Juan-Carlos Cruz (born ca. 1962) is a

Dominican American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

chef and the former host of ''Calorie Commando'' and ''Weighing In'' on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

. Cruz lost 43 pounds on the

Discovery Health Channel Discovery Health Channel was an American subscription television channel. Launched in July 1998, it was owned by Discovery Communications as a spin-off of Discovery Channel, focusing on health and wellness-oriented programming. In the beginning ...

show ''Discovery Health Body Challenge'', which encouraged him to change directions from being a

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

to do low-calorie cooking. In 2010, Cruz was sentenced to prison for nine years in California for soliciting homeless people to murder his wife, Jennifer Campbell.

Early life and education

Juan-Carlos Cruz was born around 1962 in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He has two older brothers. He moved to the United States with his family when he was three, settling in California. He learned how to cook watching

Graham Kerr Graham Kerr (born 22 January 1934) is an English cooking personality who is best known for his television cooking show ''The Galloping Gourmet'' from December 30, 1968 to September 14, 1973. Early life Kerr was born in Brondesbury, London. H ...

, Jeff Smith, and

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

on television. Cruz graduated in 1993 from the

California Culinary Academy The California Culinary Academy (CCA) was a for-profit school, and an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu located in San Francisco, California. Danielle Carlisle established the school in 1977 to train chefs using the European education model. The origin ...

with a focus on pastry and found work in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Career

After graduation from the Culinary Academy in 1993, Cruz joined Hotel Bel Air as a pastry sous-chef. While at the Bel Air he created pastries for celebrities such as

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

and

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...

. Cruz struggled with weight gain due to his work with pastries. In 2000, he appeared on the

program "Discovery Health Body Challenge" and lost 43 pounds. He called himself the "Calorie Commando" and began focusing on low calorie cooking. In 2004, he began starring in the

show named after his nickname, "Calorie Commando." The following year, 2005, he began hosting Food Network's "Weighing In." As a result, he published a cookbook, "The Juan-Carlos Cruz Calorie Countdown Cookbook," in 2006.

Personal life

Cruz was married to Jennifer Campbell, who he met in high school.

Legal issues

On Thursday, May 13, 2010, Cruz was arrested in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Cheviot Hills Park Cheviot Hills is a neighborhood on the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1924, the neighborhood has served as the filming location of movies and television shows due to its convenient location between Sony Studios a ...

on suspicion of

murder for hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

after three homeless individuals reported Cruz soliciting them to kill his wife, Jennifer Campbell. Cruz had asked the men to slit Campbell's throat or to strangle her for $1,000 and gave one of the men, Big Dave, the security code to Cruz's apartment so he could kill Campbell. He was held on a $5 million bail, which was eventually lowered to $2 million. Cruz's motivation to have Campbell killed stemmed from the couple's struggle to have a child due to fertility issues. The couple spent over $200,000 on fertility treatments, resulting in Campbell struggling with depression. Cruz believed having Campbell killed would be a "merciful" way to help her end her life. Cruz was charged with murder for hire and

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...

. On December 13, 2010, Cruz pleaded "

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

" to murder for hire and the attempted murder count was dropped. As a result of a plea agreement, Cruz was ordered to pay $1,870 in restitution and to serve nine years in prison.

Works by Juan-Carlos Cruz

*with Martha Rose Shulman. ''The Juan-Carlos Cruz Calorie Countdown Cookbook: A 5-Week Eating Strategy for Sustainable Weight''. New York: Gotham Publishing (2006).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Juan-Carlos 1962 births Living people 21st-century American criminals 21st-century American non-fiction writers American cookbook writers American male chefs American male criminals American television chefs California Culinary Academy alumni Chefs from California Criminals from California Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States Food Network chefs Murder-for-hire cases Participants in American reality television series Pastry chefs Writers from California