Grieving Temecula Dad Trusted The Wrong Man, Now He Sees Some Justice
TEMECULA, CA — Temecula resident Matt Capelouto has been through hell. In late 2019, he lost his 20-year-old daughter to fentanyl poisoning. Not long after, his wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.Then came a cheap sucker punch. As Capelouto navigated unimaginable grief, he simply couldn't focus on the printing business he'd owned for over 20 years. Instead of shutting it down, he temporarily handed over the day-to-day operations of Same Day T-Shirt Printing Company in Temecula to a valued employee, Yulian Galaz."He was like family to me," Capelouto said. "I went to his wedding. We had meals together. I trusted him."Capelouto later learned that faith was misplaced. About 18 months after the death of his daughter, Alexandra, Capelouto started coming out of the fog. "You never get over [the death of a child] but you learn how to put one foot in front of the other," he said. "My brain started functioning right again."Capelouto has fought tirelessly to change the conversation around fentanyl. He has successfully lobbied some of California's district attorneys, who now hold distributors of the illicit narcotic accountable when their products kill. Matt Capelouto holds a photo of his daughter Alexandra during a January 2022 news conference at the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Alexandra died in 2019 of fentanyl poisoning. (Riverside County DA's Office)By 2022, Capelouto also felt ready to face his customers at Same Day's shop located at 28822 Old Town Front Street. He dove back into a routine. Capelouto knew the business had suffered in his absence, but the extent was severe. Numbers weren't adding up — Same Day's bank account was running dry."I was about to go under," Capelouto said.Meanwhile, Galaz seemed to be doing just fine. He bought a pricey sports car, and when it was in the repair shop, he rented a Porsche, Capelouto said. Red flags were popping up everywhere, and by the summer of 2022 Capelouto learned the awful truth: Galaz was embezzling from him. It wasn't that hard to trace the crime. When Same Day T-Shirt Printing Company customers paid electronically, Galaz would send the money straight into his personal bank account, Capelouto explained. Investigators with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office took the case and proved Galaz stole nearly $200,000 from Capelouto. "He took advantage of me when I was still moving through the loss of my daughter," Capelouto said. "He almost drove me out of business and completely depleted my savings."Earlier this month, Galaz pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts, including two counts of embezzlement, six counts of money laundering, one count of using someone else's identity to obtain credit, and one count of vandalism. He also admitted to a sentencing enhancement of fraud and embezzlement.The vandalism charge follows Galaz's apparent spite after Capelouto fired him on Aug. 15, 2022. Same Day T-Shirt Printing Company's high-tech printers can be operated remotely, and Galaz had all the passcodes. One morning, after Galaz was no longer an employee, Capelouto came to work to find the systems' ink purged onto the floor.Galaz is out of custody until his Sept. 12 sentencing. He currently manages a business in Temecula, Slap Ink, which is owned by his family. It's not far from Capelouto's Same Day T-Shirt Printing Company.Patch reached out to Galaz for comment but did not hear back.According to John Hall, spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, Galaz faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison plus restitution of $173,960, and "any additional amount to be determined if found to be different."It's not clear how much money Capelouto will ever recover. Galaz, now 35 years old, has paid $30,000 in restitution. Those funds will be released to Capelouto no earlier than Galaz's sentencing date, Hall said.For Capelouto, the conviction and Galaz's impending prison time are bittersweet. "It's painful, but I'm satisfied with the outcome," he explained.It's one foot in front of the other.Capelouto's wife is still battling cancer but the situation is stable, he said. The man who sold fentanyl to Alexandra is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence. Also, it's likely that Capelouto's efforts to see harsher penalties for fentanyl distributors could come to California voters in November as part of language in a proposed ballot measure, the "Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act." "Maybe things are finally turning the corner," he said.The article Grieving Temecula Dad Trusted The Wrong Man, Now He Sees Some Justice appeared first on Temecula, CA Patch.
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