The sentencing date for iVMenus owner Patrick Galoustian was postponed for the sixth time at his Oct. 14 hearing and is now scheduled for Oct. 28.
In lieu of Herman’s presence, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge George Eskin stepped in to fill Herman’s vacancy for the hearing. Courtesy of SBSO
Leonard B. Levine, Galoustian’s lawyer, said after the Sept. 30 hearing that Galoustian would be sentenced to 18 years in state prison at the Oct. 14 hearing. But the judge presiding over his case, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge James Herman, was unable to attend Galoustian’s court appearance, which subsequently delayed the sentencing.
In lieu of Herman’s absence, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge George Eskin stepped in to fill Herman’s vacancy for the hearing.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Galoustian pled guilty to eight felony charges in December 2019 — two years after his initial arrest in December 2017 — which included oral copulation of an unconscious person, sexual penetration by a foreign object, sodomy of an intoxicated person, criminal threats and oral copulation with a person prevented from resisting due to intoxication.
In addition to an expected 18-year prison sentence, Galoustian will likely have to register as a sex offender for life, according to Jennifer Karapetian, senior deputy district attorney in the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
