News

ACRAMENTO -  Sequoiya D. Harris, 35, former resident of Sacramento and Stockton; John A. Owens Jr., 32, of Sacramento; and Dionne Thomas, 53, of Galt, pleaded guilty today to participating in a federal tax refund fraud conspiracy, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, from at least February 2009 through April 2013, Harris, Owens, Thomas, and co-defendant Joe E. Rodriguez Jr. conspired to submit false tax returns in the names of themselves and others to obtain tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service based on false documents and information.

The defendants used hundreds of fraudulent W-2 forms from multiple purported employers to make it appear as if the people listed on the returns worked at those companies and had portions of their wages withheld by the employers for federal tax purposes, but the W-2s, wages, and withholdings were false. The W-2s were used to seek tax refunds of the supposedly withheld wages, and as a basis to seek further tax credits.  

MADERA – One of Madera’s newest politicians has failed to file his financial disclosures since January of this year. As Big Valley News first reported in March of 2019, Madera City Councilman Santos Garcia has failed to file his California Form 460 despite receiving several late notices from Madera County Clerk Rebecca Martinez.

Madera County Elections Division Manager Stephanie Sibley indicated a $100 fine is in the process of being generated if the candidate does not file his disclosures and if that is also ignored the California Fair Political Practices Commission would step in with fines ranging from $2000 to $5000.

FRESNO -  Rodolfo Torres-Galvan, 30, (Torres), of Michoacán, Mexico, was sentenced today to three years and 10 months in prison for conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Torres’ sentencing follows his guilty plea entered earlier this year.

According to court documents, Torres and his co-defendants, Mauricio Vaca-Bucio (Vaca), 31, and Felipe Angeles Valdez-Colima (Valdez), 35, both Mexican nationals, were apprehended after a two-month investigation in the Kiavah Wilderness, a federally designated wilderness area in the Sequoia National Forest. Law enforcement officers saw Torres and Valdez emerge from the forest and enter a Camaro driven by Vaca. They were subsequently stopped in Weldon.

FRESNO -  On Thursday, a federal jury found Filiberto “Beto” Chavez, 37, of Fresno, guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to engage in interstate travel for prostitution and two counts of use of a facility of interstate commerce to promote prostitution, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

U.S. Attorney Scott stated: “This verdict is the result of law enforcement partners at the federal, state and local level working as one to pursue criminal gangs and their associates. We will continue to work tirelessly together to protect our communities and to hold accountable those who threaten our safety.”

FRESNO -  On Tuesday, after a four-day trial, a federal jury found Jonathan Mota, 37, guilty of attempting to kill a federal officer and found Dominic Adams, 27, guilty of assault on a federal officer, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on October 6, 2017, Mota, Adams and four other inmates brutally attacked a Federal Bureau of Prisons officer who was a teacher working at the federal penitentiary in Atwater. The officer was repeatedly stabbed with homemade knives and kicked and beaten by the inmates.

According to court documents, on the day of the attack, Mota and Eric Chiago, 28, entered the copy room where the officer was making copies and repeatedly stabbed him. William Roe Acevedo, 33; Michael Martin, 30; Joey Thomas, 26; and Adams stationed themselves outside the room. When the victim was able to free himself and escape down the hallway, the six defendants tackled him and wrestled him to the floor where they repeatedly kicked, punched and stabbed him. Adams and Thomas also assaulted an officer who was responding to the attack.

ATWATER - After nearly eight weeks of investigation the Atwater Police Department has identified its prime suspect in the homicide of the former Merced Couny District Attorney’s son Ethan Morse. Surveillance cameras captured video the suspect Dagoberto Franco Penaloza (26) near the crime scene the day of the murder. 

Atwater Detectives say he did not attempt to make a quick getaway. In fact, Atwater's police chief thinks he may have actually passed him. "He did walk out of the area, and he walked through town. If we'd had a better description, I might have caught him," said police chief Michael Salvador. "He walked right by my position as I was driving to the homicide scene."