Fraudster hairstylist is sentenced to 16 years in jail for swindling millions from wealthy Malibu eye surgeon after moving into his mansion with his girlfriend and turning it into a drug den

A fraudster hairstylist has been sentenced to nearly 16 years in jail for swindling millions of dollars from a mentally-ill but wealthy Malibu eye surgeon.

Anthony David Flores, also known as Anton David, pleaded guilty last year to nine felony charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for his role in a scheme to befriend Dr. Mark Sawusch and manipulate him into taking over his finances.

He and his then-girlfriend, yoga instructor Anna Rene Moore, 40, kept the doctor drugged as they drained his accounts and lived in his waterfront Malibu mansion.

In addition to the jail sentence, US District Judge Percy Anderson last week ordered Flores, 47, to pay $1million in restitution.

He cited the Fresno hairstylist's 'cruel disregard for human suffering' and the 'lack of value he placed on human life' in his decision, The Los Angeles Times reports.

'What this defendant did erodes core values that we, as a people, have of empathy, compassion and kindness,' the judge said in court last week.

'This conduct was solely driven by greed,' he added, claiming Flores 'became lost... in the glitz and glamour, the cars and the jewelry, living at the beach.'

Flores also admitted he let 'temptation and greed get the best of me' as he stood before Anderson and pleaded for a lighter sentence.

'I'm ashamed of myself,' he said, claiming he and Sawusch - who was worth $60million when they met in 2017 - were 'like brothers.'

He said he loved Sawusch, a 57-year-old retired ophthalmologist and successful investor, and would never forget him.

But Anderson didn't seem to buy it, according to the LA Times.

'Your brother? Your friend?' he scoffed.

'What is so galling and so disturbing is you knew exactly what you were doing,' the judge continued.

'You knew it was wrong and you knew it was immoral, and it simply didn't matter to you.'

Prosecutors have said that Flores, and his then-girlfriend, yoga instructor Anna Rene Moore, 40, first met Sawusch at an ice cream parlor off Venice Beach in June 2017.

Sawusch was already suffering from bipolar disorder at the time, and had lost the ability to care for himself, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Within a few days, Flores and Moore moved into the doctor's beachfront Malibu mansion - where they lived rent-free - and pretended to be his caretakers and new best friends.

They lived there for three weeks before Sawusch kicked them out in a fit of rage - describing them as 'white collar tax fraud criminals who tried to steal my Tesla and home,' according to the LA Times.

But soon after, Sawusch experienced a severe mental breakdown and was arrested multiple times on charges including public intoxication and vandalism. 

Flores then convinced Sawusch he grant him power of attorney so he could withdraw enough money from his accounts to post his bail.

He told the doctor in recorded jail calls that he would only have a 'very limited' power of attorney, but the authority was never revoked after Sawusch's release. 

Flores then used that to open bank accounts in Sawusch's name and gain access to his $60million fortune. 

At the same time, the newly-freed Sawusch invited the couple back to his beach house.

There, Flores hired a raft of massage therapists and more than 20 housekeepers, handymen and other staff to work at Sawusch's 1,200-square-foot home, telling them he wanted it to be like a five-star spa, sources told the LA Times.

By early 2018, the doctor was getting up to six massages a day lasting around two hours each, with talking discouraged.

Assistants worked in an office where they ran the medical, legal and financial affairs of Sawusch as well as Flores and Moore's window-washing business in Fresno, the records show.

One of half a dozen therapists who was commanded to provide Sawusch, who was a successful investor with a $60million fortune, with up to six massages a day told The LA Times that the couple 'just kept him drugged'.

The couple started to take took Sawusch to a doctor for weekly infusions of ketamine to treat depression and back pain - and provided him with marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms and LSD, prosecutors said. 

One day while Sawusch was under the influence, Flores changed the two-factor authentication on Sawusch's brokerage account to ping his own phone - and initiated two $1million transfers into his and Moore's bank accounts.

Some of that money fueled their taste for LA nightlife and they threw an Oscars viewing party at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.

It also funded the couple's 'shopping sprees', according to testimony from massage therapist Dora Peterson.

All the while, the couple prohibited his friends and county case workers from making visits and told his mother not to try to contact her son, authorities said.

Two weeks before Sawusch died, prosecutors said Flores and Moore invited a shaman, Alan, into his home for a Mother's Day acid trip.

He supplied liquid LSD in a vial with a dropper for doses under the tongue, Flores testified.

Sawusch then evicted the couple from his home again after the LSD caused his mental state to deteriorate further, prosecutors said.

He spent several days disoriented, 'flipping out' and in a 'manic state', according to staff who worked there and texts from Flores - who was using surveillance cameras inside the home to watch from a luxury hotel in Santa Monica, along with Moore.

Sawusch wound up dying alone on Memorial Day weekend 2018. 

The LA County coroner found it was an accidental death caused by ketamine and alcohol intoxication.

But a pathologist who did an autopsy found that ketamine and alcohol 'did not significantly contribute to the immediate cause of death' and that Sawusch died as a result of two heart conditions: dilated cardiomyopathy and a congenitally narrow coronary artery.

Still, prosecutors said Flores and Moore continued to withdraw money from Sawusch's accounts until the doctor's mother and sister eventually sued.

His funds were frozen amid the litigation, but Flores and Moore kept trying to get a hold of it by funneling money through different accounts, according to Fox 26.

They also claimed in late 2018 that Sawusch had promised them his mansion and one-third of his estate, but was unable to change his will before his untimely death.

The ensuing litigation ultimately resulted in the couple withdrawing their claims and agreeing to repay the estate $1million.

But in court on June 17, Judge Anderson said the judgment is still unpaid - and some of the money from Sawusch's account remains unaccounted for. 

Still, Flores' attorney argued that the Fresno hairstylist should only be sentenced to no more than 33 to 41 months in prison - noting that his client took responsibility by pleading guilty and had no prior criminal history.

He also pointed to more than a dozen family members and friends that had congregated in the courtroom to support Flores.

'This is not a person who has created a life of crime,' attorney Ambrosio E. Rodriguez said, according to the LA Times.

'He has created friends and families that are here to support him.'

Assistant US Attorney Andrew Roach also acknowledged that Flores had friends and family to support him, but noted Sawusch 'was really targeted because he didn't have that support.'

'That allowed [Flores] to get control and take control of his life,' Roach argued.

Following the sentencing, Rodriguez said he and his client 'accept the judge's sentence, but we're disappointed.'

Meanwhile in a statement to reporters, Sawusch's family said they were 'finally finding some comfort in knowing these relentless criminals have [pleaded] guilty, confessed to their widespread web of deceit and lies, and are facing the consequences.

'There is nothing worse than those who prey upon the highly vulnerable.'

Moore pleaded guilty last year to seven felony charges for the scheme, and is due to be sentenced on October 28.