December 2010 Archives

FONTANA -- A suspected drunk driver has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and two other felonies in connection with a fatal traffic collision here in November.

Victor Manuel Hernandez's blood-alcohol level was measured after the Nov. 14 crash at 0.34 and 0.37 -- more than four times the legal limit.

David Garcia, 22, was killed after Hernandez's GMC Yukon collided with several cars that were waiting at a red light just before midnight at Citrus and Base Line avenues.

Hernandez, 47, of Corona, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges. He was released from custody Dec. 3 after posting $525,000 bail, and is next due Jan. 31 in Fontana Superior Court.

Hernandez declined to comment Thursday when reached for an interview. He said he needed to speak to his lawyer before speaking to a reporter, and said his lawyer would not be available until Monday.

In an interview with police, Hernandez said he drank two beers after eating lunch, and denied drinking any more alcohol before the crash, according to a police report contained in his court file.

Garcia was a passenger in a Nissan sedan that was struck by Hernandez, according to the police report.

The driver of the car, Andrew Ortiz, told police that he, Garcia and another friend left a gas station at the intersection shortly before the crash.

"As Ortiz was waiting for the signal to turn green, he heard a loud acceleration-type noise coming from south of his vehicle," the police report says.

"Ortiz looked into his rearview mirror, at which time he observed headlights heading toward his vehicle.

"Ortiz could tell that the vehicle was not slowing down. Knowing that he was about to get hit, Ortiz shouted to his passengers, 'Hey.'

"At that time he was suddenly struck from behind by (Hernandez)."

Garcia, who was sitting in the back of the car, was pinned between the back seat and the front passenger seat.

He suffered major head trauma and was pronounced dead at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, according to the police report.

Hernandez, who according to the police report appeared extremely intoxicated, was treated at the hospital for a bump to his forehead.

A blood sample taken from Hernandez at the scene measured his blood-alcohol content at 0.34, while a second test at the hospital yielded a measurement of 0.37, according to the police report.

According data downloaded by police from the black box recorder in Hernandez's car, he was driving 52 mph five seconds before the collision, and didn't brake before the crash.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Two men have pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other criminal charges in connection with a home-invasion robbery in Ontario.

Mikkos Dewayne Brown, 27, and Cecil Phillip Reyes, 37, are accused of taking jewelry and nearly $6,000 after breaking into a home on Dec. 22 in the 1200 block of South Sultana Avenue.

Brown and Reyes, both of Los Angeles, allegedly assaulted a married couple that lives in the home after prying open a back door at about 11:15 a.m.

According to a police report contained in their court file, one of the men allegedly tied up a woman who lived there and nearly suffocated her by tying a bathroom mat around her head.

The other alleged robber choked a man who lived at the home and threw him face-first to the ground. The man told police he feared he would be killed, according to the police report.

In a four-page hand-written note to the victims contained in the police report, Brown apologized for the robbery and complained of financial hardship.

"I was forced to rob somebody's parents and had no business (to) do it," Brown wrote. "I really do apologize for my wrongdoings. Please can you accept my apology and lets move on with our beautiful lives."

Brown and Reyes pleaded not guilty to criminal charges Tuesday in West Valley Superior Court. The men are each charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of robbery, and one count each of elder abuse and kidnapping.

Brown and Reyes each remain jailed in lieu of $1.75 million at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, and are next due in court Jan. 3.

In interviews with police, Brown said that he was from Los Angeles, but had been staying in the Ontario area while completing maintenance work on a home.

One of the married couple's neighbors told police that Reyes is friends with the couple's son, and was outside the home the day before the robbery speaking to the couple's son.

The woman who lives at the home told police that at the time of the robbery she was in the kitchen cooking.

The alleged robbers grabbed her first after using a crowbar to pry open a door at the back of the kitchen. The woman told police that one of the robbers took her to the bathroom and bound her arms and legs with tape.

The robber forced a washcloth into the woman's mouth and wrapped a floormat around her head, which he tightened and taped in place, according to the police report.

The woman's husband told police he was in the living room watching TV when the robbers burst in through the door at the back of the kitchen.

One of the robbers choked his neck with both hands for about 30 seconds and threw him onto the floor. The robber smothered his face with a pillow and bound his hands with tape, according to the police report.

The man estimated the robbers ransacked the house for about five minutes before leaving, according to the police report.

About a half hour after the robbery, a police officer saw Brown and Reyes walking in the area of Nevada Street and Plum Avenue, about a half-mile from the home that was robbed.

The men gave the officer consent to be searched, and the officer found a crow bar, thousands of dollars in cash, and foreign coins, according to the police report.

