Pesticide Smuggler Sentenced to 90 Days in Custody; Ordered to Pay $10,000

Assistant U. S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson (619) 546-7976 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – June 18, 2021 SAN DIEGO –Felix Gutierrez Valencia of Perris, California, was sentenced in federal court today to 90…

Defrauded U.S. sailors receive $1 million in restitution

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan today announced that Paul Flanagan was sentenced to 357 days of house arrest and ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution for…

CBP Supervisor Renders Medical Aid to Unresponsive Motorist

CALEXICO, California — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employee assigned to the Calexico West Port of Entry rendered medical assistance to an unresponsive female motorist involved in a vehicle accident. On…

Joint Effort Foils Smuggling Attempt of 16 Migrants offshore

SAN DIEG0, CALIFORNIA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations agents took custody of 16 undocumented migrants aboard a single engine “panga” type vessel offshore of Sunset Cliffs, early this morning.…

5-year-old girl found alone, crying at U.S. border wall after being abandoned

San Ysidro, California — U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), San Diego Sector agents encountered an unaccompanied 5-year-old child along the border wall, Monday morning. Agents observed a small child being dropped off near the…

Four Rescued from Jacumba Winderness after crossing border

OCOTILLO, California – U.S. Border Patrol agents from El Centro Sector rescued four lost and in distress individuals in the Jacumba Wilderness region near Ocotillo Wednesday evening. The incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m., when…

California man sentenced to prison for in-flight assault

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alton James Johnson, 43, of Yuba City, California, was sentenced on May 26 in federal court to six months in prison for assaulting two flight attendants while he was…

U.S. Attorney’s Office Shares Resources For Reporting Anti-Asian Hate Incidents

For Further Information, Contact: Cindy Cipriani 619-546-9608 SAN DIEGO – During the month of May, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California (SDCA) joined in commemorating Asian American…

Visalia Woman Convicted of Smuggling Illegal Pesticides

Assistant U. S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson (619) 546-7976 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 27, 2021 SAN DIEGO – Selene Barraza of Visalia, California, was convicted by a federal jury yesterday of…

Twenty-Three Gang Members Charged in Crackdown on South Bay Heroin, Methamphetamine and Firearms Traffickers

Assistant U. S. Attorneys Matthew J. Sutton (619) 546-8941 and Adam Gordon (619) 546-6720 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 27, 2021 SAN DIEGO – Eleven federal indictments unsealed in San Diego today…

Local Firm and Owner Plead Guilty to Illegal Importation, Sale and Mailing of Badges Marketed as COVID-19 Killer

Assistant U. S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson (619) 546-7976 NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 25, 2021 SAN DIEGO – A San Diego firm and its owner pleaded guilty in federal court today…

Border Patrol Agents Intercept Million Dollar Cocaine Stash

CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA — San Diego Sector U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a man on Wednesday with more than 70 pounds of cocaine hidden in his vehicle. At approximately 12:30 p.m., U.S. Border…

Pilot of Capsized Boat Sentenced in Drug and Human Smuggling Event

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – The pilot of a boat that capsized during a drug and human smuggling event was sentenced in federal court today to 50 months in custody. Henrry Javier Garcia…

1,100-pound meth shipment hidden in watermelon shipment caught at border

OTAY MESA, Calif. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility discovered more than 1,100 pounds of methamphetamine hidden within a shipment of watermelons. This is the…

Border agents rescue man lost in desert after four days after crossing border illegally

DULZURA, Calif.—U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued a man that had been lost for four days on Wednesday morning. The incident began at approximately 10 a.m. when agents assigned to San Diego’s Border…

Jury Finds BLM Protester Guilty of Possessing Molotov Cocktails at La Mesa Protest

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – After a two-day jury trial, Zachary Alexander Karas of San Diego was found guilty of possessing incendiary devices known as Molotov cocktails at a protest that began on…

Couple caught smuggling 13 pounds of heroin at border crossing

PINE VALLEY, Calif. — U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested two U.S. citizens on Tuesday who were transporting nearly 13 pounds of heroin in their vehicle. At approximately 3:45 p.m., a man driving a…

Three dead after human trafficking ship breaks apart on California reef

SAN DIEGO — An attempt to smuggle more than 30 people into the United States along the coast of San Diego Sunday turned deadly after the smuggling boat broke apart along a reef…

Border Patrol rescues Guatemalan caravan lost in California desert

OTAY MESA, Calif. — San Diego Sector’s (SDC) Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) team rescued five migrants last Thursday who were lost near Otay Mountain during unseasonably warm and dry conditions. At approximately…

Mexican drug cartel leader guilty of trafficking $5 million in cocaine, heroin, weed through California

SAN DIEGO – Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael Zambada-Imperial, aka “Mayito Gordo,” pleaded guilty in federal court today to drug trafficking charges following his extradition to the Southern District of California in December 2019.…

San Diego- Page 43