Eastern District of California Blog

LA Attorney Indicted On Marijuana & Money Laundering Charges

A Los Angeles lawyer was indicted on federal charges Wednesday for allegedly orchestrating a marijuana business that persuaded two Sutter County farmers to convert their greenhouses for heirloom tomatoes into massive grow rooms for pot.

Attorney Nathan Hoffman, 52, who has law offices on Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard, was indicted with four other men on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana.

Authorities said Hoffman formed entities "Black Horizon" and "Blue Horizon," which set up major marijuana cultivation operations in Sutter and Sacramento counties.

Hoffman's indictment follows charges last year against brothers Thomas Jopson, 63, and David Jopson, 61, and an Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Yan Ebyam, 35.

Sacramento Bee, 8/30/12

Six More Charged In Unemployement And Disability Benefits Fraud Scheme

Arrests are being made on new charges in a continuing investigation into a fraudulent unemployment and disability benefits scheme based out of Sutter County, says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.

In a 24-count indictment that was unsealed Monday, a federal grand jury charged Ryan Herbert Smith, 46, of Turlock; Chindo Gharu, 49, of Yuba City; Seema Rajput, 45, of Modesto; Rajinder Kaur Dhillon, 70, of Sacramento; Rajinder Kaur Dhillon 47, of Yuba City; and Balwinder Singh Khangura, 64, of Yuba City and Sacramento, with participating in a scheme to defraud the state of California of unemployment and disability benefits.

Central Valley Business Times, 8/27/12

 

27-Month Sentence For Selling Counterfeit CDs and DVDs at Flea Markets

A 24-year-old Merced man convicted of selling bootleg movies and music was sentenced Monday in Fresno federal court to two years, three months in federal prison. . . .

According to court documents, between January 2010 and November 2010, Puntos and his co-conspirators sold bootleg CDs and DVDs at the Galt Market and other flea markets statewide.

Merced Sun-Star, 8/27/12

Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/08/27/2500015/merced-cddvd-bootlegger-sentenced.html#storylink=cpy

Former Sacramento County Deputy Pleads Guilty To Illegal Gun Sales

Former Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Lu made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday, and it was a dandy.

He pleaded guilty to dealing in firearms without a license between March 2008 and November 2011, while he was a deputy, and he agreed to cooperate with the government in investigating and prosecuting other gun traffickers. He is free without bond.

Lu, 42, of Elk Grove is charged in a grand jury indictment along with another former sheriff's deputy, a licensed firearms dealer and a man who was the ultimate purchaser in one of the charged transactions.

Sacramento Bee, 8/29/12; see also Huffington Post, 6/1/12; Affidavit for Search Warrant; Indictment, filed 5/31/12.

Fresno Suit Challenges Constitutionality Of California Rules on Petition Circulators

"California county clerks unconstitutionally demand that petition circulators be state residents and qualified to vote, numerous lawsuits claim around the state, including this one in Federal Court."  CourthouseNews, 8/28/12; Civil Complaint.

Suit Claims Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Refused to Pay Death Benefit

"Hartford Life & Accident Insurance refused to pay the $250,000 benefit to a widower who wife died of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus she contracted on the job, the man claims in Federal Court."  CourthouseNews, 8/28/12; Civil Complaint.

Juror Seeks EDCA Injunction To Prevent Disclosure of Facebook Posts

A former jury foreman claims a court order forcing him to disclose the Facebook messages he posted during a gang-related attempted-murder trial violates his privacy rights.

The juror, identified only as "Juror Number One," asked for an injunction in Federal Court that would bar the Sacramento County Superior Court from enforcing its February 2011 order requiring him to let Facebook reveal his trial postings.

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He claims the order violates his Fourth Amendment right to privacy, as well as the privacy rights of Facebook friends who contacted him at that time. He also asserts a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, saying the postings might be used to claim he committed perjury during the evidentiary hearing.

He seeks an injunction pending a full hearing and final ruling.

Courthouse News, 8/24/12; Civil Complaint.  [9/18/12 update:  Sacramento County Court says juror has "consented" to turn over facebook posts.  Sacramento Bee, 9/18/12].

Fresno Jury Awards $425,000 In False Arrest Case

A Clovis man who claimed he was wrongfully jailed by Fresno County authorities for allegedly violating probation was awarded $425,000 by a federal jury.

James L. Quinn also said that police wouldn't let him retrieve heart medication when he was arrested, and jailers later failed to heed his pleas for medical treatment when he began having chest pains.

Quinn also claimed that from the time of his "false arrest" until he was released from the now-shuttered University Medical Center after authorities finally moved him there from the Fresno County Jail, he lost $64,000 as part of his wholesale produce business.

At that time, he also had a "test run" in place for Whole Foods, which could have resulted in additional business.

Jurors reached a verdict recently after a four-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill.

Fresno Bee, 8/22/12

Salyer Sentencing Continued To November

According to the Contra Costa Times, 8/23/12, the sentencing of Frederick Scott Salyer has been pushed back to November 27, 2012.

Is Fortune Telling A Religion?

"'Spiritual counselor' Stephanie Davis claims the City of Selma's demand that she get a "fortune telling" business license is an unconstitutional restraint on speech, unfairly imposed upon her but not upon traditional Christian churches, in Federal Court."  Courthouse News, 8/21/12; Civil Complaint.