News

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.

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.

FRESNO - The Fresno Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint on Saturday, July 27th, 2019 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.

DUI Checkpoints like this one are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests. Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, with officers checking drivers for proper licensing.

SACRAMENTO - U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr., sentenced Bar Shani, 27, of San Francisco, to 20 months in prison for conspiring to launder money, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, between October 2016 and November 2017, Shani conspired to launder the proceeds of an illegal gambling business with Atir Dadon, 34, of Sherman Oaks, and Orel Gohar, 28, of San Francisco.

Orel Gohar and Yaniv Gohar, 35, of Berkeley, operated an illegal gambling business that placed and maintained video slot machines at businesses in Northern California, including locations in the Eastern District of California. Shani, Dadon, and Orel Gohar agreed that Orel Gohar would give cash proceeds from the Gohars’ gambling business to Shani and Dadon, who would use the cash to pay the workers in their cosmetics business.

MADERA - Caltrans and the Madera County Transportation Commission (MCTC) held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday to mark the beginning of construction on the Senate Bill 1 funded State Route 99 Madera Widening Project in Madera County.

This $86.1 million project will revitalize 23.4 lane miles, construct 11.7 new lane miles, upgrade the Almond Avenue on-ramp, construct 3,500 feet of drainage systems and five maintenance vehicle pullouts, install one changeable message sign and include the construction of 25,000 feet of concrete barrier. About $66 million of this project’s funding is provided by Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

FRESNO  -  Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Nikko Adolfo Perez, 27, of Atwater, to 40 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release for his convictions for the sexual exploitation of children, coercion and enticement of a minor, and receipt and distribution of child pornography, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

“While Perez's sentence is substantial, it pales in comparison to the lifetime of damage he inflicted upon his many victims. Innocence cannot be restored,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. “We hope this case inspires families to have conversations about the danger of communicating online over text, apps, and other media with a stranger and the importance of immediately seeking help if communication becomes exploitive or threatening. The internet fosters both false familiarity and anonymity, which can empower a predator. We urge the community to be mindful of the inherent danger of communicating with or transmitting photos to someone you do not truly know.”