Sunday - May 19, 2024
News Tipoffs - California Editors Newsletter for Sunday April 28, 2024 ( 13 items )  

Agricultural Marketing Service: USDA Restricts Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Violators in Florida, Georgia, Texas
WASHINGTON, April 23 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service issued the following news release: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has imposed sanctions on three produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). These sanctions include suspending the businesses' PACA licenses and barring the principal op  more

BLS - Western Region Issues Report Entitled 'Oregon Job Openings and Labor Turnover - February 2024'
SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 26 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics - Western Regional Information Office issued the following report on April 24, 2024, entitled "Oregon Job Openings and Labor Turnover - February 2024": * * * Oregon had 114,000 job openings in February 2024, compared to 142,000 openings in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the job openings rate in Or  more

Calif. U.S. Attorney: CFO of Two New Jersey Companies Charged With Participating in Multi-Million-Dollar Kickback Scheme to Defraud Williams Sonoma
SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California issued the following news release: Domenick Nardone appeared in federal court in Oakland this week to face conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and related charges for his alleged role in a kickback scheme that defrauded Williams Sonoma, Inc. (WSI) of millions of dollars, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Acting Special Agent in   more

Calif. U.S. Attorney: Murder for Hire Convict Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison
SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California issued the following news release: Allen Gessen was sentenced to 120 months in prison for arranging to pay an undercover FBI agent for the murder of the mother of his young children, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Robert K. Tripp. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Jacqueline Scott Corley, U.S. Distric  more

Calif. U.S. Attorney: San Gabriel Valley Woman Pleads Guilty to Counterfeit Postage Fraud That Caused More Than $150M in Losses to U.S. Postal Service
LOS ANGELES, California, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for Central District of California issued the following news release on April 26, 2024: A San Gabriel Valley woman pleaded guilty today to defrauding the United States Postal Service (USPS) out of more than $150 million by using counterfeit postage to ship tens of millions of parcels. Lijuan "Angela" Chen, 51, of Walnut, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of use of counterfeit  more

Calif. U.S. Attorney: San Gabriel Valley-Based Nursing Home Chain and Executives to Pay Over $7M to Settle COVID-Related False Claims Allegations
LOS ANGELES, California, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for Central District of California issued the following news release: The United States and the State of California have reached a $7,084,000 civil settlement with Monrovia-based ReNew Health Group LLC, ReNew Health Consulting Services LLC, and two corporate executives for knowingly submitting false Medicare Part A claims for nursing home residents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, to conserve hospital beds, the Centers for Medi  more

DEA-San Diego Division: Defendant Charged With Distributing Fentanyl That Resulted in Overdose Deaths of Two People
SAN DIEGO, April 27 -- The U.S. Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration's San Diego Division issued the following news release on April 26, 2024: Scott Anthony Sargent of San Diego appeared in federal court today to face charges that he distributed the fentanyl that resulted in the deaths of two victims in North Park in 2022. During the same incident, Sargent and another person also overdosed but survived. Sargent is also charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamph  more

Idaho U.S. Attorney Hurwit Highlights Success of Fentanyl Distribution Prosecution Efforts in East Idaho
POCATELLO, Idaho, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho issued the following new release on April 26, 2024: U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced the results of six separate distribution of fentanyl cases in Eastern Idaho today. "The case results announced today reflect stellar work by our prosecutors and staff in our Pocatello branch office," said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. "Together with our law enforcement partners in the region, our office is rising to meet the cha  more

La. U.S. Attorney: New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Heroin Distribution Conspiracy
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued the following news release: KEVIN JOHNSON ("JOHNSON"), age 33, a New Orleans resident, pleaded guilty on April 24, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 846, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. According to   more

Mont. U.S. Attorney: Federal Jury Convicts Two Montanans, One Californian of Meth, Fentanyl Trafficking in Butte, Helena Areas
BILLINGS, Montana, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana issued the following news release on April 26, 2024: A federal jury on Thursday convicted two Montana residents and a California man of drug trafficking crimes for bringing pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl pills to the Butte and Helena communities for distribution, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today. After a four-day trial that began on April 22, the jury found Juan Felipe Vidrio  more

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana: California Man Sentenced for Violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, April 27 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued the following news release: PEDRO VAZQUEZ, age 31, of California, was sentenced on April 25, 2024, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine (Count 1) and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine (Count 2), in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 846 respectively. VAZQUEZ was sentenced by Chief Judge Na  more

U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Announces Resolution of Sexual Harassment Compliance Review of Redlands Unified School District in California
WASHINGTON, April 27 -- The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights issued the following news on April 25, 2024: The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that the Redlands Unified School District in California has entered into a resolution agreement to remedy violations OCR found of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 regarding district responses to notice of sexual assault and other sexual harassment of its students, including by e  more

U.S. Postal Service: Symmetry of Flowers, Distilled to Their Essence
BURLINGAME, California, April 27 -- The U.S. Postal Service issued the following news release on April 26, 2024: The Postal Service today issued a new $1 Floral Geometry stamp, the latest offering in the organization's Floral Geometry collection. The $1 stamp joins similar $2 and $5 stamps issued in 2022 and a $10 stamp issued in 2023. Floral Geometry stamps lend an elegant and contemporary look to packages, large envelopes and other mailings. The stamp art features a series of overlapping ge  more