Quick Facts
Biography
Juan-Carlos Cruz (born 30 January 1962) is a celebrity chef and the former host of Calorie Commando and Weighing In (formerly titled Take It Off) on the Food Network. Cruz lost 43 pounds on the Discovery Health Channel show Discovery Health Body Challenge, which encouraged him to change directions from being a pastry chef to do low-calorie cooking.
Education
Cruz graduated in 1993 from the California Culinary Academy.
Career
Juan-Carlos Cruz started his career in 1994 as pastry chef at the Stanford Park Hotel. In 1996, he started as pastry sous-chef at the Hotel Bel Air. While at the Bel Air he created pastries for celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts. In 2001, he started the website Pastrydude.com. The site is no longer active and the domain was sold at auction.
Legal issues
On Thursday, May 13, 2010, he was arrested at Cheviot Hills Park in Los Angeles, for having allegedly solicited three homeless persons at the Third Street Promenade to murder his wife, Jennifer Campbell. Cruz was initially held on $5 million bail; however, the bail was reduced to $2 million at the arraignment.
On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, Cruz entered into a plea agreement pursuant to which he pleaded "no contest" to a charge of soliciting murder, and the charge of attempted murder was dropped. While it was reported that the plea agreement proposes a 9-year sentence, the sentencing hearing was set to take place on Monday, December 13, 2010.
On Monday December 13, 2010 Cruz was sentenced to 9 years in a California Prison. Initially housed at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, a supermax facility. In December 2012, Cruz was moved to California City Correctional Facility.