Brown and Reyes were booked after the victims confirmed that the items recovered from Brown and Reyes were their missing belongings, according to the police report.

FONTANA -- An employee at the Department of Motor Vehicles has been charged with several felonies for allegedly helping two men obtain fraudulent IDs and driver's licenses.

Felicia Shauntee Fuller, who worked at the Fontana DMV office, is accused of inputting false data allowing one of the men to receive a driver's license.

For the other man, prosecutors allege Fuller created fraudulent IDs using two of the man's aliases. The man had an extensive criminal history and several warrants for his arrest on felony charges, according to a report of the DMV's investigation contained in Fuller's court file.

Fuller, 32, of Victorville, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges. Her attorney said today that her workstation at the DMV may have been illegally accessed by another employee who then committed the acts attributed to Fuller.

"They have accused her of wrongdoing, and she denies the wrongdoing," Gregory Rubel said.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office charged Fuller on Dec. 7 with 12 felonies: three counts of violating public records laws, three counts of second-degree commercial burglary, and six counts of computer access and fraud.

Fuller worked for six years at the DMV, where her job title was "motor vehicle field representative," according to the DMV report in her court file. Rubel said Fuller has since left the job and is now on disability.

According to prosecutors, Fuller committed the alleged crimes between March 12, 2009 and July 28, 2009.

When Fuller was interviewed by DMV investigators she denied responsibility for creating the fake IDs, and said she didn't know the man who had several IDs created under two aliases.

One of the beneficiaries of Fuller's alleged fraud told DMV investigators that he twice failed the written test to obtain a driver's license, according to the DMV report.

The man, a Los Angeles resident, claimed he told the owner of a car wash about his difficulty passing the test, and the owner said he "knew someone who knew someone" who worked at the DMV.

The man said that in exchange for a fee of between $100 and $200, the owner of the car wash arranged for the man's DMV record to be changed to show that he had passed his written test, according to the DMV report.

The man told investigators he didn't know who changed his DMV file, and said he didn't travel to Fontana.

"I don't even know where Fontana is," the man told investigators, according to the DMV report.

Fuller was initially jailed Dec. 10 in lieu of $300,000 bail, but her bail was lowered to $150,000 on Dec. 20 by Judge Phillip M. Morris. Fuller posted bail the following day and was released from custody, Rubel said.

Fuller is next due Jan. 3 in Fontana Superior Court.

CHINO -- A man convicted of stealing from Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was sentenced today to 270 days in jail.

Farrukh Ahmed, 48, a former administrator at the church, pleaded no contest last month to a felony count of grand theft.

As part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Ahmed agreed to repay the church $25,000. Judge Stanford E. Reichert also placed Ahmed on probation for three years.

Despite Ahmed's no contest plea, his attorney said Ahmed did not steal from the church.

David D. Diamond said after Ahmed's sentencing in Chino Superior Court that Ahmed accepted a plea bargain from prosecutors because taking his case to trial would be too expensive.

"There's no admission of any wrongdoing in this case," Diamond said.

Ahmed was arrested in December 2009 after the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department investigated reports of money going missing at the church.

The church initially reported it was missing as much as $1 million.

But Diamond said that the amount of missing funds is far lower -- with Ahmed, prosecutors and the church settling on $25,000 as the restitution amount to be paid by Ahmed.

"That's the amount that the evidence shows was missing," Diamond said.

Ahmed has already paid $12,500 to the church, and the remaining $12,500 will be paid in monthly increments of $350, Diamond said.

Diamond said there's little oversight of the church's finances, and he suggested that Ahmed was suspected of embezzling because of his Middle Eastern heritage.

Diamond said an independent body should investigate the church's finances.
"There's kind of no checks and balances," Diamond said.

The teen from Las Vegas said that during her brief trip last year to the Pomona area, she was in a dream-like state.

She was constantly high on methamphetamine and didn't sleep for several days. She was held captive, beaten and threatened with death.

The 19-year-old woman, whose name is withheld for fear of retaliation, also witnessed two savage killings allegedly at the hands of Pomona's 12th Street gang.

In court testimony during a preliminary hearing in May, the woman's recollection of the killings painted a brutal picture of the inner workings of the gang.

Four men face murder charges for the November 2009 killings of Lorraine Minjarez and David Padilla, who prosecutors say ran afoul of 12th Street gang member Robert Caballero.

Caballero allegedly enlisted a cousin and other gangsters to help carry out the killings. He and three others -- Anthony Caballero, Pete Trejo Jr. and Andrew Valenzuela -- could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.

