News

FRESNO  - Lester Eduardo Cardenas Flores, 24, of Michoacán, Mexico, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. He also agreed to pay $48,057 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the damage that the cultivation operation had on public land.

According to court documents, the cultivation operation contained 2,307 marijuana plants and was located in the Basin Creek drainage in the Dutch Oven Creek area of the Sierra National Forest. Cardenas and his co-defendant, Luis Madrigal Reyes, 37, also of Michoacán, Mexico, were apprehended at the grow site during the execution of a search warrant. 

FRESNO -  Patrick Maldonado, 45, of Madera, and Elias Zambrano Jr., 41, of Fresno, have been sentenced to eight years in prison and two years and three months in prison, respectively, for an interstate drug conspiracy involving shipments of marijuana to the Midwest, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Maldonado and Zambrano pleaded guilty earlier this year. According to court documents, in November 2018, Maldonado coordinated with Tan Minh Vo, 48, of San Jose, to send two shipments of marijuana to Halen Frazier, 34, of Kingsville, Missouri. The first shipment was seized from Frazier during a traffic stop after Tien Van Phan, 56, of Milpitas, delivered 92 pounds of marijuana to Frazier in two suitcases at a hotel in Kansas City.

SACRAMENTO  -   After a seven-day trial, a jury found Dawniel Santangelo, 43, of Stockton, guilty today of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a child, three counts of sex trafficking of a child, and one count of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to evidence presented at trial, between September 2018 and May 2019, Santangelo recruited 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old girls to engage in prostitution throughout Northern California and Southern Oregon. Santangelo enticed the girls to perform sex acts for strangers by providing alcohol, drugs, and creating a party atmosphere in motels in Stockton and Salinas. She then posted online prostitution ads depicting the victims and brought sex buyers to the motels to have sex with the victims in exchange for money that she and co-defendant, Lucious James Roy, 34, of Stockton, took from the victims. Santangelo also took the 17-year-old victim to a Ripon truck stop to engage in prostitution.

FRESNO  -  A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment today against Wes Parker McDaniel, 52, of Merced, charging him with four counts of possessing unregistered destructive devices, manufacturing destructive devices, impersonating a federal agent, being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to the indictment, between Feb. 1, 2021, and June 22, 2021, McDaniel manufactured approximately 10 destructive devices, which were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, and possessed those devices on four separate occasions in Merced and Kings Counties. On June 20, 2021, one of those devices is alleged to have caused damage to residential rental properties in Merced.

FRESNO - At a special board meeting held August 23, 2021, State Center Community College District Trustees voted to mandate vaccines for students, employees, contractors, and visitors beginning October 15, 2021.  The District’s COVID-19 protective measures are subject to legally required exemptions for sincerely held religious beliefs and medical conditions. 

Originally scheduled for Friday, August 20 the meeting was rescheduled when more than 700 participants tried to join the Zoom meeting, leaving some unable to access the meeting due to capacity issues.  The meeting was then rescheduled for Monday as a Zoom webinar with live streaming on YouTube to allow for full access and participation.  Chancellor Houston shared, “I am very proud of the governing Board for scheduling the meeting in a manner that ensures the broadest possible participation by the public, students, faculty, and staff for this very consequential decision.”

FRESNO — A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment today against Aldo David Alcaraz, 27, of Long Beach, charging him with production and possession of child pornography, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between December 2020 and January 2021, Alcaraz produced nine videos of himself engaged in sex acts with a minor victim in Tulare County. Alcaraz is also charged with possessing sexual images of minors, including minors under the age of 12 and another set of videos that Alcaraz produced of himself engaged in sex acts with a different minor victim. Finally, according to court documents, in January 2021, Alcaraz traveled to Kern County in an attempt to meet a minor to engage in sex acts, and he sent obscene images to that minor.