Local News

Central Valley Optometrist Indicted for Submitting over $1 Million in False Claims to Medicare

FRESNO - A federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment today against optometrist Carole Sachs, O.D., 76, of Delhi, charging her with health care fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Sachs was an optometrist and practiced out of offices in Turlock and Modesto. Between November 2016 and February 2021, Sachs fraudulently billed Medicare for optometry services she did not provide. Sachs billed over $1 million and received over $700,000 in payments from Medicare from these false and fraudulent claims. The fraudulent claims included claims for performing ultrasounds and for placing amniotic membranes on patients’ eyes despite the fact that Sachs did not perform these procedures.

Registered Sex Offender in Fresno Charged with Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

FRESNO - A federal grand jury has returned a three-count indictment against Andrew Michael Alonso, 31, of Fresno, charging him with sexual exploitation of a minor, receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and committing a felony offense involving a minor while being a registered sex offender, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today.

According to court documents, Alonso is a registered sex offender who was on California parole supervision with GPS location monitoring. He contacted a 13-year-old victim on Instagram and then communicated with the victim through text messages in May and June 2021.

Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Marijuana Cultivation in the Dutch Oven Creek Area of the Sierra National Forest

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.

Madera and Fresno Men Sentenced for Interstate Drug Shipments

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.

Stockton Woman Convicted of Sex Trafficking Children

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.