Prosecutors have also charged Robert Caballero with murdering rival Armando Vidana, a member of Pomona's Cherryville gang, in September 2009.

Trip to Pomona

The woman from Las Vegas said she met Robert Caballero, 33, when he lived nearby at a Las Vegas apartment complex where she lived with her sister.

They dated for about a month before she agreed to travel with him to Southern California to visit her mother, according to the woman's testimony in Pomona Superior Court.

Two days before leaving for California on Oct. 30, 2009, Caballero introduced her to meth. Though it was her first time on the drug, her usage rapidly increased.

She estimated that once in California she used meth two or three times a day and was constantly high.

Beatings and death threats

During the time the woman spent with Caballero in the Pomona area, she said she was at his side nearly every moment and never slept.

Prosecutors contend that the woman was essentially held captive by Caballero, and was frequently beaten by him. The beatings included what the woman described in her testimony as "full-on blows" to her face, stomach and chest.

"He wouldn't let me talk to anybody," she testified. "And he just kept tabs on me wherever I went. Like if I went to the restroom or anywhere, every door had to be open."

He threatened to kill the woman's family if she disobeyed his commands. She said in her testimony that she took his threats seriously.

"He said that he would hurt my sister," she said. "And I believed him because he knew exactly where my sister lived."

The woman was also unable to make phone calls to family and friends -- the day before she and Caballero left Las Vegas, he broke the woman's cell phone by throwing it off a staircase.

Caballero did not allow the woman to make eye contact with anyone. His reaction when she did was typified by her first meeting with Lorraine Minjarez.

Minjarez, 32, of Covina, and another woman came together in a car to a house in the Pomona area where Caballero and the woman were staying.

The Las Vegas woman, who Caballero had ordered to sit outside and act as a lookout for police, glanced at their car.

"(Caballero) saw me look at them, so he hit me," the woman testified. "... He thought I was looking at them in a sexual way."

Robbery

The evening of Nov. 4, 2009, the woman from Las Vegas and Caballero joined Lorraine Minjarez, David Padilla, and a female friend of Minjarez's for a night out. The group set out to buy meth, but were unable to find any.

Later the group robbed a prostitute of her handbag, the woman testified. Caballero pressured the woman to join Padilla, 29, in robbing the woman at gunpoint.

During the robbery, Caballero, Minjarez and Minjarez's friend left, while Padilla and the woman hid in an alley because they feared police were in the area.

They spent the entire night hiding in the alley, and in the morning walked back to the house where Caballero was staying, the woman testified.

Caballero was upset that they were gone all night, and he beat the woman and accused her of performing a sexual act on Padilla, the woman testified.

Caballero also set in motion a sequence that would end in Minjarez's death.

Potential 'rat' strangled

Prosecutors have charged Caballero with murdering rival Cherryville gang member Armando Vidana, 25, in Pomona on Sept. 29, 2009. Minjarez knew of Vidana's killing, according to prosecutors, and that knowledge led to her death.

The witness from Las Vegas recalled that the morning after robbing the prostitute -- the morning of Nov. 5, 2009 -- she overheard a conversation about Minjarez between Caballero and Padilla.

"He wasn't necessarily saying it to me, but (Caballero) was telling David that I guess Lorraine had told him she knew what he did and why he was running, and don't make her call the cops," the woman testified.

"And then that's when David had said that she would rat," she added.

Caballero began assembling a crew to carry out Minjarez's killing, according to the witness.

He placed a call on his cell phone, and his cousin, 25-year-old Anthony Caballero, soon arrived at the house where Robert Caballero was staying.

Robert Caballero put a shovel in the trunk of the car, then directed Padilla to retrieve Minjarez, who was inside the home.

Before the group left, Caballero told the woman from Las Vegas that he was going to strangle her, and he slowly described the killing method, the woman said in her testimony.

"(He said) that when he strangles me, that my eyelids will shut, and then my eyes will roll back, and my body will fight for its last breath, and so my body will twitch," the woman testified.

After Padilla brought Minjarez to Anthony Caballero's car, the group left and Padilla stayed behind. Inside the car were Anthony and Robert Caballero, Minjarez and the woman from Las Vegas.

They picked up another man, 28-year-old Pete Trejo Jr., then drove on Mt. Baldy Road into the San Gabriel Mountains, the woman testified.

During her testimony, the woman recalled her thoughts as they drove into the mountains.

"Just thinking about everything in my life," she said. "When I was told I was going to get killed, so many things go through your head at one time, you just -- I don't know how to explain it."

The woman said she hadn't slept for several days, and was still high on meth.

