Feds’ Investigation in Drugs, Fraud, Identity Theft Leads to Arrests Across San Gabriel Valley8/17/2018 Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor REGION - Federal authorities arrested 12 people tied to a local street gang in a widespread investigation into narcotics, fraud and identity theft. A total of 17 tied to the Puente 13 gang were named in a series of indictments returned by a federal grand jury. The investigation was a collaboration between the United States Secret Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The investigation involved wiretaps that revealed to investigators criminal activity by gang members, gang associates and others, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The 12 arrests were made over Tuesday, August 14 and Wednesday, August 15. Crimes allegedly committed include possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, felon in possession of a firearm, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, illegal possession of access devices (credit cards), possession of access device making equipment, and possession of stolen mail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The investigation is five months in the making, having begun when authorities learned that Puente 13 gang member Victor Ponce De Leon, 26, was involved in drug trafficking after communications were intercepted, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. In an indictment, Ponce De Leon, also known as “Dopey,” alleged he was involved in selling an ounce of methamphetamine while armed with a 9-millimeter handgun. A scheme to smuggle narcotics into the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic was also uncovered, according to an indictment naming 39-year-old Glendora man Ricky Lee Thornburg, also known as “Shorty.” Thornburg is currently incarcerated at Pitchess. Thornburg planned to receive the methamphetamine and heroin, hidden in plastic drinking straws, from a woman who was to visit, but the shipment was intercepted in May, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. An identity theft ring was also uncovered during the investigation, with stolen credit cards and personal identifying information from numerous common victims were found in the possession of multiple defendants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Arrested were:
>>CLICK TO READ THE CHARGES AGAINST EACH DEFENDANT
Most of the defendants were arraigned in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Thornburg, Basye, Arroyave, Maribel Gomez and Jimenezare expected to soon be brought into court. The Glendora Police Department and Culver City Police Department assisted in the investigation. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor POMONA - The woman who pleaded no contest to sending threatening letters to a Glendora Catholic school was sentenced in court Thursday.
Magaly Esmeralda Alvarenga, 39, was sentenced to three months and eight years in state prison after pleading no contest previously to two counts of criminal threats and one count of stalking, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. From December 2017 and May 2018 Alvarenga mailed several threatening letters to the all-girls St. Lucy’s Priory and Catholic High School. The first letter contained threats to burn down the school and shoot people, Glendora Police said in a previously-published statement. Glendora detectives believed the letter was written by a student initially, since it also specified the stress of school work and strict rules at St. Lucy’s. The letters were even signed with a student’s initials. The two letters sent in May of 2018 also contained a white powder and drugs, according to evidence presented at a preliminary hearing, Santiago said. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - Two crash victims have just been airlifted from the scene of a vehicle over the side on Glendora Mountain Road.
The crash ignited a half-acre brush fire along Glendora Mountain Road just south of mile marker 8.02. All forward progress of the fire has been stopped, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The two patients inside the car have suffered significant burn injuries after flames generated by the crash consume them. Rescuers attempted to traverse the mountainside, but the thick smoke prevented rescuers from pinpointing the location of the vehicle. One patient was taken to Brackett Field in La Verne via helicopter to a second waiting helicopter, which will transport the victim to County/USC Medical Center. The first helicopter is unable to complete the hospital trip due to low fuel, firefighters said. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The woman facing two counts of criminal threats and stalking against a Glendora Catholic school is facing nearly four years in prison.
