News

Owner of Bakersfield Desert Star Motel Sentenced to 4 Years for Participation in Sex Trafficking

FRESNO - Jatinbhai Naresh Bhakta, 31, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to 4 years in prison and ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of over $1 million for using a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents in 2015, Bhakta purchased and began operating the Desert Star Motel at 516 South Union Avenue in Bakersfield. Bhakta lived in a unit at the motel. Co‑defendant Roy Gene Drees, 45, also lived at the motel and was employed as a handyman and general manager. During Bhakta’s ownership from at least 2018 to 2020, the Desert Star primarily catered to prostitutes and their actual and potential clients.

Atwater PD serves a Search Warrant for Fentanyl

ATWATER - Late Tuesday morning, Atwater Police Department officers served a narcotic trafficking search warrant in the 2800 block of Piro Ave in the City of Atwater. During the search, officers seized approximately 100 pills suspected to be the deadly drug Fentanyl, approx. Twenty-four grams of an unfinished substance suspected to be Fentanyl and seven pills believed to be Xanax.

Officers took Seth Ingalsbe, a white male adult, age 25, resident of Atwater into custody without incident. The suspect was booked into the Merced County Jail on two charges: possessing a controlled substance for sale and committing a criminal offense while out of custody on bail.

Madera County Sheriff Announces San Joaquin River Opening

MADERA COUNTY - Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue to lift the closure of the San Joaquin River from Millerton Lake/Friant Dam south along the River to the Merced County Line. Friant Dam has lowered releases below 7,000 Cubic Feet Per Second (CFS) and will be reduced to 4,000 CFS. According to forecasts from the Department of Water Resources (DWR), Friant Dam will likely stay below this number until the end of summer.

Sheriff Pogue and Sheriff Zanoni are lifting the closure with this reduction. This doesn’t mean the river is free from all hazards, nor does it relieve the public of taking responsibility for their own safety while enjoying the recreational activity along the river. Sheriff Pogue cautions, “The river has changed from last year. Sand has been moved, river banks have eroded, and logs and debris are in different locations. These pose potential hazards to the public and our Sheriff’s Deputies, Firefighters, and EMS Providers who would be responsible for any rescue.”

Madera SO Detectives Investigate Father/Son Double Homicides

MADERA COUNTY - Early Sunday morning, the Madera County Sheriff’s Communications Center received a call reporting an adult male had been shot at a residence in the 23000 block of Avenue 9 in Madera. Around the same time, MCSO received another call reporting a shooting victim at a residence in the 23000 block of Las Palmas in Madera.

Deputies responded to both locations and discovered multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Two victims, later determined to be father and son, were declared deceased at the scene. A 15-year-old victim was transported to a regional medical facility for treatment. Their status is unknown at this time.

Sentences Announced in Operation Red Reaper that Targeting Nuestra Familia Prison Gang in Kings and Tulare Counties

FRESNO - U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced the sentencings today in cases brought in 2019 following Operation Red Reaper, a multi-agency investigation into the Nuestra Familia prison gang and the Norteño street gang in Kings County. The last defendant in case number 1:19-cr-143, Angel Montes, 27, of Visalia, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison for facilitating the distribution of the gang’s drugs and the collection of the gang’s proceeds. Also today, Eric Mercado, a defendant in a related case (1:19-cr-248) was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for illegally possessing a machine gun.

The investigation uncovered that the Nuestra Familia was responsible for large-scale trafficking of methamphetamine and other controlled substances, as well as various firearms offenses and other violent crimes. According to court documents, high-ranking Nuestra Familia members Salvador Castro Jr. and Raymond Lopez used contraband cellphones from inside Fresno County’s Pleasant Valley State Prison to arrange the transport of illicit narcotics from drug sources in California and Mexico to a stash house in Kings County. From that stash house, gang members outside of the prison coordinated the preparation and delivery of the drugs to distributors throughout the Kings and Tulare Counties.

Kern High School District Employee Charged with Federal Explosive Offenses

FRESNO - A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment today against Angelo Jackson Mendiver, 26, of Bakersfield, an employee of the Kern High School District, charging him with conspiring to commit offenses against the United States; engaging in manufacturing and dealing in explosive materials; two counts of mailing an explosive device; improper storage of explosives; and making false statements to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Mendiver used an Instagram account to sell explosives and explosive materials and worked closely with a male juvenile Bakersfield high school student to fulfill transactions. A federal search warrant executed at Mendiver’s residence on June 1, 2023, resulted in the seizure of approximately 500 pounds of explosives and explosive materials. Agents seized another 500 pounds of explosives and explosive materials from the juvenile’s residence.

Tulare Credit Union Assistant Branch Manager Arrested for Stealing over $60,000 for TikTok

FRESNO - Esther Andrade Olson, 48, of Hanford, was arrested today on the charge that she embezzled over $60,000 from multiple members’ accounts at a Tulare-based credit union where she was previously employed, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Olson began working at the credit union in 2005 and was promoted to assistant branch manager in 2019. In July and August 2022, Olson made several unauthorized withdrawals from four members’ accounts, including seven withdrawals totaling $35,000 from one member.