"For me, everything was like a dream-like state, just everything was cloudy, and I had so many things running through my head," she testified.

Eventually the car reached a turn-off point, and Robert Caballero ordered everyone but his cousin to leave the car.

Trejo retrieved the shovel from the trunk, and the group of four -- the witness, Minjarez, Trejo and Anthony Caballero -- began walking along a trail that led away from the road.

Caballero told Minjarez that they were going to buy meth, but as they continued walking she began to doubt the explanation, the witness said.

"She started to get scared and nervous. ... She just kept saying, 'Oh, I don't want to go anymore. I don't want to go anymore," the woman from Las Vegas testified.

Robert Caballero said in response that she had no choice but to go with them.

The group continued walking about a quarter mile until Trejo, who was carrying the shovel, said they'd reached a "good spot to dig," the woman from Las Vegas testified.

"He kept digging in random spots, but I guess there was too many rocks or I don't know what the case was," she testified. "But he finally stopped at a spot with big rocks, and he started to dig."

Caballero ordered Minjarez and the witness to sit on a rock, then began asking them how they feel about death. Minjarez appeared nervous and started crying.

She asked Caballero why he was doing this to her, according to testimony from the woman from Las Vegas.

"He said that, you know too much and the fact that you said that you'll call the cops," the woman testified.

The witness testified that Caballero then asked the women how they would like to be killed.

"He gave us options, either to be shot, strangled, or chopped," the woman testified. The woman told Caballero she'd rather be shot.

Trejo and Caballero took turns digging, and once finished they ordered the women to take off all their clothes and rub dirt on their skin. They later bound the women's hands with rope.

Trejo led the witness away from the area, leaving Caballero and Minjarez together. The witness said she could no longer see Caballero and Minjarez, but she could hear them.

"At this time the only thing I could hear was just like feet shuffling, like leaves shuffling," she testified. "And then all I heard a voice kept saying was, 'Go to sleep. Go to sleep.'"

After a few moments passed, Caballero whistled and Trejo led the witness back to the area where they had been digging. She saw Minjarez laying face down in the freshly dug hole.

Caballero told the Las Vegas that he would pin Minjarez's murder on her, and he ordered her to slice Minjarez's throat with a knife and urinate on her body.

The woman complied with Caballero's demands.

"All I know was that, I guess, all my DNA was supposed to be left on her," the woman testified.

Padilla killed

The day after Minjarez was strangled to death -- Nov. 6, 2009 -- Padilla was killed by having his head beaten in with a rock. His body was discovered beside the 60 Freeway in Chino.

Robert Caballero and Andrew Valenzuela, 20, of Ontario have been charged with murdering Padilla.

The prosecutor handling the case, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd, explained the reason he believes Padilla was killed.

"He was killed because he was supposed to make a call to help cover (Minjarez's) murder, but Caballero felt that David had messed up the cover up," Dodd said.

Caballero captured

The day after Padilla's killing, two Pomona police officers saw Robert Caballero driving in the area of Indian Hill Boulevard and Holt Avenue.

They ran his car's license place number through a computer system in their patrol car, and found that the car was owned by Minjarez, who had been reported missing.

The officers tried to pull over the car, but Caballero sped away. A brief chase ensued, and Caballero crashed and tried to flee on foot before being arrested.

The woman from Las Vegas was also in the car.

She told police of Minjarez and Padilla's killings from the previous days, and also said Caballero had threatened to kill her by dousing her in gasoline and lighting her on fire, according to an affidavit written by Pomona police to obtain a search warrant.

Prosecutors mull death

Robert and Anthony Caballero, Trejo and Valenzuela could face the death penalty for the killings each man was allegedly involved in.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will decide whether to seek the death penalty against the men after a preliminary hearing takes place for all four defendants, Dodd said.

So far a preliminary hearing has been held only for Anthony Caballero, who is charged with murdering Minjarez. He is the only one of the four defendants who is not a gang member, Dodd said.

The prosecutor said he expects a preliminary hearing to be held in January or February for the remainder of the defendants.

Dodd said the witness from Las Vegas is being protected from possible retaliation.

"Greenlighted or not, any witness in a gang case can be harmed potentially," Dodd said. Greenlighted is a term used by gangs that means targeted for execution.

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TIMELINE

Sept. 29, 2009: Robert Caballero, a 12th Street gang member from Pomona, allegedly shoots and kills 25-year-old Armando Vidana, from the rival Cherryville gang.

Oct. 30: Caballero, who has been living off and on in Las Vegas, leaves the city for a trip to Pomona with a woman, then 18, who he has been dating for about a month. The woman hopes to visit her mother, who lives in Southern California.

