In August of 2008, California Fish and Game Wardens received an anonymous report via CalTip about suspected poaching activity in the Virginia Canyon area of Yosemite National Park. Based on this tip, the National Park Service (NPS) and the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) opened a joint investigation. …
Read More »Merced County store manager sentenced to prison in food-stamp fraud case
A 41-year-old former Merced woman was sentenced Monday to nearly two years in prison for defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as the Food Stamp program. Suzy Vang … Click to Continue »
Read More »Stanislaus jury sentenced killer to death in 1986. He died at a hospital this week
Royal Hayes, sentenced to death in 1986 by a Stanislaus County jury for a double murder in Santa Cruz, died Tuesday at a hospital, prison officials said. Hayes, 81, had … Click to Continue »
Read More »Inmate who escaped Atwater prison sentenced to longer term
An inmate who escaped U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater for about 24 hours last year was sentenced Monday to serve another 18 months in federal prison as a result of the … Click to Continue »
Read More »Repeat DUI offender sentenced after release from fatal alcohol-related crash in Delhi
A 33-year-old Delhi man will serve about one year in jail in connection with a crash that killed a 17-year-old girl. Michael Lindo admitted Friday to violation of probation on … Click to Continue »
Read More »Los Banos tagger was spray painting a wall, police say. Now he’s been sentenced
A 20-year-old Los Banos man was sentenced to jail time and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty to several acts of vandalism, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office said … Click to Continue »
Read More »Former Los Banos priest sentenced in child porn case
The ex-priest of a Los Banos Catholic church who pleaded no contest to possessing child pornography for the second time in two years was sentenced to four years in state … Click to Continue »
Read More »‘It should have been me’: Obdulia Sanchez talks in court, then is sentenced
Obdulia Sanchez, 18, of Stockton, appears before Judge Ronald W. Hansen during a sentencing hearing in the Merced County Superior Courthouse in Merced, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. Sanchez was sentenced to six years and four months in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI and child endangerment for a …
Read More »Stockton teen who live-streamed fatal DUI crash near Los Banos sentenced to prison
Obdulia Sanchez was sentenced Thursday to six years and four months in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI and child endangerment stemming from a July 2017 crash in which her … Click to Continue »
Read More »Merced man sentenced for being ‘one of the largest’ drug dealers on the dark web
A Merced man and another defendant were sentenced Tuesday for drug trafficking on the dark-web market, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. David Ryan Burchard, 40, of Merced, using … Click to Continue »
Read More »Ex-Merced County teacher sentenced to jail time for sex with student
Former Dos Palos High School math teacher Craig Branstetter was sentenced last week to one year in jail and five years on probation for having a sexual relationship with an … Click to Continue »
Read More »Killer of Merced cab driver sentenced
The son of Dean Barker, a cab driver killed in 2015, speaks after the sentencing of his father’s killer on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. He called the sentence of 50 years to life “good.” … Click to Continue »
Read More »Did Los Banos teacher sentenced for child porn possession express remorse?
Attorneys discuss whether Ernesto Cortez, a 52-year-old former first grade teacher at Los Banos Elementary, expressed remorse for possessing child pornography. … Click to Continue »
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