By | | Bay Area News GroupMARTINEZ — A Clayton man who was busted by an undercover Canadian mountie posing as a teenage girl has been sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years probation, authorities announced Friday.Daniel Paul, 41, allegedly showed up to meet the purported teen at Hidden Lakes Park in Martinez last May, bringing with him condoms, an assortment of sugary alcoholic drinks and male enhancement pills that the FDA has warned against using. Instead of a teen girl, he was met by numerous law enforcement officers who arrested him in an incident caught on camera by a police...…By | | Bay Area News GroupMARTINEZ — A Clayton man who was busted by an undercover Canadian mountie posing as a teenage girl has been sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years probation, authorities announced Friday.Daniel Paul, 41, allegedly showed up to meet the purported teen at Hidden Lakes Park in Martinez last May, bringing with him condoms, an assortment of sugary alcoholic drinks and male enhancement pills that the FDA has warned against using. Instead of a teen girl, he was met by numerous law enforcement officers who arrested him in an incident caught on camera by a police...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupOAKLAND — A Fremont man who recently moved to California from Louisiana has been charged with killing and robbing another Louisiana native, in a bizarre incident that started when the suspect, victim and a second man who was robbed were all driving in the same car, authorities said.Bryson McIntyre, 29, was arrested in Fremont this week on suspicion of killing 27-year-old Ijah Baptiste in an April 8 shooting in Oakland. McIntyre also faces charges of robbing Baptiste of three pounds of methamphetamine, drugs that were allegedly found on McIntyre when he was...…By | | Bay Area News GroupOAKLAND — A Fremont man who recently moved to California from Louisiana has been charged with killing and robbing another Louisiana native, in a bizarre incident that started when the suspect, victim and a second man who was robbed were all driving in the same car, authorities said.Bryson McIntyre, 29, was arrested in Fremont this week on suspicion of killing 27-year-old Ijah Baptiste in an April 8 shooting in Oakland. McIntyre also faces charges of robbing Baptiste of three pounds of methamphetamine, drugs that were allegedly found on McIntyre when he was...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — Four alleged members of a militia group associated with the so-called Boogaloo movement have been indicted on obstruction charges related to the killing of two law enforcement officers in California, prosecutors announced Friday.The indictment charges Turlock resident Jessie Alexander Rush, 29; Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, of Castro Valley; Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, with conspiracy to obstruct justice and destroy records to inhibit the investigations into the killings of Federal Protective...…By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — Four alleged members of a militia group associated with the so-called Boogaloo movement have been indicted on obstruction charges related to the killing of two law enforcement officers in California, prosecutors announced Friday.The indictment charges Turlock resident Jessie Alexander Rush, 29; Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, of Castro Valley; Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, with conspiracy to obstruct justice and destroy records to inhibit the investigations into the killings of Federal Protective...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — A man who was reportedly caught red-handed selling 1,500 counterfeit opiate pills that contained fentanyl has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in federal prison, court records show.Concord resident Santiago Benito Mercado-Aguayo met with an undercover Drug Enforcement Agent three times last year to sell him 500 fentanyl-laced pills at each meeting, prosecutors said. The meetings took place around Contra Costa, including a shopping center in Pleasant Hill and the In-N-Out parking lot in San Ramon. In the last deal before his arrest, last...…By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — A man who was reportedly caught red-handed selling 1,500 counterfeit opiate pills that contained fentanyl has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in federal prison, court records show.Concord resident Santiago Benito Mercado-Aguayo met with an undercover Drug Enforcement Agent three times last year to sell him 500 fentanyl-laced pills at each meeting, prosecutors said. The meetings took place around Contra Costa, including a shopping center in Pleasant Hill and the In-N-Out parking lot in San Ramon. In the last deal before his arrest, last...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has rejected two Concord-area convicted meth traffickers’ bid for either a new trial or more lenient sentences, court records show.Concord resident Donnie Phillips, 67, and Clayton resident Gordon Miller, 63, were sentenced , respectively, for methamphetamine distribution in 2018, in a case where prosecutors described Phillips as a middleman and Miller as a higher-up in a large-scale meth trafficking ring. The charges stemmed from a 2015 undercover investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.A third defendant,...…By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has rejected two Concord-area convicted meth traffickers’ bid for either a new trial or more lenient sentences, court records show.Concord resident Donnie Phillips, 67, and Clayton resident Gordon Miller, 63, were sentenced , respectively, for methamphetamine distribution in 2018, in a case where prosecutors described Phillips as a middleman and Miller as a higher-up in a large-scale meth trafficking ring. The charges stemmed from a 2015 undercover investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.A third defendant,...WW…

