The convicted serial rapist was released to parole supervision Oct. 11 after serving roughly two decades in state prison.
GLENDORA, CA — Andrew Luster, the Max Factor cosmetics fortune heir convicted of drugging and raping three women, has been released from a California prison after serving roughly two decades behind bars, state officials said.
Luster, 62, was released to parole supervision Oct. 11 after completing the prison term calculated under California sentencing laws and applicable credits. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said his departure was not a discretionary early release and that he had served the sentence required by law. His release has renewed attention on a case that drew national attention more than two decades ago and has prompted criticism from officials in Glendora, where public records indicate he is living.
A Ventura County jury convicted Luster in 2003 of 86 felony counts involving three women, including rape of unconscious victims, poisoning, sodomy and other sexual offenses. Prosecutors said Luster used the drug GHB to incapacitate women at his Ventura County home before assaulting them. Evidence presented in the case included video recordings of some of the assaults. Luster, a great-grandson of cosmetics founder Max Factor, was initially sentenced to 124 years in prison.
That sentence did not remain in place. In 2013, a judge vacated the original sentence after finding problems with the way consecutive terms had been imposed. Luster’s convictions remained intact, but he was resentenced to 50 years. The change became central to calculating when he would eventually complete his prison term.
Luster later sought release through California’s parole system and was rejected multiple times. A parole panel approved him for early release in 2024, but the decision was challenged by Ventura County prosecutors and later reversed by the full parole board. Prosecutors continued opposing another early-release bid in 2025. Even while fighting those requests, the district attorney’s office had said Luster would eventually reach the end of his legally calculated term in 2026.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Luster received 977 days of credit for time served before sentencing and was eligible to earn additional credits through good conduct, work and other qualifying prison activities. California law allows people serving fixed sentences to earn credits that can reduce the amount of time spent incarcerated. Once a person reaches the legally calculated end of that term, continued imprisonment cannot depend on the denial of discretionary parole.
The case has also drawn scrutiny because of California’s treatment of certain sexual offenses under earlier sentencing rules and Proposition 57, the criminal justice measure approved by voters in 2016. Some offenses involving unconscious or incapacitated victims were not classified as violent felonies for purposes of the state’s credit and parole framework. California later changed its laws, but those later revisions did not restore Luster’s original 124-year sentence or erase credits he had already been eligible to receive.
Luster’s release has brought a strong reaction in Glendora. Mayor David Fredendall said in an Oct. 16 statement that the city was outraged and wanted more information from state officials about the release, supervision conditions and measures intended to protect residents. The city said its police department would coordinate with state parole authorities to ensure that applicable laws and supervision requirements are followed.
Luster’s case first became nationally known after he fled the United States during his trial. He was convicted while absent and later captured in Mexico in 2003 by bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman before being returned to California. Ventura County prosecutors have repeatedly pointed to his flight and the nature of his offenses while opposing his efforts to obtain discretionary release.
Luster remains under state supervision following his release. Public reporting and California sex-offender records identify Glendora as his current community, and he is required to remain registered as a sex offender. Authorities have not publicly detailed every condition of his parole supervision.
Author note: Last updated October 25, 2026.