Local News

MERCED - Officersfrom the Merced Police Department investigated a gun magazine found on the Campus of Merced High Monday morning. A student notified a Merced High School Campus Liaison that they found a loaded magazine in the bushes on the campus but did not tell the Liaison that they were the one that placed it there fearing violating school rules.

Officers concluded that the student who reported the magazine was the person who brought the magazine onto the campus after finding it on their way to school. When officers went to the area of Clearwater Court, where the juvenile said he found the magazine, officers saw two subjects on the ground appearing to be searching for something. When officers tried to contact them, both ran from officers but were caught after a short chase.

FRESNO -  A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment Thursday against Leah Guillen, 35, of Madera, charging her with use of unauthorized debit cards, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, in early 2018, Leah Guillen obtained the name, social security account number, and date of birth of a specific victim.

Guillen then used this information to impersonate the victim and fraudulently gain access to her bank accounts at Golden 1 Credit Union. Using an unauthorized debit card, Guillen drained the victim’s bank accounts over a three-month period between April 18, 2018, and June 30, 2018, causing a loss in excess of $210,449.

FRESNO -  Scott T. Carlton, 49, of Visalia, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the government and making a false statement, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, the IRS’s Fresno campus is a national center for processing federal tax returns. Carlton was an employee of E&A Protective Services, which had the government contract to supply 24-hour-a-day armed security guards to the IRS’s Fresno campus.

When it became apparent that many of the guards could not achieve the firearms shooting score required under the contract, Carlton conspired to falsify scores and supply unqualified guards to the IRS facilities. Over a three-year period, E&A was paid over $2 million on fraudulent invoices submitted to the IRS for security guards who were not qualified to work under that contract.

SACRAMENTO  -  Kernen Construction Co. and Bundy & Sons Logging have collectively agreed to pay $9 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the United States for damages resulting from a 2012 wildfire that burned more than 1,600 acres of national forest land, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today.

The fire, known as the “Flat Fire,” ignited on July 11, 2012, along the side of Highway 299 west of Weaverville, California. Logging equipment owned by Bundy & Sons was being hauled by Kernen Construction when it became unsecured and dragged along the highway, causing sparks that ignited dry vegetation. By the time the fire was suppressed, 1,688 acres had been burned, almost all of which was located within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The fire cost more than $4.6 million to suppress and damaged environmental resources, including habitat for sensitive species such as the Northern Spotted Owl.