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Date: 03-30-2021
Case Style:
Case Number: 1:19-mj-00001-SAB
Judge:
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (Fresno County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Fresno, California conspiracy to aid and abet concealment of an alien criminal defense lawyer represented Conrado Virgen Mendoza, , 37, a native and citizen of Mexico residing in Chowchilla for conspiring with others to assist his brother in fleeing to Mexico to avoid prosecution for the murder of Newman Police Corporal Ronil Singh during a traffic stop and for possessing false immigration documents.
In September 2019, a jury found Conrado Virgen Mendoza guilty, along with Erik Quiroz Razo, 30, an illegal alien residing in Merced. The evidence at trial established that Virgen and Quiroz helped Paulo Virgen Mendoza conceal the truck that he was driving at the time he shot and killed Corporal Singh, transported him to various locations in the Central Valley in an effort to find a safe harbor with relatives before Paulo attempted to flee to Mexico. Conrado Virgen Mendoza lied to Stanislaus County Sheriff officers about Paulo Virgen Mendoza’s whereabouts. Paulo Virgen Mendoza was ultimately apprehended at a relative’s residence in Kern County following an intensive three-day manhunt.
Last November, Paulo Virgen Mendoza pleaded guilty to murdering Corporal Singh and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Quiroz was previously sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.
This case was the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations; the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force; the Southern Tri-County HIDTA; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the California Highway Patrol; the California Department of Justice, the Sheriffs’ Offices for Kern, Merced, and Santa Cruz Counties; and the Police Departments for Merced, Turlock, Modesto, and Santa Cruz. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen A. Escobar, Laura D. Withers, and Michael G. Tierney prosecuted the case.
8 U.S.C. 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii), (v) - Conspiracy and Aiding and Abetting Concealment, Harboring, Shielding from Detection of an Alien Present in Violation of Law; 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5) - Alien in Possession of a Firearm; 18 U.S.C. 371, 1073 - Conspiracy to Effect Flight to Avoid Prosecution
Outcome: 01/30/2019 54 TRANSCRIPT REQUEST by Erasmo Villegas Suarez for proceedings held on 01/22/2019 before Judge Oberto. Court Reporter ECRO Fresno. (Bakeman, Willard) (Entered: 01/30/2019)
01/30/2019 55 TRANSCRIPT REQUEST by Maria Luisa Moreno for proceedings held on 01/22/2019. Court Reporter ECRO Fresno. (Bakeman, Willard) (Entered: 01/30/2019)
01/30/2019 56 TRANSCRIPT REQUEST by Bernabe Madrigal Castaneda for proceedings held on 01/25/2019 before Judge Oberto. Court Reporter ECRO Fresno. (Bakeman, Willard) (Entered: 01/30/2019)
Defendant was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: