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Last year, the previous Drug Enforcement Control Bureau was accused of stockpiling illegal weapons and stockpiling domestic violence, and during the 2024 Road Anger Incident, records show that he faces additional charges for pointing a gun and swinging a firearm at federal agents.
James Young, 53, faces up to 29 years in prison, according to amended criminal charges filed last month after prosecutors assaulted five times with firearms, assaulted with a deadly weapon, and swinging a gun at another driver, causing a hit-and-run accident.
The charges stem from a 2022 incident at the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Office, where his badge appears to have been younger and is suspected of a road episode two years later.
“My office does not tolerate criminal conduct by people who entrust it with enforcing the law. The disturbing allegations in this case, including domestic violence, multiple assaults with firearms and intentional blows, represent both a threat to public safety and a betrayal of public trust. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
Young’s lawyer Jeff Vol declined to comment on the new charges.
The former agent was first arrested after being accused of suffocating his marginalized wife and placing her in a wrestling hold last year. Subsequent searches of Young’s house resulted in 30,000 rounds of ammunition, several hand rena bullets and a cache of 15 different firearms. Police also found modified DEA credentials intended to ensure Young was still a federal law enforcement officer, records show.
Young’s 25-year law enforcement career approached a close in 2022, according to court records. The victim was called a “lower employee” in a notice released last month by the Department of Justice Inspector’s Office.
Court records show Young was trying to be “playful,” but other agents responded by being ordered to abandon his gun and quickly disarming and physically subduing Young, who had retired.
The DEA declined to comment on the charges against Young.
Another incident occurred at 405 Freeway last September. According to a motion filed by the district attorney’s office last year, Young hit another car twice in his car, then pointed the handgun in the direction of another driver. Court records show the driver was able to identify Young’s vehicle, and the former agent told California Highway Patrol investigators he was the only person who used the vehicle.
A few weeks later, Young called his former colleague and was told he was “a vague, but worried about CHP executives.” According to court records, he even learned the address of their home.
Voll said the allegations were not true.
“It never happened,” he said.
CHP presented the criminal threat case to the prosecutor, according to Zara Lockshin, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office.
Young was under investigation by three different law enforcement last year when LA County Superior Court Judge Judge Bernie Laforza released him in October in his own recognition over a fierce objection from prosecutors, saying he was recently found to be in possession of a small weapon.
The next day, Young was remanded in custody by the LA County Sheriff’s Office on allegations of breaking into a Saugus home he once shared with his wife.
Lockshin said last month, when a new charge was filed last month, prosecutors allegedly claiming Young would be taken into custody in lieu of $235,000 bail. The judge again ignored the prosecutor’s concerns and allowed former federal agents to maintain the trial, which was free to await, but Young was subject to electrical surveillance, Locksin said.
According to Voll, the preliminary hearing will likely take place in the summer.
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