By | and | Bay Area News GroupA 44-year-old Fremont man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for illegally importing automobile headlights that didn’t meet U.S. safety standards, a scheme that federal authorities say lasted for 13 years.Chu-Chiang Ho, also known as Kevin Ho, was also ordered to forfeit $1.7 million as part of U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar’s sentence handed down Friday in United States District Court in Oakland. Ho will be placed on a three year period of supervised release after serving his prison term. Prosecutors argued for a two-year sentence, writing in...…By | and | Bay Area News GroupA 44-year-old Fremont man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for illegally importing automobile headlights that didn’t meet U.S. safety standards, a scheme that federal authorities say lasted for 13 years.Chu-Chiang Ho, also known as Kevin Ho, was also ordered to forfeit $1.7 million as part of U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar’s sentence handed down Friday in United States District Court in Oakland. Ho will be placed on a three year period of supervised release after serving his prison term. Prosecutors argued for a two-year sentence, writing in...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — As accused low-level drug dealers in a massive conspiracy case continue to accept plea offers, many defendants have incredibly similar stories: They came to the United States to escape poverty in Honduras, ended up agreeing to sell drugs in San Francisco, and were busted by undercover cops before catching federal charges.But many defendants also share another notable trait: They were purportedly recruited by large-scale drug distributors, who offered these otherwise-destitute Bay Area residents access to low-income housing in exchange for regularly...…By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — As accused low-level drug dealers in a massive conspiracy case continue to accept plea offers, many defendants have incredibly similar stories: They came to the United States to escape poverty in Honduras, ended up agreeing to sell drugs in San Francisco, and were busted by undercover cops before catching federal charges.But many defendants also share another notable trait: They were purportedly recruited by large-scale drug distributors, who offered these otherwise-destitute Bay Area residents access to low-income housing in exchange for regularly...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupOAKLAND — A Bay Area man who prosecutors say was responsible for the smuggling and distribution of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison.Sergio Vasquez-Gonzalez, 29, whom prosecutors say goes by the aliases Checo and Number One, was sentenced at a Friday morning court hearing before U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, who called defendant’s conduct “egregious” and noted that for every shipment of meth that comes into the United States, there will be a “certain number of jobs lost, a certain number of marriages...…By | | Bay Area News GroupOAKLAND — A Bay Area man who prosecutors say was responsible for the smuggling and distribution of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison.Sergio Vasquez-Gonzalez, 29, whom prosecutors say goes by the aliases Checo and Number One, was sentenced at a Friday morning court hearing before U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, who called defendant’s conduct “egregious” and noted that for every shipment of meth that comes into the United States, there will be a “certain number of jobs lost, a certain number of marriages...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupLIVERMORE — Federal prosecutors have charged a man with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in connection with a late February traffic stop in which officers allegedly uncovered 133 pounds of methamphetamine, court records show.Norberto Terriquez Hernandez, 28, faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted, according to court records. The charging records accuse Hernandez of being a drug courier, alleging he was pulled over in eastern unincorporated Alameda County while driving the car west toward Livermore.A...…By | | Bay Area News GroupLIVERMORE — Federal prosecutors have charged a man with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in connection with a late February traffic stop in which officers allegedly uncovered 133 pounds of methamphetamine, court records show.Norberto Terriquez Hernandez, 28, faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted, according to court records. The charging records accuse Hernandez of being a drug courier, alleging he was pulled over in eastern unincorporated Alameda County while driving the car west toward Livermore.A...WW…

By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — Police here got more than they bargained for when three men who were found standing next to various burglary tools outside of a building admitted they were there to play illegal computer slot machines, according to recently filed court records.The January traffic stop resulted in police arresting the men — and opening a probe into the alleged underground gambling den — after searching their car and finding a gun, shaved keys and a small amount of meth, authorities said. Records related to the arrest were recently made public when one of the three...…By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN FRANCISCO — Police here got more than they bargained for when three men who were found standing next to various burglary tools outside of a building admitted they were there to play illegal computer slot machines, according to recently filed court records.The January traffic stop resulted in police arresting the men — and opening a probe into the alleged underground gambling den — after searching their car and finding a gun, shaved keys and a small amount of meth, authorities said. Records related to the arrest were recently made public when one of the three...WW…