News

Stockton Man Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Benefits Fraud and Identity Theft

SACRAMENTO - John Michael “Mike” Herron II, 36, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud and aggravated identify theft in connection with an unemployment benefits fraud and identity theft scheme, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, from at least December 2014 through January 2018, Herron participated in a scheme to defraud the State of California Employment Development Department (EDD) by filing fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance benefits.

In furtherance of this scheme, Herron and his co-defendant, Robert Maher, formerly of Stockton, created fictitious companies and fictitious employees (by using the real identities of persons with and without their knowledge), and filed claims with EDD, falsely stating that the employees had been laid-off or fired.

Sacramento Man Arrested in Oklahoma for Mailing Interstate Threats, Some Containing White Powder

SACRAMENTO - Darnell Ray Owens, 32, of Sacramento, was arrested March 22 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after being charged in Sacramento with mailing threatening communications and a hoax involving biological weapons, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to the criminal complaint, between February 2018 and March 2019, Owens allegedly sent approximately 50 letters and online complaints to law enforcement agencies, individuals and organizations, in which he made threats to kill police officers, other government officials, homosexuals, and “white people.”

He used return addresses of people he knew with the apparent purpose of having others blamed for sending the letters. Owens allegedly mailed no less than two letters containing a white powder, intending that the recipients would believe the powder to be a biological weapon. The majority of the letters were sent via the U.S. Postal Service and were postmarked from Sacramento.

Fresno County Sheriff's Detectives Search for Killer of 75 Year Old Man

DINUBA - Members of the Fresno County Crime Scene Unit have identified 75 year old Andres Cardenas of Dinuba as the man found shot and killed in a Reedley orchard on March 23rd.

Shortly after 7:30 pm on March 23rd, deputies were dispatched to a plum orchard for a report of an injured person. Deputies arrived to the field on the 22000 block of E. Springfield Ave. (near Alta Ave.) in Reedley and found a man (later identified as Andres Cardenas) dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

Fresno Bound Greyhound Crash Injures One - Bus Driver Arrested for DUI

FRESNO – A Greyhound Bus driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs following a single vehicle accident Sunday morning on Highway 180 east of Freeway 99. Ten people were injured; one was transported to Community Regional Medical Center.

According to the California Highway Patrol, thirty-five people were aboard the bus that was traveling from Sacramento to Fresno. As the bus was entering a transition road to Highway 180, the driver lost control of the vehicle as the road veered to the left, smashing into a guardrail.

Armed Carjacking Suspect Arrested in Merced

MERCED - Early Wednesday morning Merced Police Department Officers responded to a report of a carjacking that occurred in the area of “Q” Street & West 5th Street in Merced.

Officers made contact with the male victim who told them he had met up with an individual, later identified as Ernesto Antonio Zaragoza Guzman (19) of Merced. As the two of them were sitting in the victim’s vehicle, Guzman motioned like he had a gun and told the victim to get out of the car. Guzman then fled the area with the victim’s vehicle.

Former Amazon Employee Sentenced to Home Detention for Making a False Bomb Threat

SACRAMENTO - U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley sentenced Kao Xiong, 34, of Saint Paul, Minnesota, today to time served plus five months of home detention and three years of supervised release for making a false bomb threat, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott said today. According to court documents, in August 2017, while working for Amazon Xiong was living in Oroville, Xiong mailed a letter to a company in Sunnyvale, informing the company that Xiong and others were going to bomb the location.

The bomb threat was reported to the Sunnyvale Police Department who responded to the scene to investigate, and ultimately reported the incident to the FBI. The letter was identified as one of approximately 150 letters Xiong mailed between January and December 2017, containing false information about bombings and assassinations.

Fresno MAGEC Make Arrest in Rice Bowl Restaurant Burglary Case

MADERA RANCHOS - On March 4, 2019, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received a call for service for a commercial burglary at the Rice Bowl Restaurant, a local family-owned business in the Madera Ranchos. The owner of the restaurant reported to MCSO Cadet I Brandon Smith that an unknown adult male entered the business earlier that day and took approximately $1,500 cash.

Security footage was obtained, and after a several week investigation by MCSO Detectives, a possible identification of the suspect was made. In cooperation with the Fresno area M.A.G.E.C. Team, Jacob Sonny Lopez, a 34 year old Clovis resident, was taken into custody on an unrelated charge. While in custody in Fresno County, MCSO Detective Luis Padgett interviewed Lopez regarding the burglary at the Rice Bowl.