News

SACRAMENTO -  Timothy Brian Harrison, 50, of South Lake Tahoe, was sentenced today by United States District Judge John A. Mendez to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $113,000 in restitution for two counts of excavation and removal of archaeological resources from public lands and one misdemeanor count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Harrison conducted illegal digging at prehistoric Native American archaeological sites on federal lands in Alpine and El Dorado Counties, near Lake Tahoe. He collected tens of thousands of ancient artifacts from multiple archaeological sites, and virtually destroyed two very significant archaeological sites.

SACRAMENTO — A visitor who supplied a fatal amount of methamphetamine to an inmate has been sentenced to two years of incarceration, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) investigators said today. Johna Martinez-Meth, 46, of Clearlake pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Solano County Superior Court and then was sentenced Feb. 21 by Solano County Superior Court Judge Robert Fracchia.

“CDCR is committed to stopping the flow of drugs into our prisons,” said Bryan Shill, deputy chief of CDCR’s Office of Correctional Safety. “Our investigators will diligently pursue those who smuggle narcotics into any state correctional facility, and we will seek justice through aggressive prosecution of violators.”

SACRAMENTO -  After a four-day trial, a jury found Ruslan Kirilyuk, 41, of Beverly Hills, guilty on Tuesday of 24 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and one count each of aggravated identity theft and failure to appear, all arising out of his involvement in a nationwide credit card fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to evidence presented at trial, between approximately October 5, 2011, and March 5, 2014, Kirilyuk conspired with Mihran Melkonyan, 38, of Sacramento; Rouslan Akhmerov, 42, of Studio City; Alexandr Maslov, 38, of Sacramento, and others in a credit card billing scheme that involved creating approximately 71 fraudulent online companies established with the sole purpose of fraudulently charging approximately 119,000 stolen credit card numbers. In total, the members of the scheme billed the stolen credit card numbers for over $3.4 million in unauthorized charges.

FRESNO -  Today, U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Javier Beltran, 25, of Strathmore, to 23 years in prison for his conviction for two counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and he sentenced Ulises Medina, 25, of Earlimart, to 15 years in prison for his conviction for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott and Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward announced.

U.S. Attorney Scott said, “Today’s sentences are the result of our commitment to work with our federal, state and local partners to identify and prosecute cases that will help to reduce violent crime in our communities. We are confident that these efforts will continue to reduce crime, save lives, and restore safety to our communities.”

FRESNO -  Nikko Adolfo Perez, 26, of Atwater, pleaded guilty today to the sexual exploitation of children, coercion, and enticement of a minor, and receipt and distribution of child pornography, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to a criminal complaint, Perez, using the Instagram screen name captainamerica272018, victimized two boys, ages 8 and 10, in Utah by coercing them to create and send him images of them engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Perez offered to pay the boys with Google Play credits if they engaged in requested sexual acts or poses, and when one of the victims said he would call 911, Perez threatened to disseminate the sexually explicit images of the victims. He also threatened to harm family members of the victims.

MADERA – One of the city of Madera’s longest standing buildings was destroyed by fire Monday afternoon. The Madera Mini-Mall building originally built by Captain Russell Perry Mace at the turn of the 20^th century caught fire somewhere near the back of the building, near the old Madera Bowling Alley (Believer's Church), around 3:00 pm and by 5:00 pm the structure was a total loss. Thankfully, no one was injured during this tragic event.

The Mace Hotel, as it was first known, played host to Royalty, Business Tycoons, Presidents, and Presidential hopefuls during its early history. The original wooden structure burnt down in 1885 but was rebuilt at the corner of North ‘E’ Street and Yosemite Avenue soon after, this time using brick.  It was one of the first stops for the stagecoach ride that would take tourists up to the newly created Yosemite National Park. That two-story building stood at the entrance to Downtown Madera until 3:00 pm Monday. Now like the 350 pound Captain Russell Perry Mace who built it, the building is a part of history.