News

SACRAMENTO. — A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment today against Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, of San Jose, charging him with arson to federal property and setting timber afire, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Maynard engaged in an arson spree in the vicinity of the then ongoing Dixie Fire in areas of the Shasta Trinity National Forest and the Lassen National Forest. Some of the fires Maynard set were new fires behind the firefighters fighting the Dixie Fire. Maynard is charged with setting the following fires during this arson spree: the Cascade Fire (July 20), the Everitt Fire (July 21), the Ranch Fire (Aug. 7), and the Conard Fire (Aug. 7).

FRESNO  -   Lester Eduardo Cardenas-Flores, 25, a native and citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today to two years and five months in prison for conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Cardenas was also ordered to pay $48,000 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the extreme damage that the cultivation operation had on public land. Cardenas pleaded guilty on Aug. 24, 2021.

FRESNO -  After a 2–day trial, a federal jury found Kevin Neal Crownover, 49, resident of Lemoore, California, guilty today of one count of embezzlement and theft of union assets and one count of aggravated identity theft, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The trial was held before United States District Judge Dale A. Drozd.

According to evidence presented at trial, Crownover was treasurer of International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local Lodge 2947 at Lemoore Naval Air Station from June 2015 through October 2016. During that time, Crownover made unauthorized cash withdrawals and wrote unauthorized checks to himself, which he then endorsed into his own personal bank account. Crownover used a forged signature on the checks. The total loss was over $50,000.

SACRAMENTO -  An owner of DC Solar, a Benicia-based company, was sentenced today for a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme— the biggest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the Eastern District of California, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez sentenced Jeff Carpoff, 50, of Martinez, to 30 years in prison. On Jan. 24, 2020, Carpoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. His wife, Paulette Carpoff, 47, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and money laundering. The government’s investigation has resulted in approximately $120 million in assets forfeited that the government intends to seek authorization to use towards restitution to victims of the fraud.

FRESNO  -  Deborah Rossoni, 58, of Lemoore, pleaded guilty today to stealing $87,000 in Social Security payments and agreed to pay full restitution to the Social Security Administration, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in July 2012, Rossoni’s father passed away, but the SSA was not notified of his death and continued direct depositing Social Security payments into his bank account until July 2018. During this time, Rossoni transferred the payments into her own bank accounts and then used the money for personal expenditures, including credit card bills and house repairs.

MADERA – What do you do if two restaurants with similar concepts fail within three years of each other in the same location? If you are the management team behind The Commons Shopping Center at the Madera Fair Grounds, Newman Development Group, you tear down the building and turn to In-n-Out Burgers. Within the next six months, the Sugar Pine Smokehouse Restaurant will be leveled to the ground. In its place, the home of the California iconic Double-Double Cheeseburger will rise from the rubble.

Rumors have been floating around Madera for months about where the new In-n-Out Burgers would end up in Madera. It was even a topic in a recent Town Hall meeting that aired on www.BVNRadio.com and streamed on The Valley Guy's Podcast on Spotify. During the Town Hall, the Director of the Madera County Economic Development Commission, Bobby Kahn, could not give much information, sighting that he was (at that time) under a non-disclosure agreement with the Baldwin Park-based burger company. However, Kahn did say that he expected an In-n-Out to open in Madera sometime within the 2022-23 time-frames. But today, new information came out of Madera City Hall. According to Madera City Manager Arnoldo Rodriguez, "In-n-Out has submitted plans for a new building where the existing Sugar Pine Smokehouse is located."