SACRAMENTO — California prison officials have halted an experiment aimed at forcing warring prison gangs to get along with each other after the inmates wound up brawling and even rioting when allowed to mingle together in prison recreation yards, officials told The Associated Press. Members of Fresno's notorious Bulldogs gang...
Drug Dealer Shot by Fresno Police Gets 10 Years in Prison
What happens when you're dealing meth at a Fresno apartment complex, try to flee police on a bicycle, ditch the bike and pull out a gun? If you are 38-year-old Bert Harris, you are shot in the hip by a police officer and, nearly two years later, get 10 years,...
Newsom Commutes Sentence of Fresno Inmate Who Killed Two Men
Marcus McJimpson, who was 21 in 1988 when he shot and killed two men during an altercation in Fresno, is among 21 inmates who had their sentences commuted Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor's action means that McJimpson, now 52, is eligible for parole. In announcing his decision, Newsom...
California Lawmakers May Trim Repeat Offenders’ Sentences
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers are on the verge of approving legislation to trim prison sentences for repeat nonviolent felonies. Current law adds an additional year to offenders' sentences for each previous prison or jail term. The bill approved by the state Assembly on Thursday would remove the mandatory one-year enhancement....
Smuggler of Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Gets 8 Years Hard Time
LOS ANGELES — A Southern California man who smuggled $11 million worth of erectile dysfunction drugs into the U.S. from China has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for conspiracy and smuggling contraband. Prosecutors say the drugs sold by 41-year-old John Lee of Walnut were dangerous...
Convicted Burglar Set Free Under Challenge of 'Three Strikes'
SAN DIEGO — A man facing life in prison for a "three strikes" conviction is likely the first released under a new California law allowing a second look at such sentences, which came to be because of the slaying of a Fresno teenager 27 years ago. "You're looking at a...
Ryan Leaf Uses His Story to Help Other Former NFL Players
Ryan Leaf spent most of his time in prison alone and angry until a military veteran persuaded the former No. 2 overall NFL draft pick to stop self-loathing long enough to help fellow inmates learn to read. Now the once-star college quarterback who is widely considered the biggest bust in...
'Tower Rapist' to Stay in Prison at Least 3 More Years
Facing broad opposition to his release from prison, the man known as the "Tower rapist" was a no-show at his parole board hearing this week. As a result, he will remain behind bars for at least three more years. Rudolph M. Acosta, 53, waived his right to a full parole...
Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman Sentenced to Life in Prison
NEW YORK — The Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars in a U.S. prison, a humbling end for a drug lord notorious for his ability to kill, bribe or tunnel his way out of trouble. A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down...
Neo-Nazi Who Killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville Gets Life in Prison
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia was sentenced to life in prison Friday on hate crime charges. James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, had pleaded guilty in March to the 2017 attack...