Nov. 4: Caballero and the woman from Las Vegas meet up with David Padilla and Lorraine Minjarez at a home in the Pomona area. They go out searching for methamphetamine but fail to find any. The Las Vegas woman and Padilla rob a prostitute and hide in an alley overnight.

Nov. 5: Caballero resolves to kill Minjarez because she threatens to tell police that Caballero is responsible for Vidana's shooting. He enlists the help of Padilla, his cousin Anthony Caballero and Pete Trejo, Jr. in killing Minjarez, who he allegedly strangles to death in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Nov. 6: Robert Caballero and Andrew Valenzuela allegedly kill Padilla, whose body is discovered beside the 60 Freeway in Chino.

Nov. 7: Robert Caballero is arrested by Pomona police following a brief chase.

May 14, 2010: The woman from Las Vegas testifies in Pomona Superior Court during a preliminary hearing for Anthony Caballero.

POMONA -- An arraignment hearing was postponed this week for a Pomona City Councilwoman charged with stealing a campaign sign.

Ginna Escobar was set to be arraigned this morning, but her attorney appeared Wednesday in Pomona Superior Court and had the hearing postponed to Jan. 10.

Prosecutors have charged Escobar with petty theft, a misdemeanor, for allegedly stealing a campaign sign belonging to Carlos Goytia, a board member at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District.

Escobar was cited by Pomona police for allegedly taking the sign on Nov. 2 -- Election Day -- the same day the 24-year-old defeated incumbent councilman Tim Saunders by only 71 votes.

Escobar's attorney, Lawrence Forbes, appeared Wednesday in Judge Juan C. Dominguez's courtroom. Escobar was not present during the hearing.

According to a minute order of the hearing, Forbes received a copy of the complaint filed by prosecutors and a copy of the police report about Escobar's alleged theft.

Forbes did not return a call seeking comment today.

Escobar, a former Miss Pomona, represents District 5, which includes the Phillips Ranch and Westmont neighborhoods.

POMONA -- A retrial appears likely for a convicted murderer who stands to have his prison stay lengthened by 25 years if convicted of a sentencing enhancement for using a firearm.

A jury found Joel Martin guilty of second-degree murder last week for the shooting death last year in Pomona of Carlos Espinoza, who Martin reportedly shot because he was friends with people who killed Martin's brother two months earlier.

Though jurors unanimously agreed that Martin, 24, was guilty of murder, only 10 of the 12 jurors believed he was the gunman in Espinoza's death. Because of the deadlock, a judge declared a mistrial as to the firearm allegation.

Second-degree murder carries a sentence of 15 years to life. A firearm allegation in a murder case can carry a sentence of up to 25 years to life, which in Martin's case would result in a total sentence of 40 years to life.

Martin's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd, said today that he's prepared to again take Martin's case to trial to prove the firearm allegation if there isn't a plea agreement reached.

Martin's defense attorney, Antonio Bestard, said a plea bargain is unlikely in the case. He predicted there would be a retrial.

"They want that additional 25 years to life," Bestard said after a brief hearing today in Pomona Superior Court in which a Jan. 13 trial date was set.

Espinoza, 24, was shot six times on Feb. 4, 2009 as he sat at a bus stop at Mission Boulevard and Buena Vista Avenue.

Espinoza and other witnesses told police that the gunman pulled up next to Espinoza in a cargo van and opened fire.

Espinoza died about three hours after the shooting. Before he succumbed to his wounds, he told police Martin was the shooter.

According to trial testimony from Pomona police officers, Espinoza said he was friends with the people who had earlier killed Martin's brother, Miguel Martin.

During Joel Martin's trial, a prosecutor played a taped interview with detectives in which Martin confessed to killing Espinoza.

In the confession, Martin said he heard through a third party that Espinoza said his brother deserved to die.

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Shooting location:

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Pictured (from top): Alfredo Prieto, Stacey Siegrist and Anthony Gianuzzi.

A serial killer from Pomona was sentenced to death today in Virginia for murdering two people there in 1988.

Alfredo Prieto, 45, has been convicted of three murders and is believed to have committed six more. The nine killings were committed between 1988 and 1990.

Five of Prieto's suspected killings were carried out in the Ontario area, with the other four occurring in Virginia.

Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows gave Prieto two death sentences today -- for the murder and rape of Rachael A. Raver, 22, and for the murder of Warren H. Fulton III, 22.

The George Washington University students, who were described as college sweethearts, were shot to death in Reston, Va. on Dec. 3, 1988.

