News

FRESNO -  Alejandro Galvan-Silvestre, 23, of Bakersfield, was arrested today, charged with knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer at Air One, a Kern County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

A federal grand jury returned the indictment on Aug. 25, 2022. It was unsealed today after Galvan-Silvestre’s arrest. According to court documents, on Sept. 5, 2021, Galvan-Silvestre aimed the beam of a laser pointer at Air One.

FRESNO -  A federal grand jury returned a multiple-count indictment today against Richard Best, 68, of Fresno, and Shawn Sawa, 46, formerly of Clovis, charging them with conspiracy and wire fraud. According to court documents, from 2015 through 2017, Best and Sawa stole $4.8 million worth of canola used in cow feed from international food processors. They then sold the canola for a windfall.

Best and Sawa carried out the scheme through Best’s now defunct train-to-truck transloading company, Richard Best Transfer Inc. (RBT). A transloading company transfers commodities from one mode of transportation to another mode. The victims sent hundreds of thousands of tons of their canola and other commodities to RBT for delivery to their customers. Sawa was the manager of one of the victim’s branch offices in Fresno and had a close relationship with Best.

FRESNO -  A federal grand jury returned an indictment against German Antonio Lopez-Velasquez, 55, of Modesto; Marko Antonio Lopez, 27, of Modesto; and Lisa Marie Santos, 48, of Long Beach, charging them with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Lopez-Velasquez was also charged with witness tampering. He is alleged to have attempted to persuade an individual to make false statements to law enforcement officers regarding a mortgage loan under investigation.

FRESNO  -  Marino Cruz Diaz, 24, of Taft, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 10 years in prison for illegally cultivating marijuana in a national forest and ordered to pay over $13,000 in restitution for damage to the land, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in July 2019, law enforcement officers located clandestine marijuana grow site in Sequoia National Forest in Fresno County. On Aug. 2, 2019, officers hiked into the grow site, where they found and arrested Marino Cruz Diaz and Moreno Florez.

FRESNO -   Matthew Sheffield, 41, of Merced, was sentenced today to 60 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release for his two convictions for sexual exploitation of a minor, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. In addition, Sheffield was ordered to pay $100,200 in special assessments and $25,000 in restitution to each of the two victims.

According to court documents, law enforcement agents first encountered sexually explicit material in February 2018, and through investigative work and assistance from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, ultimately identified Sheffield as the person responsible for creating and distributing the material on the internet. While executing a search warrant at Sheffield’s house, agents recognized unique objects depicted in the images he created. On Aug. 29, 2019, Sheffield was indicted, and on March 21, 2022, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Fresno and the FBI Child Exploitation Operational Unit in Linthicum, Maryland. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section Trial Attorney Nadia Prinz prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute those who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet safety education.

FRESNO  -  A 28-count indictment was unsealed today, charging Terrance John “TJ” Cox, 59, of Fresno, with 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud, and one count of campaign contribution fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Cox perpetrated multiple fraud schemes targeting companies he was affiliated with and their clients and vendors. Cox created unauthorized off-the-books bank accounts and diverted client and company money into those accounts through false representations, pretenses, and promises. From 2013 to 2018, across two different fraud schemes, Cox illegally obtained over $1.7 million in diverted client payments, company loans, and investments he solicited and stole.