At a virtual hearing on August 30, 2023, TCDA prosecutors secured a denial of parole for Jessie Farias, age 48, for the 1995 murder and attempted murder of two men in Visalia. Farias is currently serving a life sentence at California State Prison, Sacramento. Parole was denied for 10 years. On May 25, 1995, Farias…
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Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Fernando Abarca Barragan, age 56, to 226 years-to-life in prison for child molestation and lifetime sex offender registration. On August 8, 2023, a jury found Barragan of guilty of twenty-two counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen…
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On August 29, 2023, in Department 21 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced Juana Elias, age 57, to suspended jail and community service for allowing alcohol at an underage party that resulted in a DUI death. Prosecutors argued on the record for an extended jail sentence. On Halloween…
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Today in Department 22 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced Jacoby Jackson, age 33, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for special circumstance murder. On April 9, 2023, Tulare firefighters and police officers responded to a massage business on K Street. Upon arrival, they found…
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District Attorney Tim Ward is urging Governor Gavin Newsom to STOP potential legislation aimed at the early release of felons. “Senate Bill 81 and Senate Bill 94 are of particular importance to those who have experienced victimization by violent crime. Both of these bills concern the potential early release of serious offenders through reduced parole…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Natharan Giovanni Ruiz, age 31, to 156 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. On Friday, March 3, 2023, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Ruiz for child molestation against four separate victims. At trial, the jury found Ruiz guilty…
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On August 8, 2023, in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Guido Vientresca, age 53, for multiple crimes starting in 2019. In the evening of September 22, 2019, Visalia Police Department officers learned that Vientresca had taken an adult female hostage in her home where he…
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On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a Tulare County jury found Fernando Abarca Barragan, age 55, guilty of twenty-two counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen and one count of lewd act upon a child aged fourteen or fifteen. The…
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The Office of the District Attorney recently received a letter from Governor Newsom’s office that the Governor is considering a clemency application submitted by convicted murderer and criminal street gang member Richard Miguel Garcia, age 37, who participated in the killing of an 18-year-old male in 2009. On the evening of August 28, 2009, Garcia…
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Late yesterday afternoon in Department 22 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Jacoby Jackson, age 33, for murder. On April 9, 2023, Tulare firefighters and police officers responded to a massage business on K Street. Upon arrival, they found an adult female in one…
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Yesterday in Department 22 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced Rosa Baca, age 55, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder. Around 8:15 am on December 17, 2018, Porterville Police and emergency services responded to a trailer on S. Indiana St. for a report…
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On Thursday, July 20, 2023, in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a jury found Arthur Pena Alvidrez, age 76, of Tulare, guilty of two counts of oral copulation with a child ten years old or younger, one count of sexual penetration with a child ten years old or younger, thirty-four…
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On July 10, 2023, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Nathan Valentino, age 31, to 15 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. Valentino pleaded guilty to one felony count of child molestation on May 31, 2023. The crime was committed against a female minor in January 2020…
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On July 3, 2023, in Department 22 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured the conviction of Rosa Baca, age 55, for murder. Around 8:15 am on December 17, 2018, Porterville Police and emergency services responded to a trailer on S. Indiana St. for a report of a man in need of medical…
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On Friday, June 2, 2023, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a Tulare County jury found Efrain Ponce, age 60, guilty of child molestation. Ponce was convicted of ten felony counts of lewd act upon a child. The crimes were committed against a single female minor between 2015 and 2018.…
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On June 2, 2023, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Izzac Murillo, age 29, to 54 years-to-life in prison for the 2015 assault and murder of his girlfriend’s two-year-old son. Around 4:38 am on July 24, 2015, Porterville Police Department officers responded to a residence where a two-year-old boy…
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On June 1, 2023, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Andres Solis, age 24, to 22 years and 8 months in prison for rape and other sex crimes. On November 18, 2018, Solis forced the victim into his house and committed a series of violent sexual assaults. During investigation,…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Steven Brian Arey, age 52, to 300 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. On Friday, April 28, 2023, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict on twenty counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen. The jury also found…
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The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office will be holding a public meeting on June 2, 2023, to discuss the AB 481 2022 Annual Military Equipment Report and its funding, acquisition, and/or use of military equipment as defined by the bill. The meeting will be held Friday, June 2, 2023, from 2 pm to 3 pm.…
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Yesterday in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Mark Martin, age 38, to life in prison for attempted murder and arson. Around 6:38 pm on February 7, 2021, Super Bowl Sunday, Martin broke into the garage of his ex-girlfriend with whom he has two young children. His ex, both his…
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Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward has announced the filing of criminal charges against Visalia teacher Jeremy Hanson, age 41, for multiple alleged crimes committed against a minor student. Hanson is charged with three felony counts of a lewd act upon a child under the age of 14, four felony counts of contact with a…
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At a virtual hearing on May 11, 2023, TCDA prosecutors secured a 3-year denial of parole for Gary Brasuell, age 49, for the beating and murder of a 67-year-old man in 1995. Brassuell is currently serving a life sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. Brasuell sometimes stayed with the victim at his Exeter…
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At a virtual hearing on May 5, 2023, TCDA prosecutors secured a 3-year denial of parole for Ramiro Bautista, age 76, for the 1989 shooting death of a child in Dinuba. Bautista is currently serving a life sentence at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. On April 16, 1989, the adult victim…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges in the April death of a Tulare woman. Jacoby Jackson, age 32, is charged with murder and the special allegations that the crime was committed during a robbery, that the murder involved arson, that the crime involved planning and sophistication, that the crime was violent and caused…
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On Friday, April 28, 2023, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a Tulare County jury found Steven Brian Arey, age 52, of Tulare, guilty of twenty counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen against three victims. The jury also found true the special allegation of…
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