Local News

FRESNO -  A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment today against Dennis Falaschi, 75, of Aptos, California, charging him with conspiracy, theft of government property, and filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Falaschi was the general manager for a public water district in Fresno and Merced Counties near the communities of Dos Palos, Firebaugh, and Los Banos. He exploited a leak in the Delta-Mendota Canal and engineered a way to steal over $25 million in federally owned water.

SACRAMENTO - A Redding woman has signed a plea agreement admitting that she planned and participated in her own hoax kidnapping and agreeing to plead guilty to making materially false statements to FBI agents about the circumstances of her disappearance and committing mail fraud based on her being a kidnapping victim, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today.

Sherri Papini, 39, of Redding, was charged in a criminal information filed today in the U.S. District Court with thirty-four counts of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. In a plea agreement, also filed today, Papini agreed to plead guilty to a single count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements. Papini was arrested on March 3 based on a criminal complaint filed that day.

FRESNO -  Steven Dale Jones, 43, of Fresno, was sentenced today to 11 and a half years in prison by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd for receipt and distribution of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

The sentence imposed includes a term of supervised release of 20 years during which Jones’s access to minors, computers, and the internet will be restricted. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. The court has scheduled a hearing for June 27, 2022, to address restitution to victims.

FRESNO -  After a three-day trial, a jury found Charles Porter, 31, a resident of Yosemite National Park and Pomona, guilty today of attempted aggravated sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, assault with intent to commit aggravated sexual abuse, assault with intent to commit abusive sexual contact, and assault by striking or wounding, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to evidence presented at trial, on April 14, 2020, in Yosemite National Park, Porter, an Aramark employee working and residing in Yosemite Valley, entered the victim’s cabin in employee housing at night while the victim was asleep and began to sexually assault the victim. The victim fought back, and during the struggle, Porter attempted to penetrate the victim. The victim was able to reach the door of his one-room cabin to call for help. Nearby neighbors heard his call for help, and they responded and physically removed Porter.