News

MADERA – Area residents interested in applying for a REAL ID can take advantage of a special event this weekend at the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ Madera field office. The DMV’s “REAL ID Saturday” event in Madera on December 7 will be dedicated exclusively to processing REAL ID applications.

Customers can stop by the office at their convenience (no appointments) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and must complete the online REAL ID application at eDLapp.dmv.ca.gov before their visit. DMV offices in Fresno, Clovis, Merced, and Visalia are among the more than 60 offices statewide that serve customers every Saturday, and customers can visit one of those offices for other services on December 7, as well as apply for a REAL ID.

FRESNO -  Dallas John Fonseca, 43, of Visalia, pleaded guilty today to felony theft in Kings Canyon National Park, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, on Feb. 9, someone who worked within Kings Canyon National Park gave a jewelry purse to the manager of the John Muir Lodge for safekeeping.

The manager placed the purse inside a locked drawer. Sometime between Feb. 9 and March 11, Fonseca, who worked in the Lodge, stole the jewelry and a Rolex watch that was inside the purse. Fonseca was arrested after he was captured on surveillance footage selling the Rolex to a local pawn shop.

FRESNO -  Raymond Cawthorne, 57, of Valley Springs, pleaded guilty today to embezzlement of public funds, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, between May 2015 and Oct. 2016, Cawthorne embezzled over $14,000 belonging to the Keep Your Home California (KYHC) Program.

KYHC was a federally funded program launched in response to the 2008 financial crisis that provided eligible homeowners with temporary mortgage assistance so that they could avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. The KYHC program was part of a broader effort by the federal government to stabilize the nation’s housing market where states with the most distressed markets received federal monies to develop locally-tailored foreclosure prevention solutions.

FRESNO -  On November 22, 2019, federal authorities arrested Miguel Deniz, 29, of Farmersville, who is charged in a three-count indictment with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of firearms, and possession of a machinegun, United States Attorney McGregor Scott announced. 

Deniz ordered four “auto-sear” devices over the internet to his home address. Auto-sear devices are used to convert semi-automatic firearms to fire like fully automatic machineguns. The package was intercepted by law enforcement, and on May 1, 2019, law enforcement officers conducted a controlled delivery of the package to Deniz’s residence.

SACRAMENTO - Wayne Arthur York II, 51, most recently of Albuquerque, New Mexico, pleaded guilty today to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, York, while working in boiler rooms located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, would call timeshare owners to offer to arrange for the sale of Mexican timeshare vacation rentals. 

York would falsely claim that he and his coconspirators represented companies that had already secured or arranged for buyers who were ready to pay for the timeshares.  In truth, no buyers had actually been arranged.  Instead, York and others would convince the victims of the fraud to wire money from bank accounts in the United States and Canada to bank accounts in Mexico for alleged up-front payments including taxes, fees, and commissions to make the sale of the timeshare occur. 

FRESNO -  A three-count indictment was unsealed today charging Eric Lopez Mercado, 25, of Lemoore, and Jose Moreno, 24 of Hanford, with illegally possessing and transferring machine guns, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

The indictment charges Mercado and Moreno with possessing several pistols that had no serial number markings but had conversion devices attached to the rear of the firearms that enabled them to function as fully automatic weapons. Both men are also charged with transferring a machine gun to another person and possessing a device capable of converting a handgun into a machine gun.