News

FRESNO -  Rogelio Benavides, 35, of Arvin, was sentenced Thursday to five years and five months in prison for bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Benavides was also ordered to pay over $20,000 in restitution and forfeit another $20,000 as part of his sentence.

Benavides pleaded guilty on Nov. 12, 2020. According to court documents, between November 2018 and September 2019, Benavides obtained hundreds of pieces of stolen mail that included checks, checkbooks, and personally identifiable information belonging to other individuals and businesses. He then altered and forged checks and either cashed or deposited the checks into his own bank accounts.

FRESNO - Three out of four newly repaired motels along Parkway Drive are fully occupied, with plans to have the fourth occupied following the next Project Offramp outreach event. These Fresno Housing properties are now providing safe housing to formerly homeless individuals and children. Approximately, 275 individuals including 81 children now have a safe place to sleep at night, all in thanks to this collaborative effort primarily funded by the Homekey Program.

In an unprecedentedly short time period, Fresno Housing and its partners facilitated the purchase, repairs, and occupancy of the motels listed below into immediate housing for families and individuals at high risk. Fresno Housing and its partners recognize that there is still much need in our community, and will not lose focus on the challenges and work ahead to serve those in need.

FRESNO  -   On Jan. 28, a federal grand jury in Fresno indicted Selma couple Marquis Asaad Hooper, 30, and Natasha Renee Chalk, 37, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Hooper was stationed in Japan as a chief petty officer with the Navy’s Seventh Fleet until October 2018. His wife, Chalk, was a naval reservist stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. Hooper separated from the Navy in October 2018.

Shortly before Hooper’s separation was final, Hooper and Chalk fraudulently obtained access to a database containing millions of people’s personal information. The company that operates the database only grants access to legitimate businesses and government agencies and only for business or government purposes, such as police departments attempting to locate suspects or banks confirming the information in account applications.

FRESNO  -   A federal grand jury has returned a one-count indictment against Jatinbhai Naresh Bhakta, 29, and Roy Gene Drees, 45, both of Bakersfield, charging them with use of facilities of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today.

According to a criminal complaint, Bhakta purchased and began operating the Desert Star Motel at 516 South Union Avenue in Bakersfield in 2015. Bhakta lived in a unit at the motel. Drees also lived at the motel and was employed as a handyman and general manager.

FRESNO  -   Andrew Nathan Hernandez, 18, of Bakersfield, was arrested today for aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, on Dec. 26, 2020, Hernandez aimed the beam of a laser pointer at the Kern County Sheriff’s helicopter Air-1.

Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on Tuesday, Jan. 26. This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

FRESNO  -   High-ranking Nuestra Familia prison gang member Salvador Castro Jr., 50, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Castro used a contraband cellphone from inside Pleasant Valley State Prison in Fresno County to arrange for the formation of a new street gang regiment in Kings and Tulare Counties. According to the plea agreement, Castro was recorded on a wiretap conspiring with associates outside of prison to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.

Between May 5, 2019, and May 15, 2019, Castro coordinated the transportation of approximately 10 pounds of methamphetamine from the Sacramento area to a residence in Visalia. Castro arranged for co-conspirators outside of prison to protect the narcotics during transit, and when the drugs arrived in Visalia, Castro and his co-conspirators discussed plans to distribute the methamphetamine to buyers in the Central Valley.