"What you did to those two young people was vile and horrible and beyond the pale," Bellows said before imposing the death sentences, according to the Washington Post. The punishment was recommended last month by a jury.

Prieto's first murder conviction came in 1992 for the Sept. 2, 1990 rape and murder in Ontario of 15-year-old Yvette Woodruff. Prieto was sentenced to death for Woodruff's slaying.

As Prieto sat on Death Row in California in 2006, investigators in Virginia linked him through DNA and other evidence to four unsolved killings, including Raver and Fulton's.

Authorities in Virginia say that Prieto's DNA was found at the Arlington, Va. crime scene where on May 10, 1988 Tina Jefferson, 24, was found shot to death and raped.

Ballistics testing also linked Prieto to the shooting death on Sept. 2, 1988 of Manuel F. Sermeno, 27. Sermeno's body was discovered inside a burning car in Prince William, Va.

After prosecutors in Virginia extradited Prieto for those slayings, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Cold Case Unit linked him through DNA and ballistics testing to four unsolved killings from 1990.

A sergeant in the unit said last month that Prieto, an alleged Pomona Northside gang member, was linked by DNA to the May 5, 1990 killings of Stacey Siegrist, 19, and Ontario resident Anthony Gianuzzi, 21.

Authorities believe Siegrist and Gianuzzi were abducted in the Ontario area about two days before they were found shot to death in Rubidoux. Siegrist, of Montclair, had also been sexually assaulted.

Ballistics testing also implicates Prieto in the June 2, 1990 killings of a married couple from Ontario.

Herbert and Lula Farley were collecting recyclables in an alley behind a supermarket in Ontario when they were ambushed.

Lula Farley, 71, was shot to death behind the market, and Herbert Farley, 65, was abducted. He was later found shot to death in Rubidoux.

Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Scott Brown has said that Virginia authorities are unwilling to release Prieto for further prosecution in California because of California's lengthy appeals process for Death Row inmates.

Virginia authorities estimated that Prieto would be put to death in five to seven years, Brown said.

Brown said that sheriff's detectives will present their cases later this month to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

He said that with charges filed, an arrest warrant will be issues for Prieto. If his convictions in Virginia are overturned, he can then be sent back to California for prosecution.

"If something ever goes wrong in Virginia ... we can bring him back and prosecute him," Brown said.

A criminal filing in the case will also help to provide justice to the families of the victims, Brown said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PALM SPRINGS -- A doctor from Rancho Cucamonga pleaded guilty today to 274 felony counts alleging she forged prescriptions and adopted patients' identities to obtain prescription drugs.

Despite Lisa Michelle Barden's guilty pleas in Palm Springs Superior Court, a jury trial is still scheduled in her case because she kept in place not guilty pleas for two criminal counts.

A trial for the two counts -- insurance fraud and filing a false police report -- is scheduled for Dec. 28.

Sentencing for the crimes Barden pleaded guilty to this afternoon will come after the trial, said John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors accused Barden, a 41-year-old doctor of osteopathic medicine, of using other doctors' names to write prescriptions for patients whose identities she adopted to purchase painkillers such as Vicodin and promethazine.

Barden illegally obtained such drugs 131 times at 43 different pharmacies -- most in the Coachella Valley -- between February 2007 and December 2008, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant.

In the course of Barden's scheme, she used the identities of five doctors and 15 patients, according to the declaration.

Barden was accused of gathering the doctors' and patients' personal information while she worked for six months as a doctor's assistant at a Palm Springs medical office.

She was fired from that job in May 2007 for patient abandonment, according to the declaration.
Barden was arrested in January 2009 at her home in the 10500 block of Boulder Canyon Road in Rancho Cucamonga.

The crimes Barden pleaded guilty to today include burglary, possessing controlled substances, forging prescriptions and identity theft.

FONTANA -- A judge ruled today that a man must stand trial for murder for allegedly shooting and killing someone two years ago at a wedding reception.

Judge Phillip M. Morris' ruling came at the end of a preliminary hearing in which two San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators detailed evidence linking Gonzalo Rodriguez Cabrera to the Aug. 3, 2008 shooting death of Jose Fuentes, 35, of Riverside.

According to the investigators' testimony in Fontana Superior Court, Cabrera shot Fuentes in the neck at close range during a booze-fueled brawl sparked by two men competing over a woman.

Cabrera's attorney, Albert Perez, Jr., unsuccessfully argued at the end of the hearing for Cabrera to be "held to answer" for second-degree murder, rather than first-degree murder.

