News

Clovis Man Arrested for Operating Business to Buy and Sell Stolen Catalytic Converters

FRESNO - A federal grand jury has indicted George Thomas, 70, of Clovis, for selling thousands of stolen catalytic converters to a company in Oregon for over $2.5 million and then withdrawing the proceeds from his bank accounts in increments under $10,000 to avoid federal reporting requirements, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The indictment was unsealed today following Thomas’s arrest.

According to court records, between January 2021 and November 2022, Thomas purchased stolen catalytic converters from thieves in the Fresno area who cut the converters off people’s vehicles. The thieves called or texted Thomas to arrange the sales in parking lots and behind buildings during all hours of the day and night. Thomas paid the thieves significantly below market rates and paid them in cash to conceal the source of the converters.

Bakersfield Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Illegal Cockfighting

FRESNO - Horacio Ortega-Martinez, 36, a citizen of Mexico residing in Bakersfield, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for possessing roosters to use them in an animal fighting venture, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. In addition, the forfeiture of the fighting roosters and 49 breeding hens was ordered. On Nov. 10, 2022, Ortega pleaded guilty to an Animal Welfare Act crime involving the possession of 250 roosters for use in an animal fighting venture.

According to court documents, law enforcement agents became aware of Ortega’s involvement in breeding, fighting, and selling roosters in January 2022 through recorded conversations obtained from a court-authorized wiretap of a phone used by Jorge Calderon-Campos, 42, of Bakersfield. Ortega and Calderon had various telephone conversations about buying, selling, and fighting roosters.

Four Indicted in Scheme to Deliver Drugs into State Prisons by Drone

FRESNO - An indictment, brought on Feb. 16, 2023, has been unsealed, charging four defendants in a scheme to use drones to deliver drugs and other contraband into state prisons, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Michael Ray Acosta, 48, an inmate at Pleasant Valley State Prison, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, conspiracy to own and operate an unregistered drone, and serving or attempting to serve as an airman without an airman’s certificate and using a cellphone in aid of racketeering.

Prison Officials Investigating Death of an Incarcerated Person as a Homicide

COALINGA – Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) officials are investigating the death of Richard Derderian as a homicide. At 10:43 a.m. on Friday, March 10, 2023, an officer found Derderian lying unresponsive in a recreation yard with what appeared to be injuries.

An inmate-manufactured weapon was recovered at the scene. Staff quickly initiated life-saving measures and summoned emergency services to transport him to an on-site medical facility for treatment, where he was pronounced deceased at 11:13 a.m.

Deputies Cite Rafters for Floating on Closed San Joaquin River

FRESNO - Fresno County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of five people and a dog floating in a raft down the San Joaquin River. The group launched its raft in the town of Friant and began traveling south through the Lost Lake area.

There, a crew aboard EAGLE One flew overhead and made announcements over a speaker system for the crew to exit the river. The group floated another mile downstream before finally safely reaching the shore.

Man Pleads Guilty to Advertising and Distributing Images of Child Sexual Abuse

FRESNO - Austen Peppers, 34, of Lawton, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty today to one count each of advertising and distributing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, law enforcement investigators identified Peppers as someone who sold and offered to sell images of minors being sexually abused. Peppers conducted transactions on the dark web using platforms and applications that he believed were secure and protected him from law enforcement scrutiny.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Homeland Security Investigations offices in Fresno, Chicago, and Oklahoma and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with assistance from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Tactical Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa prosecutes the case with Trial Attorney James Burke IV of the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

Retaliation and Medical Negligence Force Pause Hunger Strike at Central Valley Immigration Detention Facilities,

BAKERSFIELD. – People detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield and the Golden State Annex in McFarland have put a pause on a month-long hunger strike protesting inhumane conditions at the two immigration detention facilities as a result of being subjected to weeks of retaliation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and GEO Group, the for-profit prison company that owns and operates the facilities. Strikers asserted their right to protest for a total of 35 days—from Feb. 17 to March 24, 2023—persisting even as detention center officials engaged in violent tactics to break the strike.

According to detained people and their legal representatives, within several days of the start of the protest, hunger strikers faced retaliation in the form of threats of solitary confinement and bans on family visitation, among other degradations to the conditions of their civil detainment. On March 7, the retaliation took a violent turn.