FRESNO - Daniel McMonegal, 36, of San Luis Obispo, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute a controlled substance, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, McMonegal, using the online monikers “Sawgrass,” “Ross4Less,” and “ChristmasTree,” distributed marijuana on various dark web marketplaces, including Dream Market.
McMonegal was also the owner of a marijuana delivery service in San Luis Obispo called West Coast Organix, which claimed to be a nonprofit medical marijuana cooperative. McMonegal then laundered the Bitcoin proceeds of his drug distribution through an undercover agent located in New York. After receiving the bitcoin from McMonegal, the undercover agent mailed parcels of cash to McMonegal in San Luis Obispo and Mariposa. In total, McMonegal distributed approximately 146 kilograms of marijuana in exchange for approximately $476,500 in bitcoin.
FRESNO STATE - David W. Huerta, chief of the Fresno State Police Department since August 2004, passed away on Aug. 16 surrounded by his family and close friends, after 13 months of hospitalization at UCSF Medical Center. He was 68.
FRESNO - A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment today against Marino Cruz Diaz, 21, and David Moreno Florez, 25, both residing in Salinas, charging them with manufacturing more than 1,000 marijuana plants, conspiracy to manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants, and depredation of public lands and resources, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Moreno Florez was also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
MADERA - Following a months-long investigation, Madera County Sheriff’s Detectives arrested two suspects for a February homicide on Avenue 9 in Madera County. Alan Gustavo Mendez has been charged with murder in the first degree. 
