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Former Parlier City Manager Sentenced to Prison for Fraud
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By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 5 months ago on
April 11, 2025

Marcus Asay and Antonio Gastelum of Fresno were sentenced Thursday, April 10, 2025, following their fraud convictions during a 19-day federal trial in June 2024. (Shutterstock)

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Antonio Gastelum, a former Parlier city manager and Fresno City Council candidate, is headed to federal prison for two years.

Antonio Gastelum

Antonio Gastelum

U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd handed down Gastelum’s sentence on Thursday.

The architect of the scheme, Marcus Asay, 69, of Fresno, received a five-year sentence.

Asay and Gastellum, 53, also of Fresno, were convicted in June 2024 for running a pension fraud scheme through their company, American Labor Alliance. The company was fined $2.5 million as well. The pair received enhanced sentences because they testified in their defense at trial and were found to have perjured themselves.

Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced the sentences in a news release.

Asay Spends Pension Funds on Personal Expenses

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Asay was the founder and chairman of ALA, and Gastelum was the company’s top operations, finance, and compliance executive. From 2011 through 2019, the defendants offered three sham products: retirement plan, worker’s compensation coverage, and hardship exemption.

Marcus Asay

Marcus Asay

In addition to his fraud conviction, Asay was convicted of money laundering because he moved pension funds through multiple bank accounts before using them for improper expenses. The expenses included dining out, travel, buying rare coins, transfers to Asay’s retirement account, and rent on his lakeside house in Fresno.

Asay and Gastelum deceived more than 3,000 people from 2011 to 2019, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Tierney, Joseph Barton, and Stephanie Stokman prosecuted the case.

Gastelum’s Failed Political Run

Gastelum ran for Fresno’s District 5 seat representing southeast neighborhoods in November 2016. He finished third with 17% of the vote behind winner Luis Chavez and runner-up Jose Leon Barraza.

The city of Parlier later hired Gastelum as city manager — a position he retained while under federal indictment until November 2020.

 

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Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at bmcewen@gvwire.com

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