News

MADERA – Over the last month the city of Madera has been in negotiations with a home grown city manager with over 16 years of urban and community planning experience with the city of Fresno and Yuba City. The city of Madera announced this morning that they have come to an agreement with Arnoldo Rodriguez on his salarey and bennifit package. Following a vote at the next city council meeting, Rodriguez will take the reins of the city.

Rodriguez comes back to Madera after two years in Yuba City as their Development Services Director. Prior to that Rodriguez served the City of Fresno as a professional City Planner with over 13 years of experience.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Law, and Society from the University of California at Irvine and a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly’s Urban Planning Program.  Concurrent with his graduate studies, Mr. Rodriguez also worked for several non-profit organizations in and around the central coast.

MERCED – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced the arrest of Joseph Deliman, for allegedly embezzling more than $80,000 from the Merced Police Officers' Association (MPOA) over a three-year period. While serving on the MPOA Board, Deliman allegedly utilized MPOA funds for personal expenses and personal vacations, including trips to Las Vegas and Niagara Falls. 

“We have zero tolerance for public officials who abuse their authority to enrich themselves,” said Attorney General Becerra. “The California Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable individuals in positions of trust who betray Californians.”

SAN LUIS OBISPO - California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are looking for inmate David Gray Hall, who was found missing this morning during count from California Men’s Colony (CMC) in San Luis Obispo.

Hall, a minimum-security inmate who is assigned as a worker in the CMC garage, was last seen at approximately 10 a.m. When CMC staff members went to check on Hall for the inmate count at about 10:15 a.m., they found that a state vehicle, a white 1997 Ford Aerostar van, California license plate number E431260, was also missing. By 10:35 a.m., CMC implemented escape procedures, deployed search teams, and alerted CDCR’s Special Service Unit, local law enforcement and the California Highway Patrol who is aiding in the search for Hall.

FRESNO -  A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Frankie Thomas Goulding, 39, of Carmichael, charging him with escaping from custody, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Goulding was sentenced to federal prison for distributing methamphetamine in 2014. In March 2017, Goulding was transferred to a residential re-entry facility in Fresno as part of his sentence. On June 27, 2017, officials found he had left the facility.

FRESNO -  Douglas Jason Way, aka Jason Way, 45, of Evanston, Illinois, was sentenced Monday to eleven years in prison following his conviction by a jury on five felony drug charges and two fraudulent misbranded drug charges, announced United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott; Special Agent in Charge Christopher Nielsen, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), San Francisco Field Division; and Special Agent in Charge Tara Sullivan, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Oakland Field Office. The convictions concerned the manufacture and distribution of 24 tons of synthetic cannabinoids or designer drugs, commonly known at the street level as “spice,” “K2,” “herbal incense,” or “potpourri.”

Way was convicted following a four-week jury trial in federal court in Fresno in June and July 2018. Following his release from prison, Way will serve a three-year term of supervised release. As a further part of the sentence, U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd ordered a money judgment of $589,199.48 against Way. In addition to this money judgment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office previously forfeited more than $6.5 million of drug proceeds: $6,488,000 in cash and $191,000 in other assets, including a 2013 Ford F350 pickup truck and a 2014 Airstream travel trailer.

SAN FRANCISCO - The ACLU Foundation of Northern California today filed a discrimination complaint on behalf of Black students in the Visalia Unified School District who have faced ongoing racial hostility. The complaint, filed with the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education, charges the district with violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by creating a racially hostile environment. Filed by five Black students on behalf of themselves and other Black students in the district, it also cites racially disparate detention and suspension rates.

Black students at Visalia Unified have been repeatedly harassed and called racial slurs, including the n-word. White students have joked about hanging Black students from trees, promoted a “white power” message, called Black students “slaves,” and worn confederate symbols to school. Complaints by the targeted students themselves and witnesses to the hostility have been consistently ignored by teachers and administrators.