Local News

Arredondo Resigns MUSD Trustee Position to Run for Madera County Supervisor D4

MADERA – Just seven months after the Madera Unified School District Board of Trustees was restored to full strength following the 2017 resignation of Trustee Al Galvez, the seven-member board is again down one member. This time, one of the two senior trustees has resigned his position, 10-year board veteran Ric Arredondo.

Arredondo, who announced his intent to resign to his fellow board members and district staff weeks ago, resigned his position on the board Friday morning as he is moving out of the area he has represented since 2009. In a press release sent to BVN Thursday, Arredondo announced he would make a run for the Madera County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat currently held by Max Rodriguez.

Stockton Residents Sentenced for Scheme to Change Test Scores in DMV Computers

SACRAMENTO - Stockton residents Donald Earl Freeman Jr., 26, was sentenced today to three years and one month in prison, and Juan Arturo Arroyo Gomez, 32, was sentenced to one year in prison, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. On December 14, 2017, Freeman and Arroyo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, identity fraud, and unauthorized access to a computer for accepting bribes to change test scores in the computers of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

“Individuals in positions of trust who exploit federal and state law for personal gain pose a significant threat to public safety and national security,” said Jerry C. Templet Jr, Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (San Francisco and Northern California). “HSI will continue working with our local, state, and federal partners to investigate these types of public corruption cases and bring those responsible to justice.”

Sacramento Man Convicted of Assaulting U.S. Postal Worker

SACRAMENTO - On Monday, a federal jury found Morrey Selck, 55, guilty of assaulting a federal employee, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents and trial testimony, on March 17, 2017, Selck assaulted a letter carrier who was delivering mail on his assigned route. Selck sprayed him in the face with dog repellent, followed him into the street, knocking the mail and a phone from his hands. Selck then kicked those items down the street. A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured the entire incident.

Atwater Prisoners Sentenced to an Additional 20 Years in Prison for Attempting to Kill a Federal Correctional Officer

FRESNO - Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Jonathan Mota, 37, and Dominic Adams, 27, today to 20 years in prison, following their convictions at trial, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Mota was sentenced for attempting to kill a federal officer, and Adams was sentenced for assault on a federal officer. The sentences are to be served consecutively to the federal sentences they are currently serving, and will be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on October 6, 2017, Mota, Adams and four other inmates brutally attacked a Federal Bureau of Prisons officer who was a teacher working at the federal penitentiary in Atwater. The officer was repeatedly stabbed with homemade knives and kicked and beaten by the inmates.

Two Visalia Residents Indicted for Growing Marijuana in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County

FRESNO - On Thursday, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Hector Manuel Gomez Rodriguez, 45, of Visalia, and Mucio Alejandro Gomez Rodriguez, 46, of Visalia, charging them with manufacture of marijuana, conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, and depredation of public lands and resources, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, in early June, officers located a clandestine marijuana grow site on U.S. Forest Service land east of North Fork in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County. On July 16, 2019, USFS officers and other law enforcement personnel hiked into the grow site and apprehended the defendants as they tried to flee. Officers found 4,494 live marijuana plants, a .45-caliber handgun, and a pellet gun in the cultivation site.