Local News

Three Madera County Men Indicted for Conspiring to Distribute 150,000 Fentanyl Pills

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Jesus Valdez Castaneda, 28, of San Bernardino, California, Carlos German Fierro, 29, of Caruthers, California, and Alejandro Soto Mares, 43, of Mexico, charging them with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

According to court documents, the defendants conspired with other individuals to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl. The men arranged to sell 150,000 fentanyl pills in a strip mall parking lot in Madera on Feb. 21, 2025. Castaneda and Soto Mares arrived first and met with a co-conspirator who had agreed to buy the pills. After agreeing on price, Fierro and two other co-conspirators arrived with the pills in a second car.

Modesto Man Sentenced to Prison for 45 Years for Sexual Exploitation of Minors

FRESNO - Daniel Vincent Salazar, Jr., 29, of Modesto, was sentenced today to 45 years in prison for his convictions on five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, Acting United States Attorney Michele Beckwith announced. After serving his prison sentence, Salazar will be subject to a 25-year term of supervised release, during which his access to minors, electronic devices, and the internet will be restricted. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, Salazar used Instagram and Snapchat accounts on dates between December 2018 and January 2020 to contact minor females and coerce them into creating and sending him images of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Former Clovis CPA Pleads Guilty to Stealing Over $800,000 from a Bank

FRESNO - Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced today that Kenneth Gould, 68, formerly of Clovis, pleaded guilty to bank larceny for stealing more than $800,000 from a bank.

According to court records, Gould was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and operated a payroll services company in Clovis. From October 2017 through March 2018, he initiated several fraudulent electronic payments from one of his clients’ accounts to his payroll company’s account at the bank. Gould then withdrew the money in cashier’s checks while the payments were pending.

Hard Money Lender Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors Out of $20 Million in Loans Made to Failed Fresno Company Bitwise Industries

FRESNO - Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced that Andrew Adler, 31, of Greenwich, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in defrauding investors out of $20 million in loans made to the failed Fresno-based start-up company Bitwise Industries.

According to court records, between December 2022 and May 2023, Adler and his business partner, David Hardcastle, 61, of Fresno, gave Bitwise approximately $20 million in hard money loans through their special purpose entity, Startop Investments LLC. Adler and Hardcastle used a syndicate of investors to fund the loans.

Federal Indictment Unsealed Charging Merced Man with Trafficking Hundreds of Kilograms of Illegal Drugs

FRESNO - An indictment was unsealed today charging Jesus Magana Mellin, aka “Compadre,” 34, of Merced, with possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

According to court documents, between October and November of 2022, Magana Mellin conspired with others to traffic substantial amounts of controlled substances in California and elsewhere. After a joint federal, state, and local investigation, law enforcement officers executed search warrants on two storage units connected to Magana Mellin’s drug trafficking ring.