Local News

DMV Employee Pleads Guilty to Issuing Commercial Driver’s Licenses to Unqualified Drivers in Exchange for Bribes

FRESNO - Ulises Pena, 39, a former California Department of Motor Vehicles employee in Bakersfield, pleaded guilty Monday to illegally producing California commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) in exchange for bribes, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court records, Pena was a Motor Vehicle Representative at the DMV and was responsible for processing driver’s license applications. From January 2015 through August 2016, he arranged for the passage of written tests for students from co-defendant Bikramjit Singh Pannu’s truck driving school who were having trouble passing the tests in exchange for payments from Pannu. Pena improperly accessed the students’ DMV records and altered them to show that the students had passed the tests when that was not true. His alterations caused the fraudulent issuance of CDLs to unqualified students.

Governor Gavin Newsom Signs Good Government Bill To Close State Agency Lobbying Loophole

LOS ANGELES - Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1783 to close a loophole in state law that allowed former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to influence decision-making at the Department of Insurance without registering as a lobbyist.

AB 1783 by Assembly Member Marc Levine (D - North Bay) arose from a government corruption scandal involving the Department of Insurance and the workers' compensation insurer Applied Underwriters.

Lozano Smith Tops Nationwide Ranking Diversity Snapshot and Glass Ceiling Report

FRESNO - For the third year in a row, Lozano Smith was named by Law360 as a leading law firm in the areas of diversity and gender equity within the 101-250 attorney category. The firm ranked first overall in Law360's Glass Ceiling Report, a data-driven review of female attorney representation at law firms, and third overall in the Diversity Snapshot.

Lozano Smith ranked first in diversity amongst its equity partnership, first in gender equity amongst its nonequity partnership, and in the top five throughout several other diversity and equity categories within Law360's national reports, including:

Sherri Papini Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Lying About Being Kidnapped and Defrauding the California Victim Compensation Board

SACRAMENTO - Sherri Papini, 39, of Redding, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison to be followed by 36 months of supervised release for making materially false statements to FBI agents about the circumstances of her own hoax kidnapping and committing mail fraud based on her being a kidnapping victim, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today.

Papini was ordered to pay $309,902 in restitution for losses incurred by the California Victim Compensation Board, the Social Security Administration, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Long Time Madera Educator Passes: Perry Harper 88

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Perry Robert Harper, Jr. passed away September 4, 2022, in Albuquerque, NM, after a long, courageous battle with Alzheimer's. Perry is survived by his wife of 65 years, Rose, and his daughter Robyn. Rose and Robyn were by his side as Perry passed away. He is preceded in death by his father, Perry Robert Harper, Sr., his mother, Martha Lilly Harper, his brother Thomas Earl Harper and nephew Eric Harper.

Perry was born in Daniels, West Virginia, on April 22, 1934. He graduated. from Shady Springs High School, WV, in 1953. Perry was the first freshman to play on the Varsity football team. He was Senior class President and earned many honors. Perry attended New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM, on a football scholarship. He never missed a game in four years, playing offense and defense. Perry was on the Frontier Conference All-Star teams in their Junior and Senior years.