On January 24, 2020, Criminal Investigators from the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations Child Abduction Unit recovered a child that was taken by the mother, Samantha Renee Rabago, in violation of a court order. On August 29, 2018, both parents were granted joint legal and physical custody of their son. Rabago later filed for full…
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On January 23, 2020, in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Aristeo Sampablo, age 30, to 1,015 years-to-life in prison after being found guilty of 41 counts of child molestation last summer. On July 11, 2019, Sampablo was convicted of six counts of sexual intercourse with a minor…
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On January 15, 2020, at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, a California parole board issued a 5-year parole denial for William Irvin, age 68, for the 1994 sexual assault of a Visalia woman. Between the hours of 6 am and 7 am on April 5, 1994, after her husband left for work, the victim…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Jose Luis Cortez Caballero, age 58, for child molestation. Caballero is charged with eight total felony counts: seven counts of child molestation against one minor female victim and an additional count of child molestation against another minor female victim. It is alleged that the crimes were…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone sentenced Andres Ybarra, age 35, to life in prison for murder. On September 13, 2019, a jury found Ybarra guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 26-year-old girlfriend. On the morning of July 1, 2016, the victim was…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone sentenced Paul Brian Ward, age 43, to life in prison for the attempted murder a Visalia Police Department officer in 2017. On November 25, 2019, a jury found Ward guilty of attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a…
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On December 19, 2019, at the Sierra Conservation Center near Jamestown, a California parole board denied parole for Alfred Galaz, age 40, for the 1999 murder of a man at a Tulare gas station. Galaz was given a three-year denial. On January 14, 1999, Galaz and three of his friends drove to a gas station…
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District Attorney Tim Ward is pleased to announce the promotion of three Tulare County prosecutors to the position of Supervising Deputy District Attorney. Trevor Holly has been a prosecutor in the Office of the District Attorney since 2004. A native of Porterville and a graduate of Porterville High School, Holly graduated from California State University,…
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On December 13, 2019, in Department 1 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Melinda Reed presiding, a jury found Randy Scroggins, age 44, guilty of attempting to kill his wife. Scroggins was convicted of attempted murder, assault with a firearm, domestic violence, and being felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.…
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Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Michael Sheltzer sentenced Harry Sprague, age 77, to 64 years-to-life in prison for the 2017 attempted murder of two people at a Porterville mobile home park. On November 8, 2019, a jury found Sprague to be sane during the commission…
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On Wednesday, December 4, 2019, TCDA prosecutors secured the parole denials of two inmates currently serving life sentences for murder. The Office of the District Attorney regularly attends such hearings and argued against these inmates’ potential release. At California State Prison Solano, a parole board issued a 5-year denial for Ernest Malone, age 59, for…
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On December 3, 2019, at the California Institution for Women in Corona, a California parole board issued a three-year denial for June Gravlee, age 65, for the 1987 murder of her husband. In 1990, Gravlee was convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of murder for financial gain. In the penalty phase of the…
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On November 25, 2019, in Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone presiding, a jury found Paul Brian Ward, age 43, guilty of attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, attempted weapon removal, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, attempted criminal threats, misdemeanor battery…
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Late this afternoon in Department 19 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Antonio Reyes presiding, a jury found Leonardo Nacoa, age 33, guilty of second-degree murder with the special allegations of personal use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm causing death, and three counts of felony child abuse…
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Late yesterday in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Michael Sheltzer presiding, a jury found Travis Risner, age 40, of Murrieta, guilty of one count of possession of a bird for fighting, one count of possession of cockfighting implements, and one count of unlawful presence of fighting animals.…
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Today in Department 14 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone sentenced Jon Weldon, age 35, to 119 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. On January 11, 2019, Weldon was convicted by a jury of two counts of sexual penetration with a child age 10 or younger, and seven counts of…
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On November 8, 2019, in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Michael Sheltzer presiding, a jury found Harry Sprague, age 77, sane during the commission of the attempted murder of two people at a Porterville mobile home park in 2017. Prior to the sanity trial, Sprague pleaded no…
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On November 6, 2019, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Gary Paden sentenced Francisco Cuevas, age 25, to life in prison for child molestation. On August 19, 2019, Cuevas pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14 with the special allegation…
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For the third straight year, District Attorney Tim Ward is pleased to announce the award of a California Office of Traffic Safety Grant to help prosecute cases of driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. The $116,668 grant will continue to fund a Vertical Prosecution team through September 2020, primarily for felony DUI with…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone sentenced Steven Wing, age 66, to 400 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. On August 16, 2019, a jury found Wing guilty of four counts of sexual penetration of a child ten years old or younger and eight counts…
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Today in Department 19 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Judge Antonio Reyes sentenced Raul Facio, age 35, to life in prison for the 2006 murder of 28-year-old Melissa Martin in Porterville. On August 9, 2019, Facio pleaded to first-degree murder. On February 4, 2006, Porterville Police Department officers were dispatched…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone sentenced Coral Lytle, age 42, to 4 years in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration for a series of crimes against minors which started in 2017. On October 1, 2019, Lytle pleaded no contest to four counts of unlawful…
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Last night TCDA Bureau of Investigations criminal investigators joined with California Parole agents, the Porterville Police Department, the Hanford Police Department, and Kings County Probation for “Operation Boo,” a longstanding Halloween night PC290 sex offender detail to ensure compliance with registrant’s terms of parole. Conducted in Tulare and Kings counties, a total of 36 searches…
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Late Friday afternoon on October 25, 2019, in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Juliet Boccone presiding, a jury convicted Jesus Suazo, age 27, of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, fleeing the scene of an accident, and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license for prior…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Kathryn Montejano sentenced convicted murderer Joshua Stepp, age 30, to life in prison for the 2012 murder of 19-year-old Michael Avalos at a house in Lindsay. On June 18, 2019, a jury convicted Joshua Stepp, age 30, of second-degree murder with the…
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