On Friday, January 29, 2021, in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, Victor Hugo Becerra, age 38, was sentenced to 228 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. On October 8, 2020, a Tulare County jury found Becerra guilty of three counts of oral copulation with a minor under the…
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On January 15, 2021, the Office of the District Attorney was notified that Governor Gavin Newsom has refused to stop the release of convicted murderer Gerardo Zavala, 48. In 2001, Zavala and a group of men lured a 17-year-old African-American minor to a Delano residence where they beat, electrocuted, sexually assaulted, and eventually shot him…
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Today the Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Larry Robinson, age 53, to 12 years, 4 months in prison for crimes occurring in May 2020. On October 23, 2020, a jury convicted Robinson of three felony counts of making criminal threats, two misdemeanor counts of violating a domestic violence restraining order, delaying a police officer’s lawful…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court in Visalia, Tyrone Williams, age 46, a transient in the Visalia area, was sentenced to 480 years-to-life in prison for rape and child molestation against three separate female victims, two of which were under the age of 14. On September 24, 2020, Williams was convicted…
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District Attorney Tim Ward is pleased to announce the promotion of two Tulare County prosecutors to the position of Supervising Deputy District Attorney. Mitch Niayesh began his career as a TCDA prosecutor in 2003. During his tenure, he has prosecuted cases as part of the general misdemeanor and felony teams, white collar crime, auto theft,…
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Each year in April as part of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, our office joins with community families at a solemn ceremony to celebrate the lives of loved ones taken by crime. We honor these lives with a memorial quilt. In a year like no other, we waited patiently for the right time to join…
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Yesterday evening the Tulare County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation took Healthcare Conglomerate Associates (HCCA) CEO Dr. Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi into custody at Los Angeles International Airport. The Office of the District Attorney coordinated with Benzeevi’s local counsel and federal officials at the American Embassy in Manila, Philippines, for his self-deportation and return to the…
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Half of the inmates released from custody earlier this year have re-offended according to research conducted by staff of the Office of the District Attorney. In April and July of this year, TCDA prosecutors opposed hundreds of motions requesting inmates housed in Tulare County jail facilities be released due to possible COVID dangers. As a…
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On November 4, 2020, the Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Robert Duran, age 39, to 56 years-to-life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. On December 18, 2018, a jury convicted Duran of conspiracy to commit murder with the special allegation that the crime was for the benefit of a criminal street gang and that…
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For the fourth 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 $168,800 grant will continue to fund a Vertical Prosecution team through September 2021, primarily for felony DUI with…
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On November 5, 2020, the Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Fresno man Jonathan Soto, age 34, to 23 years, 4 months in prison for a 2019 standoff with police in which he threatened to kill his girlfriend. Around 5 pm on April 8, 2019, Visalia Police Department officers responded to a residence on E. Hillcrest…
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Yesterday a Tulare County jury voted for a death sentence for Porterville man Adrian Ortiz, age 31, in the 2009 murder of a 23-year-old father and husband in his own home. Around 10:30 pm on April 21, 2009, in the city of Porterville, Ortiz and his girlfriend were arguing while driving in a car. Enraged,…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges have been filed against Alec Denney, age 25, for sex offenses against a minor. Denney is charged with three counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, three counts of oral copulation of a person under 18, two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object…
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On Friday, October 23, 2020, in Department 14 of the Tulare County Superior Court, a jury convicted Larry Robinson, age 53, of three felony counts of making criminal threats, two misdemeanor counts of violating a domestic violence restraining order, delaying a police officer’s lawful investigation, and possessing drug paraphernalia. On the night of May 8,…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced the filing of criminal charges against Adan Aguilar, 43, for the October 10, 2020, arson of political campaign signs attached to hay bales located on private property near Dinuba. Aguilar is charged with arson during a state of emergency, arson of property, vandalism causing more than $400 of damage,…
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On October 6, 2020, a California parole board recommended the release of convicted murderer Gerardo Zavala, 48, over the strident objection of prosecutors. Parole was first recommended for Zavala 2017, but was overturned by former Governor Jerry Brown in 2018 after prosecutors appealed the decision. On January 24, 2001, Zavala and two others lured 17-year-old…
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Late yesterday afternoon in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a jury found Victor Hugo Becerra, age 37, guilty of three counts of oral copulation with a minor under the age of ten, one count of digital penetration of a minor under the age of ten, fifteen counts of lewd act…
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Late Friday afternoon on October 2, 2020, in Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Jesus Suazo, age 28, was sentenced to 19 years-to-life in prison for murder. On October 25, 2019, a jury convicted Suazo of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, fleeing the scene of an accident, and misdemeanor driving…
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In a court trial yesterday in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Judge Melinda Reed found Enrique Cisneros Martinez, age 42, guilty of 17 counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen and one count of contacting a minor for a sexual offense. At the conclusion of…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court in Visalia, a jury convicted Tyrone Williams, age 46, a transient in the Visalia area, of rape and child molestation against three separate female victims, two of which were under the age of 14. Williams was convicted of the following charges: Minor Victim #1 –…
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Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward is urging residents to contact Governor Gavin Newsom asking him not to sign AB 3234, a bill that would allow for diversion programs in most misdemeanor prosecutions, even for serious misdemeanors like DUI, child abuse, and hate crimes. It would also allow a judge to offer diversion, thus no…
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Late Friday afternoon in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court in Visalia, a jury convicted Ramiro Lemus Tapia, 48, of one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving while having a .08% or higher BAC. Prior to trial, Tapia pleaded no contest to misdemeanor driving while privilege suspended and…
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Late yesterday afternoon via video conference, TCDA prosecutors secured a 3-year parole denial for Richard Flowers, age 64. In 1994, Flowers stabbed, strangled, and robbed 78-year-old woman Mary Eloise Garcia in her Tulare home. Flowers used the money and items stolen from his victim to buy cocaine. In 1996, a jury convicted Flowers of first-degree…
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On August 31, 2020, criminal investigators from the Tulare County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations Child Abduction Unit recovered a fifteen-month-old child who was taken to Stillwater, Oklahoma by her paternal grandmother, Carrie Craiger. Craiger had no legal parental or custodial rights to the child. The child’s mother had previously been granted sole legal and…
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On Wednesday, September 2, 2020, a Tulare County Criminal Grand Jury found No True Bill after hearing the evidence in an officer-involved shooting that occurred in Delano on June 14, 2019. On that date, a Delano police officer was involved in a fatal shooting of a suspect who was wanted in connection with a prior…
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