On November 14, 2024, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Jerome Avilez, age 60, of Visalia to 150 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. On September 3, 2024, Avilez was found guilty on 9 felony counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14.…
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On November 12, 2024, TCDA prosecutors secured a significant guilty verdict against Sean Michael Pelton, age 52, of Sacramento, for a series of high-volume thefts of catalytic converters in Visalia. In three separate instances from March 2020 to September 2020, and an additional instance in July 2021, Pelton targeted utility trucks in the AT&T service…
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Today in Department 11 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, judge Michael Sheltzer presiding, the court sentenced former Healthcare Conglomerate Associates CEO Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi, age 62, for crimes related to public corruption. On February 9, 2024, Benzeevi pleaded no contest to six felony counts and two misdemeanor counts found in the complaint:…
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In yet another history making moment in Tulare County, Tulare County District Attorney law clerk Sophia Park, 17, has become the youngest person to pass the rigorous California bar exam, breaking her brother Peter’s record set last year. Park was 17 years, 8 months old when she passed the exam on November 8, 2024, with…
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On November 8, 2024, in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Nathaniel Lujano, age 23, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for two 2022 gang murders. In the early morning hours of August 19, 2022, Lujano approached a young man at a Tulare gas station and inquired…
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On November 5, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a 3-year denial of parole for Cameron Byars, age 56, who is currently serving a life sentence for child molestation. This was his second such hearing. In April 2003, Byars pleaded no contest to the felony abuse of four male minors under the age…
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In a resounding victory for stricter accountability in the criminal justice system, California voters passed Proposition 36, also known as the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, in last night’s pivotal election. This proposition makes significant changes to criminal punishments outlined in Proposition 47 (2014). “The passage of Proposition 36 is a significant…
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At a virtual hearing on October 29, 2024, over the objection of TCDA prosecutors, California parole commissioners found Ramiro Bautista, age 78, suitable for parole after serving over three decades of a life sentence in prison for the 1989 shooting death of a child in Dinuba. Bautista is currently incarcerated the Richard J. Donovan Correctional…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced special circumstance murder charges against Fabian Gamez, age 30, for the stabbing deaths of two adult Tulare residents during an early morning burglary on October 24, 2024. Gamez is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of first-degree residential burglary. The charges are enhanced with…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced the filing of criminal charges against Joshua Ryan Martino, age 40, for the October 22, 2024, vandalism and battery of a street vendor and others in Visalia. After reviewing police reports and other evidence submitted by the Visalia Police Department, prosecutors charged Martino with one count of felony vandalism…
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On Tuesday, October 22, 2024, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Joshua Hernandez, age 34, for child molestation. At the conclusion of the multi-day trial, a jury found Hernandez guilty of one count of sodomy with a child ten years of age or…
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On Friday, October 11, 2024, in the Tulare County Board of Supervisors chambers in Visalia, Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward had the honor of swearing-in longtime TCDA employee Louis Acosta as a Deputy District Attorney. Born in Mexico, Louis was encouraged by his primary school counselor to consider law as a possible career. Coupled…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Patrick Fuller, age 41, for child molestation, possession of child pornography, and using minors for sex acts. At trial, a jury found Fuller guilty of three felony counts of child molestation, one felony count of possession…
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On September 26, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a 7-year denial of parole for William Vera, age 60, for the 1997 stabbing murder of a man in the Porterville area. Vera is currently serving a life sentence at Kern Valley State Prison. Around 5:30 pm on March 2, 1997, the victims, two…
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Yesterday in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced McFarland man Christopher Gonzalez, age 31, to life in prison for the 2019 shooting murder of a man in Tulare. On August 24, 2019, at approximately 11:40 pm, Tulare Police Department officers responded to the Prosperity Sports Complex…
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Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, TCDA sex crimes prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against James Van Norton, age 45, for child molestation. Van Norton was convicted by a jury of 3 felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and 13 felony counts of lewd act upon a…
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Acting on a tip to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, law enforcement members of the Tulare County Human Trafficking Task Force discovered and criminally charged a prostitution operation in the south county. “A good Samaritan, armed with the knowledge of how human trafficking can work and the resources available to him to report it, made…
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Yesterday at a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for Theresa Ann Dorchester, age 39, in the 2003 murder of a family member. Dorchester is currently serving a life sentence at the Central California Women’s Facility. In the late evening of June 4, 2003, in Porterville, Dorchester went to the residence…
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On August 28, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for Gary Parsons, age 50, for the murder of a man on a bus that was passing through Tulare County. Parsons is currently serving his sentence at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster. On June 23, 1996,…
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On September 3, 2024, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, TCDA prosecutors secured a conviction against Jerome Avilez, age 60, for child molestation. Avilez was found guilty on 9 felony counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. The jury also found true that Avilez committed…
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On August 30, 2024, TCDA prosecutors secured a conviction for Antonio Mendoza Chavez, Jr., age 36, in the August 2020 murder of a man in Dinuba. In early August 2020, Chavez broke up with his girlfriend and forcibly removed her from his trailer. Having no money, food, or shelter, she went to a friend of…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Ulises Lupian, age 20, for the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl on August 28, 2024, in Visalia. Additionally, he is charged with crimes for two separate prior incidents. Lupian is charged with three felony counts of lewd act upon a child under age 14…
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On August 28, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for Gerald Daniel Walker, age 93, for murder. Walker is currently serving a life sentence at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton. On February 27, 1973, deputies at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Beverly…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Marvin Joseph Chang, age 36, to 208 years-to-life in prison for the 2021 attempted murder of police officers during a series of incidents that started Three Rivers and ended in an orange grove. TCDA prosecutors secured a jury conviction in late-July. On…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced murder charges against Blake Benham, age 43, of Dinuba, in a December 3, 2023, DUI collision that took the lives of two adults and injured others. The incident occurred at Road 56 and Avenue 430, just south of Reedley. Benham is charged with two counts of murder, two counts…
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