Local News

Former Merced Health Care Provider CEO and Licensed Nurse Practitioner Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Health Care Fraud

FRESNO - Sandra Haar, 59, of Merced, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neil to five years in prison and ordered to pay $6,107,846 in restitution for health care fraud and conspiracy to receive kickbacks, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Haar was ordered to self-surrender on Jan. 15, 2020, to begin serving her sentence.

Haar was the founder and chief executive officer of Horisons Unlimited, a nonprofit public benefit corporation that provided health and dental services in Merced and surrounding communities. According to court documents, between January 1, 2014, and March 2017, Haar orchestrated a scheme to bill Medicare and Medi-Cal for services she knew were not reimbursable, and she profited by over $3.7 million from her fraud.

Madera County Woman Sentenced to over 16 Years in Prison for Aiding and Abetting Production of Child Pornography

FRESNO - A Madera County woman was sentenced today to 16 years and 8 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for aiding and abetting the production of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.

Ashley Maddox, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd, after pleading guilty on May 24 to one count of aiding and abetting the production of child pornography. Maddox came to the attention of law enforcement during an investigation of an offender in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Former Madera Unified Educator Bill Coate Recognized with the California School Boards Association’s 2019 Golden Quill Award for Journalism

MADERA - Bill Coate of The Madera Tribune has been chosen as one of 25 recipients of the Golden Quill Award, presented in recognition of fair, insightful and accurate reporting on public school news by print, broadcast, and online news media representatives.

Other area winners of the Golden Quill Award are news anchor Juanita Stevenson of Fresno-based KSEE 24 – NBC and news photographer Alex Ruiz of Fresno-based KFSN 30 – ABC.

CHP Officer Shoots & Kills Suspected Armed Drunk Driver on Hwy 41

FRESNO COUNTY - The suspect shot and killed by a California Highway Patrol officer has been identified as a 24-year-old Clovis man named Billy Kongphouthakhoun (Kong-Putah-Coon). An autopsy has been performed and toxicology tests are pending.

Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, California Highway Patrol officers responded to a report of a vehicle collision. The driver of a Toyota Tundra pickup, Billy Kongphouthakhoun, crashed into the back of a Chevy Tahoe occupied by a man and woman, both in their 30s. This occurred on southbound Highway 41, just south of Manning Avenue. When officers arrived, they found the Tahoe upside down and Kongphouthakhoun to still be inside his pickup truck, which was right-side up.

Gilroy Carjacking Ends in Madera Freeway Crash

MADERA - Madera Police Officers arrested Monique Munoz and Fernando Aguirre following a short pursuit and crash at the Freeway 99 Central Madera exit at North I Street on Monday.

Police initially chased a car occupied by the two who were suspects in a carjacking in Gilroy. The chase ended when the suspects’ car crashed into a freeway exit guardrail. They subsequently fled on foot near Saint Joachim’s Catholic School.