Perez argued that Cabrera, 24, of Fontana, came to the aid of his cousin, who was being badly beaten by a group of men at the party in the 15300 block of Hawthorne Avenue in Fontana.

"There was a fight," Perez said. "It happened spontaneously."

Sgt. John Gaffney testified that the 1 a.m. shooting originated with a dispute between Cabrera's cousin and Fuentes' brother.

During a break between sets by a band that performed at the reception, Fuentes' brother asked to dance with a woman who earlier was dancing with Cabrera's cousin, Gaffney said.

She turned him down, and when the band started playing again she continued dancing with Cabrera's cousin. As they danced, Fuentes' brother started at them, Gaffney testified.

Later during the party, Cabrera's cousin confronted Fuentes' brother and asked him why he was starting at him, Gaffney testified.

Fuentes' brother then head-butted Cabrera's cousin, and several people, including Fuentes and Cabrera, joined in as a fight ensued. During the ruckus, Cabrera allegedly shot Fuentes in the neck with a revolver, Gaffney testified.

Cabrera quickly left the party after the shooting, but his cousin remained -- he was pinned down by several people who demanded to know the identify of the gunman, Gaffney said.

Cabrera identified him as his primo, which in Spanish means cousin, Gaffney said.

According to testimony from from Detective Steven Pennington, several witnesses at the party identified Cabrera as the shooter after being shown photos of six different people, one of whom was Cabrera.

The witnesses said she shooter had large tattoo on the side of his neck (Cabrera has such a tattoo), and they also provided detailed descriptions of the clothing worn by the shooter, Pennington testified.

When investigators served a search warrant at Cabrera's home in the 9400 block of Catawba Avenue on the day of the shooting, they found the clothing described by witnesses in a washing machine.

The clothing was stained with blood, Pennington testified, and Cabrera's belt and shoes were also in the washer.

When Cabrera was arrested later that day and interviewed by detectives, he said he was at the party and admitted fighting alongside his cousin. But he denied responsibility for the shooting, Pennington testified.

He said he was about 15 feet away from Fuentes when Fuentes was shot. He could not explain why his clothing was blood-stained, Pennington testified.

Cabrera is next due in court Dec. 27. He remains jailed in lieu of $2.5 million bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

FONTANA -- A woman accused of trying to ram police officers with her car was sentenced to seven years in state prison Thursday after pleading guilty to two felonies as part of a plea bargain.

Prosecutors initially charged Sonia Hawley, 33, with attempted murder and other crimes for a Dec. 5, 2009 incident in the 16000 block of Merrill Avenue in Fontana in which she allegedly drove toward two police officers involved in a drug investigation.

The officers opened fire on Hawley, shooting her in the arm. The officers were not hurt.

Authorities said Hawley, who has past drug convictions, was transporting narcotics at the time of the shooting.

She was originally charged with two counts of transporting narcotics in addition to attempted murder.

On Thursday in Fontana Superior Court, Hawley entered guilty pleas to charges that she assaulted a police officer and transported narcotics.

Attempted murder and the other drug charge were dropped by prosecutors as part of their plea agreement with Hawley.

POMONA -- A man was convicted of second-degree murder today for killing someone in retaliation for his brother's slaying.

As a result of the verdict, 24-year-old Joel Martin of Pomona faces a prison sentence of 15 years to life for the shooting death last year of Carlos Espinoza.

But the jury of seven men and five women deadlocked over a key set of sentencing enhancements that alleged Martin used a firearm. The enhancements would have more than doubled Martin's minimum prison stay.

Prosecutors accused Martin of shooting Espinoza six times because Espinoza, of Pomona, was friends with people who two months earlier shot and killed his brother, 24-year-old Miguel Martin.

Joel Martin also told police that he heard through a third party that Espinoza, 22, said his brother deserved to be killed.

The jury deliberated for portions of three days in Pomona Superior Court before announcing this morning that they were deadlocked 10-2 over the sentencing enhancement, with the majority convinced that Martin used a firearm.

Judge Charles Horan then declared a mistrial as to the firearm allegation.

The allegation, if found true, would have added 25 years to Martin's prison sentence, bringing the total sentence to 40 years to life.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will have the option of retrying Martin on the firearm allegation.

Martin's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd, said he hopes to know before a pre-trial hearing next week whether the case will be retried.

"I have to speak to my supervisors about it," Dodd said.

Martin's attorney, Antonio Bestard, declined to say how he believes prosecutors will proceed.

"I'm never going to speculate about what the DA's office is going to do," he said.

Espinoza's mother, Maria Almaraz, said after the hearing that she felt "very bad" about the result of the trial.