Magaly Esmeralda Alvarenga, 39, pleaded no contest to the above charges Wednesday. Alvarenga sent threatening letters to St. Lucy’s Priory High School,655 W. Sierra Madre Ave.,between December 2017 and May 2018. Alvarenga signed some of the threatening letters in a student’s initials, making threats of gun violence and burning down the school, prosecutors said. Letters were first sent to the school in December of 2017 during the winter break. Two additional letters were sent on May 10 and May 23 containing white powder and drugs, prosecutors said. Glendora detectives were able to identify, locate and arrest Alvarenga. Alvarenga faces three years and eight months in state prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced August 9 in Pomona Superior Court. Written by AARON CASTREJON | Citywatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The Rialto woman arrested after allegedly sending threatening letters, drugs and white powder to a Glendora Catholic school pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Magaly Esmeralda Alvarenga, 39, pleaded not guilty to eight counts: three counts of criminal threats, three counts of false personation, and two counts of attempted false imprisonment by violence by fraud, according to Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Alvarenga first allegedly sent a letter to the all-girls St. Lucy’s Priory High School, 655 W. Sierra Madre Ave., in December 2017 in which threats of gun violence and burning down the school were made. The letter was signed with the initials of a student, Ardalani said. Alvarenga allegedly sent a letter each on May 10 and May 23, this time packed with white powder and drugs, Ardalani said. Glendora detectives were able to identify Alvarenga as a suspect and arrested her. Alvarenga is being held in lieu of $700,000 bail and is scheduled to return to West Covina Superior Courthouse June 8. If convicted as charged, Alvarenga faces a maximum of seven years in state prison. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A bicyclist was airlifted to an area hospital after colliding with a deer on Glendora Mountain Road Sunday morning.
The collision occurred a little after 9:30 a.m. on Glendora Mountain Road near mile marker 6.39, north of Big Dalton Canyon Road. According to the California Highway Patrol The rider was flown to Pomona Valley Hospital Medial Center by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department radio traffic. The condition of the deer was not known. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor Los Angeles - A 32-year-old man was identified as the lone death in what authorities believe is a drug overdose.
Michael Falcon, 32, died at the scene, Rancho Glendora Mobile Villas, 1630 S. Barranca Avenue April 19. The cause of death has been deferred, pending additional testing, according to Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Hazmat technicians were called to determine if Fentanyl played a role in Falcon’s death, police said. The hazmat technicians were called out of an abundance of caution to the scene, given the incredibly potent toxicity of Fentanyl. An adult female was hospitalized, according to Lt. Rob Lamborghini of the Glendora Police Department. Detectives don’t believe anything dangerous was found, Lamborghini said. Police and firefighters responded to a medical call inside a unit at the mobile home park around 3:59 p.m. REGION - A bomb threat was emailed to multitudes of schools Friday the 13th, setting off investigations to find the source of the message.
Schools across California, Virginia, Georgia, Ohio and more received an email bomb threat, likely as part of a widespread hoax, authorities reported. The Glendora Unified School District received the email threat, district official Michelle Hunter said in an email to parents Friday. "The Glendora Unified School District was one of many districts across the state who received an email bomb threat today. Glendora Police Department was immediately contacted and again is being proactive in monitoring our campuses as well as immediately investigating the threat. It was determined to be a hoax and sent by the same entity that sent the threats earlier in the week," Hunter said. Glendora Police are investigating the threat, but detectives are fairly confident the threat is part of the same widely-distributed hoax, said Lt. Rob Lamborghini of the Glendora Police Department. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor REGION – If you are thinking of drinking and getting behind the wheel, think again.
Law enforcement agencies across the San Gabriel Valley will be out in force, issuing DUI saturation patrols for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. POMONA: The Pomona Police DUI Enforcement Team will deploy from Friday, March 16 at 5 p.m. to Saturday, March 17 at 3 a.m. Officers will focus on areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and arrests. Police will also conduct a Know Your Limit operation on both days in Downtown Pomona and other areas of town from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. GLENDORA: DUI saturation patrols will take place Saturday, March 17. Officers will focus their patrols on drivers who exhibit alcohol and/or drug impairment. PASADENA: Pasadena officers will also conduct DUI saturation patrols from 6 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday. MONTEBELLO: Additional officers will be deployed from 7 p.m., March 16 to 3 a.m., March 17. In addition to these patrols, all other police, Sheriff’s stations and the California Highway Patrol will be on heightened alert, looking for DUI drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 252 people lost their lives in drunk driving-related crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period from 2011-2015. More than a fourth of them were killed in drunk driving crashes that occurred in the early morning, post-party hours (midnight to 5:59 a.m.), Glendora Police said. These DUI patrols are This enforcement effort is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. |
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