Local News

Measure C Groundbreaking: Madera Community College Academic Village 2 Building

MADERA – The State Center Community College District broke ground Friday for the Academic Village 2 building at Madera Community College, paid for through Measure C funding. The new Academic Village 2 building will house general education classrooms, distance learning classrooms, a student success center, an expanded library, and labs for nursing, computers, and criminology. Plans also include expanded parking on the west side of campus.

In November 2017, Darden Architects was approved as the project architect. Academic Village 2 was approved by DSA on January 26, 2021. BMY Construction Group, Inc. was awarded the contract on April 6, 2021. The $35M project is anticipated to open in the fiscal year 2022-2023.

Wife Shoots Knife Wielding Attacker Defending Husband at Walmart

MADERA - Madera Police are investigating a shooting Tuesday evening that sent a man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the neck. The shooting took place in the parking lot of the Madera Walmart on West Cleveland Avenue near the store's entrance where a man brought a knife to a gunfight.

The initial investigation revealed that a verbal argument in the parking lot led to one man brandishing a knife and charging another man. The man brandishing the knife continued advancing on the unarmed man, who backed away approximately 30 feet.

Bakersfield Medical Practice Agrees to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Involving Cares Act Paycheck Protection Program

SACRAMENTO - Sandeep S. Walia, M.D., a Professional Medical Corporation (Walia PMC), and Sandeep S. Walia, M.D., the corporation’s owner and president, has agreed to pay a combined $70,000 in damages and penalties to resolve allegations that they knowingly made a false statement to obtain a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today.

As part of the settlement, Walia PMC also agreed to repay the $430,000 PPP loan that it obtained because of the false statement, with interest.

Tulare County Man Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Methamphetamine Conspiracy

FRESNO - Eleuterio Rosario Martinez, 49, of Porterville, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to 42 months in prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, an investigation into drug trafficking primarily in the Tulare County area led to the arrest and indictment of Martinez and 10 others for a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine between June 7, 2018, and Jan. 19, 2019.

Martinez delivered the methamphetamine for the conspiracy. During a one-month period of the conspiracy, Martinez made approximately 258 deliveries of methamphetamine at the direction of co-defendant Manuel Delgado-Montenegro, 48, of Porterville. The deliveries were in quantities of 1 ounce or less and totaled at least 3.7 pounds of methamphetamine.

Two Plead Guilty in COVID-19 Unemployment Benefit Fraud Scheme

FRESNO - Jason Vertz, 51, of Fresno, and Alana Powers, 45, an inmate at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, each pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in a scheme that targeted California Employment Development Department (EDD) unemployment insurance benefits that were intended for Californians hit hardest by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Vertz and Powers submitted several fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in Powers’ and other CCWF inmates’ names to EDD. Recorded jail calls and emails show that Powers and other inmates provided names, dates of birth, and social security numbers for inmates at CCWF to Vertz to submit the fraudulent claims. Shortly thereafter, the benefits were loaded onto debit cards that were mailed to the addresses the defendants provided.