Eastern District of California Blog

Guilty Verdict in Sacramento Fraud and Identity Theft Case

A man was found guilty of fraud and identity theft Tuesday for his involvement in a nationwide credit card scheme targeting San Juan Unified School District students. [No. 2:14-CR-0083-GEB]

Ruslan Kirilyuk, 41, of Beverly Hills was found guilty of 24 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of failure to appear in connection with a nationwide credit card scheme involving Sacramento and Moscow operatives, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

Sacramento Bee, 2/28/19

 

Fresno Civil Rights Trial Started Yesterday

Three years after Casimero “Shane” Casillas was shot and killed by a veteran Fresno police officer, the slain man’s family hopes to prevail in its civil rights lawsuit against the city.

The civil trial began Monday in U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii’s courtroom. Casillas’ relatives allege Officer Trevor Shipman used excessive force, and violated Casillas’ civil rights.

The family also claims the Fresno Police Department was negligent when officers tried to arrest Casillas.

Fresno Bee, 2/27/19

 

One-Year Prison Sentence for Man Digging at Native American Archelogical Sites Near Lake Tahoe

A South Lake Tahoe man was sentenced Tuesday to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $113,000 in restitution after illegally digging at prehistoric Native American archeological sites on public lands near Lake Tahoe in Alpine and El Dorado counties.

Sacramento Bee, 2/27/19

Lawsuit Seeks To Halt "Inhumane" Solitary Confinement at Sacramento County Jails

Sacramento Bee, 2/14/18:

Attorneys this week asked a judge to halt “inhumane” solitary confinement rules in Sacramento County’s jails, saying conditions have not improved at the facilities despite officials’ own acknowledgment of the crisis.

There is no need to wait for a trial in a lawsuit filed seven months ago, attorneys said Tuesday, because even Sacramento County’s own expert witnesses have said the county needs to improve how it handles people in jail who have a serious mental illness.

Since “the facts are not in dispute,” attorneys representing inmates in the county’s jails asked the judge to order officials create a remedial plan of correction.

“This harm is too serious and too urgent to wait for the normal course of business,” said Margot Mendelson, an attorney with the Prison Law Office, in an interview with The Sacramento Bee.

The Prison Law Office and Disability Rights California in July filed the federal lawsuit over jail conditions. But discussions have gone on for years with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jails, and elected officials have balked at settlement options and costs.

 

Mendelson said the new court filing in U.S. District Court in Sacramento was the most significant development in the case since summer.

 

Fresno Jury Convicts FCI Mendota Inmate Of Mailing Threats To Alaska Federal Judge

On Wednesday, a federal jury in Fresno found an inmate at FCI Mendota guilty of three counts of mailing threats to kill an Alaska federal judge.  See United States v. Braswell, No. 1:18-CR-0034-DAD.

Fresno Jury Convicts USP Atwater Prison Cook of Drug Charges and Taking A Bribe

Yesterday, a Fresno jury convicted a USP Atwater prison cook of conspiring to provide inmates with drugs, attempting to possess drugs with the intent to distribute, and taking a bribe in United States v. Bruce, No. 1-17-CR-077-DAD.

EDCA Court Won't Unseal Details About DOJ's Efforts To Uncrypt Facebook Calls

Details about the government’s failed effort to wiretap encrypted calls made over Facebook’s Messenger app must remain secret, a federal court judge ruled.

U.S. Chief District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill, ruling from federal court in Fresno, California, issued Monday a five-page order denying motions filed by groups seeking access to sealed documents involving an unsuccessful bid quietly mounted by the Justice Department last year to eavesdrop on Facebook Messenger calls related to an investigation of the MS-13 criminal gang.

“The materials at issue in this case concern techniques that, if disclosed publicly, would compromise law enforcement efforts in many, if not all, future wiretap investigations,” wrote Judge O’Neill, an appointee of former President George W. Bush.

The judge’s order addressed separate but similar motions to unseal files last year after Reuters first reported the Justice Department sought to force Facebook to help investigators wiretap certain calls conducted over the social network’s Messenger app.

Washington Times, 2/13/19

Acting AG Discloses That EDCA US Attorney Sat In On Mueller Probe Briefing

From Friday:

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker revealed on Friday that the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, Greg Scott, sat in on a briefing Whitaker received on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

It’s unclear why or in what capacity Scott sat in on the briefing. It’s also not clear the circumstances of the briefing.

TPM, 2/8/19

Vallejo Senior Home Owners Arrested for Producing Meth Pills With Tesla Logo, Trump Likeness

A wife and husband who own and operate an elderly care facility in Vallejo were arrested for allegedly producing methamphetamine pills that featured the Tesla logo, Kool-Aid’s smiling pitcher and President Trump’s name and likeness, authorities said Friday.

Roselle Cipriano, 36, and Henry Benson, 37, were taken into custody Thursday at their business, Genesis Care Home for the Elderly, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The couple face federal charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine.

SF Chronicle, 2/8/19