Local News

Sheriff Tyson Pogue Fires Deputy for Teenage "Social Media" Racial Slur

MADERA – Here is another lesson in the power of one social media post’s ability to ruin your life, a Madera County Deputy Sheriff has been fired for using the “N-Word” in a Twitter post he wrote (about a car) when he was nineteen years old, five years before joining the Sheriff’s Department.

Damian Tabatabai has been with the department for nearly six months, but that ended Saturday when acting sheriff Tyson Pogue personally fired the deputy 90 minutes after becoming aware of the post with the racial slur. Department Public Information Officer Sarah Jackson said in a press release, “This conversation involved a deputy sheriff who was hired about 6 months ago and contained an extremely offensive racial slur. This conversation is believed to have occurred about 5 years before his employment with our agency.”

Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Cultivating Marijuana on Public Lands

FRESNO - Marco Lizandro Duarte-Beltran, aka Marco Antonio Duarte-Beltran, 34, an illegal alien from Mexico, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Duarte-Beltran cultivated 1,082 marijuana plants in the Millwood Creek area of the Sequoia National Forest for four months. Duarte-Beltran was apprehended at the marijuana cultivation site after a two-month investigation. He was wearing camouflage clothing and was armed with a loaded revolver.

Two Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Modesto Bank Robbery Conspiracy

FRESNO - Soledad residents Enrique Lopez, 28, and Victor Bravo, 25, were each sentenced today to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, on Nov. 16, 2018, a deputy sheriff noticed a Nissan Altima parked in a parking lot at an apartment complex in Modesto that had been reported stolen from Salinas. Officers set up surveillance on the stolen Nissan and watched four cars carrying the five co-conspirators leave the apartment complex.

The cars traveled close to each other to a shopping area in Modesto that contained a Chase Bank. One co-conspirator drove back and forth past the Chase Bank, talking to the other conspirators on the phone.

Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Statement on the Death of George Floyd and Riots

SACRAMENTO - Federal, state and local law enforcement partners join together to condemn the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and offer sincere condolences to his family and colleagues, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, and Sacramento Chief of Police Daniel Hahn announced.

Mr. Floyd’s death is being addressed through our criminal justice system, which is moving quickly. The state prosecutor has brought murder charges against a former Minneapolis police officer. As United States Attorney General Barr announced on May 29, the Department of Justice, including the FBI, is also conducting an independent investigation to determine whether any federal civil rights laws were violated.

DOJ Increases Efforts to Combat Sexual Harassment in Housing During the COVID 19 Pandemic

SACRAMENTO - U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott is asking anyone who has witnessed or experienced sexual harassment by a landlord, property manager, maintenance worker, or anyone with control over the housing to report that conduct to the Department of Justice.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted the ability of many people to pay rent on time and has increased housing insecurity. The Department of Justice has heard reports of housing providers trying to exploit the crisis to sexually harass tenants. Sexual harassment in housing is illegal, and the Department of Justice stands ready to investigate such allegations and pursue enforcement actions where appropriate.