News

FRESNO  -  Francisco Alcantar-Miranda, aka Paquin, 31, of Mexico, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for conspiring to manufacture, to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd, who sentenced Alcantar, also ordered the forfeiture of a handgun and approximately $18,000 in cash.

On Feb. 2, Alcantar pleaded guilty and acknowledged that he assisted in manufacturing methamphetamine and storing large quantities of other drugs at an unoccupied residence in Madera. At the end of January 2019, detectives of the Madera County Sheriff’s Office Narcotic Enforcement Team (MADNET) executed a search warrant at the residence and found Alcantar, along with two other men, Oscar Rene Marrot-Garcia, 27, of Chowchilla, and Jose Monge-Ponce, 31, of Mexico. The detectives also found over 10 pounds of methamphetamine, 1 pound of heroin, 1 pound of cocaine, and 25 pounds of marijuana.

FRESNO  -  A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against a Madera County man for a marijuana cultivation operation that consisted of over 1,000 marijuana plants grown in the Carter Creek watershed drainage network in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

The five-count indictment charged Carson Shane Wilhite, 41, of Ahwahnee, with conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, damaging public lands and natural resources, possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and being a methamphetamine user in possession of firearms.

MADERA - A Chowchilla man has been booked into the Madera County Department of Corrections for the killing of his estranged wife.  On Tuesday around 2:30 PM Madera Police Officers responded to a call of shots fired at the Camarena Health Clinic in the 500 block of East Almond Avenue.

When police arrived at the scene they discovered a female victim who suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. According to Madera Police, the suspect followed the victim to the clinic where she was shot multiple times while trying to protect her children.

MADERA - The Madera Police Department continues to ask for help from the public to locate Thaddeus Sran, a two-year-old boy who was reported missing from a residence located on the 800 block of South C street on the morning of July 15, 2020. Anyone with information that may help locate Thaddeus is urged to call 559-675-4220.

Thaddeus stands approximately two feet tall, weighs approximately 30 pounds, and was wearing a red shirt with Spiderman pants over a diaper at the time he was put to bed by his parents on the evening of July 14, 2020. He has special needs and requires medical care to include nutrients provided via a feeding tube.

DUNLAP – A Madera man lost his life early Friday mornings after suffering injuries during a fight with a Squaw Valley man. Thomas Robert Christopher (56) of Madera County was killed shortly after midnight Friday after he attempted to gain entry into a mobile home on the property.

A man dialed 911 to report he had just been involved in a fight with an intruder, later identified as Thomas Christopher. Deputies responded to a home on the 49000 block of Chuckwagon Road in Squaw Valley.

FRESNO  -   On March 12, a federal grand jury brought a five-count indictment against an assistant manager of the Clovis California Walmart, charging her with bank fraud and use of unauthorized credit cards, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Alena Nicole George, 42, obtained the personally identifiable information (PII) of individuals with names similar to her own name and obtained credit cards in those individuals’ names. For one such credit card, George made at least $100,000 in fraudulent purchases and cash advances. She was arrested today and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.