California Briefs

FRESNO

Farmer pleads guilty to crop insurance fraud

Jatinderjeet "Jyoti" Sihota, 37, of Selma, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to commit crop insurance fraud, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court records, for many years, Sihota's family's farming operation produced table grapes and other crops in Fresno and Tulare Counties, and it sold many of those crops through a fruit packing company where Ralph Hackett was a member and manager. The farming operation also entered into financial agreements with the fruit packing company where various costs that the farming operation incurred selling its crops were advanced and covered by the company. The farming operation then had to pay the fruit packing company back by a certain date.

Beginning in 2012, Sihota became involved with her family's farming operation. Thereafter, from 2012 through 2016, she and Hackett carried out a fraud scheme to obtain more than $650,000 in crop insurance payments to which they were not entitled. They caused false information that underreported the amount of crops the farming operation sold through the fruit packing company to be provided to the insurance company to make it appear as though the farming operation had suffered significant crop losses when that was not true.

Hackett, 69, of Clovis, was separately charged and has pleaded guilty for his role in the fraud scheme. He agreed to certain sentencing enhancements because he directed lower-level employees at the fruit packing company to participate in the scheme and hid his misconduct from other principals at the company. Hackett also agreed to pay criminal restitution of $650,000 and a separate civil settlement of $605,000.

Sihota is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3, 2025, and Hackett is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27, 2025. They each face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

FRESNO

Guatemalan pleads guilty to drug crimes

Donis Ariel Maldonado, 28, a Guatemalan national residing in El Monte, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Maldonado agreed with other members of the conspiracy to distribute 22 pounds of heroin and over 80 pounds of methamphetamine sourced from Mexico. On June 24, 2019, Maldonado delivered the drugs to an informant in Fresno.

Maldonado is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Feb. 18, 2025. Maldonado faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $2 million fine.

SAN FRANCISCO

San Carlos fraudster sentenced

David Scott Cacchione was sentenced Monday to 40 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with an investment fraud scheme and a false federal disaster loan application, and tax evasion. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable James Donato, U.S. District Judge.

Cacchione, 59, of San Carlos, was initially charged by complaint on Jan. 16, 2024, and by superseding information on Aug. 7, 2024. On Aug. 14, 2024, he pleaded guilty to all four counts in the superseding information — one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion in connection with multiple schemes. According to his plea agreement, Cacchione admitted that he and an alleged co-conspirator defrauded multiple investors by convincing them that their money would be used to purchase accounts receivable that did not exist. Instead, Cacchione used the investor funds to pay personal expenses and to reimburse other victims. Cacchione admitted that victim investors were defrauded out of more than $1.13 million in this scheme. As detailed in court documents, in addition to the investment fraud scheme, Cacchione submitted an Economic Injury Disaster Loan application in September 2020 for a company that he falsely claimed had $1 million in revenue and three employees in the 12-month period prior to Jan. 31, 2020. Based on these false statements, Cacchione obtained a $149,900 loan that he used to pay personal expenses.

In addition to the 40-month prison term, Judge Donato also ordered defendant to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution, sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release, and ordered the defendant to forfeit his $450,000 equity stake in a technology company. Defendant has been in custody since Apr. 24, 2024, and will begin serving his sentence immediately.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp, and IRS-CI Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley.

FRESNO

Man sentenced for sexual exploitation of minor

Todd Eric Mumma, 61, of Fresno, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 21 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release during which time his access to minors, computers, and the internet will be restricted, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Mumma was also ordered to register as a sex offender and pay a forfeiture money judgment, representing the proceeds of property subject to forfeiture totaling $160,000. The court also ordered that Mumma pay $71,200 in restitution to a victim and $55,100 in special assessments.

In March 2024, a federal jury found Mumma guilty of actual and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, Mumma used hidden digital video recording devices in a residence to create sexually explicit images of a minor. He edited recordings on a computer and then transferred the most sexually explicit images onto a cellphone where the images were stored in a password protected application and viewed numerous times.

FRESNO

Woman pleads guilty to tax evasion

Pilar Rose, 51, formerly of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to tax evasion and obstructing an IRS audit, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Rose also agreed to forfeit her interest in more than $2.5 million of proceeds from the sale of her and her husband's mansion and BMW that authorities previously seized.

According to court records, from 2012 through 2015, Rose prepared false financial statements for her husband's orthodontics practice that significantly underreported the practice's profits. As a result, Rose evaded more than $870,000 that she and her husband owed in federal taxes.

Then, in early 2016, Rose obstructed an IRS audit of her and her husband's taxes. She altered hundreds of checks that were for the couple's nondeductible personal expenses, such as their mortgage, utilities, landscaping, pool cleaning, cars, credit cards, and children's college tuition, to make it appear as though the checks were for deductible business expenses. She also created false financial statements for her husband's orthodontics practice to match the altered checks. She provided the altered checks and false financial statements to the IRS auditors to try to avoid paying the federal taxes that she and her husband actually owed.

In June 2015, Rose had sought a $1.5 million home mortgage refinance loan on the couple's mansion located on Van Ness Boulevard in Fresno. To assure the bank of their creditworthiness and induce the bank to make the loan, Rose submitted copies of her and her husband's federal tax returns that showed significantly greater income than was reported on the actual returns they filed with the IRS. The bank declined the loan after discovering the discrepancies.

Then, in July 2015, Rose applied to a second bank for a $1,475,000 home mortgage refinance loan on the Van Ness Boulevard residence. In the application, she represented that their bank accounts had a combined balance of more than $250,000 when they actually had less than $3,000. She also submitted copies of her and her husband's federal tax returns, and a profit and loss statement, that significantly exaggerated the profitability of her husband's orthodontics practice. As a result, the second bank approved the loan, and Rose and her husband received $1,475,000 to which they were not entitled. Authorities later seized the residence.

Moreover, in September 2017, Rose purchased a new BMW sedan for approximately $90,000. She made a $25,000 down payment and financed the remaining $65,000 through a loan she obtained from a third bank. In the loan application, Rose represented that she was an attorney who made more than $600,000 per year when she actually was not an attorney. She also used the Social Security number belonging to her husband's former dental school classmate because she knew that using her real SSN would result in her having a low credit score, which may have disqualified her from receiving the loan. As a result, the loan was approved, and Rose received more than $65,000 to which she was not entitled. Authorities later seized the BMW.

Rose is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2025. She faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and $100,000 fine for the tax evasion charge and an additional three years in prison and a $5,000 fine for the obstruction charge.