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Santa Rosa Man Receives Life Sentence for 2022 Shooting at Mendocino Avenue Taco-Bell
Defendant Brad Adams, 29 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Troye Shaffer following his August convictions for attempted murder and shooting at an occupied building. Per the terms of a plea agreement, Adams was sentenced to 11 years to life in state prison. Read full story
Windsor Man Sentenced for Sexual Assault of Family Members
Defendant Matthew Moffat, 53 years old of Windsor, was sentenced today by the Honorable Karlene Navarro to serve 24 years plus 750 years to life in prison following his December 2022 conviction by a Sonoma County jury of multiple counts of sexual assault against minors. Read full story
Santa Rosa Man Receives Five-Year State Prison Sentence for Abusing His Elderly Mother
Defendant Arthur Martinez Terrazas, 54 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today by the Honorable Mark Urioste to serve five years in state prison following his conviction of two counts of felony elder abuse. Read full story
Santa Rosa Man Convicted of Attempted Second Degree Murder Sentenced to Serve Nine Years in State Prison
Defendant Vincent Cervantes, 29-years-old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced earlier today by the Honorable Troye Shaffer to serve nine years in state prison after pleading “no contest” in July of this year to charges of attempted second degree murder and assault with a semi-automatic firearm. Read full story
Former Social Advocates for Youth Employee Sentenced for Embezzlement
Defendant Lisa Fatu, a 42-year-old former employee of Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) in Santa Rosa, CA, was sentenced today by the Honorable Robert LaForge for stealing more than $50,000 of SAY funds to pay her personal bills. Ms. Fatu was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to serve four months in county jail. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss and to make monthly payments. She made an initial payment at her hearing of $5,000. Ms. Fatu had been a long-term employee of SAY, which is a community organization that serves vulnerable youth and their families in Sonoma County. Read full story
Man sentenced to maximum sentence of 24 years, 8 months in state prison for robbery, high speed pursuit causing serious injury, & driving under the influence of methamphetamine
Jose Angel Mendez Torres, 36 years old of Watsonville, was sentenced on Friday of last week by the Honorable Judge Mark Urioste to serve the maximum sentence allowed of 24 years, and 8 months in state prison after a jury returned guilty verdicts on June 9, 2023 for multiple charges, including robbery, commercial burglary, driving under the influence of a drug causing great bodily injury, fleeing a peace officer, and possession of tear gas by a convicted felon. Read full story
Santa Rosa man sentenced to prison for providing fentanyl to Petaluma woman causing her death
Defendant Chase Kirby, 28 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today by the Honorable Laura Passaglia to serve the maximum term of four years in local prison. This sentence came after Mr. Kirby pled “no contest” earlier this month to a felony charge of committing involuntary manslaughter after providing fentanyl to a female acquaintance on September 6, 2021, resulting in her overdose and death. Read full story
Carjacker Sentenced to Maximum Term of Imprisonment for Random Attack on Elderly Victim
Defendant Rico Richard Leaton-Gomez, 28 years old of Windsor, was sentenced today by the Honorable Laura Passaglia to serve 26 years in state prison after having been convicted by a Sonoma County jury in June of this year to charges of carjacking and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. In addition, the defendant was also found to have committed sentencing enhancements for personally inflicting great bodily injury on the victim and for having a prior “strike” conviction. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office recommended the 26-year sentence which is the maximum allowed by law. Read full story
Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office Awarded Grant to Investigate and Prosecute Workers’ Compensation Fraud
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office was recently awarded a grant from the California Department of Insurance to be used for the investigation and prosecution of Workers’ Compensation Insurance fraud. The grant is for $339,173.00 for the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year. Funding for the grant comes from California employers who are legally required to be insured or self-insured. Workers’ Compensation Fraud is investigated and prosecuted by the Environmental and Consumer Law Division of the District Attorney’s Office. Read full story
Sonoma County District Attorney Settles Civil Lawsuit Against Dietary Supplement Company Balance of Nature
District Attorney Carla Rodriguez announced today that her office as part of the California Food, Drug, and Medical Device Task Force settled a consumer protection action against Evig, LLC doing business as Balance of Nature. The case was filed in Napa Superior Court by the District Attorney’s offices of Sonoma, Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Napa Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, and Solano Counties, which together comprise the task force. Read full story