphone records.

A conviction on the first-degree murder charge against Le and Ritze would carry a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole, the statement said.

The conspiracy charge and the charge of discharging a firearm in furtherance of and during and in relation to a crime of violence both could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

The narcotics counts against Le could add decades to any sentencing he receives if convicted.

Daily Pilot staff writer Hillary Davis, Julia Sclafani and Los Angeles Times staff writers Richard Winton and Luke Money contributed to this report.

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