Local News

MS-13 Member Sentenced for Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

FRESNO - Lorenzo Amador, 23, of Mendota, was sentenced on December 17, 2021, by United States District Judge Dale A. Drozd to five years and three months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Amador was a member of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a violent criminal street gang that engages in racketeering activity, including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking. On August 12, 2018, Amador and fellow MS-13 members kicked, hit, and stabbed a member of a rival gang in the back with a knife, slicing his diaphragm and sending him to the emergency room where he had to have life-saving surgery.

René Turner Sample Wins Prestigious National Award

FRESNO - René Turner Sample, co-owner of Freedman Law and Cornwell & Sample, has been named as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), one of the premier legal associations in North America. The first female attorney from Fresno to receive this prestigious honor, Sample was inducted during the ACTL's recent annual meeting in Chicago.

"I am proud to be included among the most experienced trial lawyers in the country, and more importantly the lawyers whose careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethics and professionalism— values to which I have tried to make the foundation of my career," Sample said.

Air Force Police Officer Charged with Over $250,000 in Unemployment Insurance Fraud During the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

FRESNO - A five-count indictment was unsealed today following the arrest of Trevon Miller, 28, a military police officer at Edwards Air Force Base, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Miller is charged with mail fraud for submitting fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in over 30 states during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. From at least April 2020 through June 2020, Miller submitted the fraudulent claims using his former identity of Trevon Rodney and told the state workforce agencies that administer the unemployment insurance system that he was unemployed when he was enlisted in the Air Force the whole time. In 2016, Miller had legally changed his last name from Rodney before he joined the Air Force. The state workforce agencies and the United States were subject to a potential loss of more than $250,000. Miller used the money for his own benefit, including making cash withdrawals.

Modesto Man Charged with Illegal Firearms Possession

FRESNO - A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Ryan Brandon Bailey, 40, of Modesto, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on Aug. 14, 2021, Bailey possessed a rifle in Modesto. Bailey was previously convicted of second-degree burglary in 2012 and being a felon in possession of ammunition in 2015 and is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

Felon Pleads Guilty to Illegally Possessing Gun at Fashion Fair Mall

FRESNO - Chhoun Douring, 35, of Long Beach, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on May 6, 2021, at approximately 3:30 p.m., officers on patrol at Fashion Fair Mall in Fresno approached Douring. Douring admitted to carrying a firearm in a shoulder pouch. Officers seized the firearm, a loaded Ruger semi-automatic 9 mm handgun. Douring is a convicted felon having previously been convicted of second degree robbery and is prohibited from possessing firearms.