A 23-year-old Mendota man was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced Friday. Jose Navarette-Mendez pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana to members of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS‑13) in...
Mendota MS-13 Gang Leader Pleads Guilty to Multiple Charges
Mendota's MS-13 gang leader pleaded guilty Friday in a Fresno federal courtroom to assault with a deadly weapon and several drug distribution charges. Denis Barrera-Palma, 25, captained La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a violent street gang known to engage in racketeering, murder, kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking. A multi-agency investigation into the...
MS-13 Gang Member Gets 10 Years for Mendota Drug Trafficking
U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced MS-13 gang member Claudia Lizaola to 10 years in prison Monday for drug trafficking. O'Neill handed down the sentence at the federal courthouse in Fresno. According to court documents, Lizaola was a member of La Mara Salvatrucha, a violent criminal street gang that engages...
The Congressman, the Sheriff, and an Out-of-Context Viral Tweet
How did a since-deleted viral tweet involve two Valley elected leaders? The head of a New York City-based philanthropic foundation tweeted a video of President Donald Trump talking about immigrants. “.@realDonaldTrump on people asking for asylum "These aren't people. These are animals,” Mark Elliott, the president of Economic Mobility Corporation,...
AP Fact Check: Trump on the Wall, and a Ban on Cows?
WASHINGTON — Let Democrats have their way, President Donald Trump suggested, and the United States will become a country without border security, airplanes or cows. Trump warned of a variety of dire consequences from the Democratic playbook as he rallied Monday night in the border city of El Paso, Texas, in a...
Read the Full Text of President Trump's Immigration Address
President Donald Trump addressed the nation on border security and the government shutdown from the Oval Office on Tuesday night. Here is what he said: My fellow Americans, Tonight, I am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. Every day customs...
Trump Critic Becerra on MS-13 Gang: Not Animals, But Not Human Either
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra didn’t quite share President Donald Trump’s sentiments on the gang MS-13, but he came close. “When you talk about maiming human life, scarring them to the point that you don’t recognize them, I don’t know if you would call them human beings,” Becerra said at...
Trump's Iran Sanctions Will Hurt Hopes for Democracy
Anyone who has seen the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" knows that a single congressman provided great help to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Later, these same rebels would target the United States. And these days, it's hard to miss President Donald Trump promising to crack down on violent MS-13...
Three Things Trump Said. Here Are the Realities. Good & Bad.
Opinion From The Conversation Editor’s note: President Donald Trump, in his first State of the Union address, took credit for a growing economy, urged Congress to invest more in infrastructure and defense and promoted an immigration plan that ties citizenship for Dreamers to border security and an end to family-based...
Three Things Trump Said. Here Are the Realities. Good & Bad.
Opinion From The Conversation Editor’s note: President Donald Trump, in his first State of the Union address, took credit for a growing economy, urged Congress to invest more in infrastructure and defense and promoted an immigration plan that ties citizenship for Dreamers to border security and an end to family-based...