"This man is guilty," she said.

Almaraz said she believed Joel Martin should have been convicted of first-degree murder and the weapons enhancement. She noted that her son identified Joel Martin as his killer as he lay dying from his wounds.

Espinoza and a witness told police that they were sitting at a bus stop at Mission Boulevard and Buena Vista Avenue the afternoon of Feb. 4, 2009 when a van pulled up beside them.

A man in the passenger seat -- Espinoza identified him by Joel Martin's nickname, "Guero" -- then opened fire.

Espinoza was shot twice in the chest, once in the back, once in the leg, and once in each arm. He died three hours later after being airlifted to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

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RIVERSIDE -- A former Upland resident was convicted Friday of torturing and killing cats at a Corona motel.

A jury found Timothy Kooyman, 26, guilty in Riverside Superior Court of three counts of felony animal cruelty. The jury also found true a sentencing enhancement for use of a deadly weapon.

Kooyman is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 7.

Prosecutors accused Kooyman of luring three cats from a residential neighborhood, and torturing and killing them during a two-week stay in April 2008 at the National Inn Motel, 420 Lincoln Ave.

A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy said that Kooyman confessed to breaking each of the cats' legs before killing them.

According to the deputy's account of Kooyman's confession, he killed one cat by running it over with a truck, decapitated another with an ax, and killed the third cat by repeatedly slicing it with a razor blade.

The conviction is Kooyman's third related to animal abuse. He was convicted last year and sentenced to five years in prison for committing similar acts against cats in Rancho Cucamonga.

"There is definitely a pattern in his behavior," said Robyn Hunt of Voices for Pets, who has been closely tracking Kooyman's case.

"I consider him to be a dangerous person," Hunt said. "And we know that even the FBI has publicly stated that there is a connection between criminal activity done to animals, and future crimes done to humans."

Hunt said she feels that Kooyman, after completing his sentence in state prison, should be imprisoned for life in a psychiatric care facility.

Updated at 4:05 p.m.

RIVERSIDE -- A jury began deliberating this morning in the trial of a former Upland resident accused of mutilating and killing cats at a motel in Corona.

Testimony was heard all day Wednesday in Timothy Kooyman's trial in Riverside Superior Court, and attorneys gave closing arguments this morning, according to minutes of the trial.

Jurors failed to reach a verdict today, and they will return to court Friday morning to continue deliberating.

Kooyman, 26, is charged with three counts of animal cruelty for allegedly luring three cats from a nearby residential neighborhood during a two-week stay at the National Inn Motel in April 2008.

According to a transcript of a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy's testimony at Kooyman's preliminary hearing, Kooyman confessed to breaking each of the cats' legs before killing them.

Kooyman said he killed one cat by running it over with his truck, decapitated another with an ax, and killed the third cat by slicing it to death with a razor, Alonzo Daniel testified.

Kooyman said he then threw the cats' bodies over a wall that separated the motel's property from a drug store parking lot, according to Daniel's testimony.

"He was cooperative," Daniel said of his interview with Kooyman. "In some of the questioning, he may have appeared to be embarrassed to answer some of the questions."

Kooyman was convicted last year of committing similar acts against cats in Rancho Cucamonga. He was sentenced to five years in prison in that case.

By Jannise Johnson, Staff Writer

The Los Angeles County District Attorney will not file criminal charges against the woman's friend for accidentally running her over in August.

Catherine Shelton, 42 was run over Aug. 25 at 10:40 a.m. in the 400 block of West First Street, according to a Claremont police news release.

Her friend Brenda Monahan was behind the wheel of the Infinity SUV that hit her.

Shelton was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center where she died at 11:21 a.m. that day.

After reviewing the Claremont police investigation and other evidence, the District Attorney's Office decided not to file criminal charges in the incident, according to the release.

The Office of the District Attorney believes the collision was an accident and there is no evidence of gross negligence or criminal negligence.

POMONA - A jury began deliberating this afternoon in the murder trial of a man accused of shooting someone to death at a Pomona bus stop to avenge his brother's death.

Joel Martin, 24, is accused of shooting 22-year-old Carlos Espinoza six times on Feb. 4, 2009 because he believed Espinoza was friends with men who shot and killed his brother two months earlier.

In a recorded interview with police that was played in Pomona Superior Court, Martin said he heard second-hand that Espinoza told people his brother deserved to die. Espinoza also called his brother, 24-year-old Miguel Martin, a "piece of (expletive)," Joel Martin told police.

In his closing argument to jurors, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd said that Joel Martin's guilt is clear. Not only did he confess to the killing, but Espinoza, as he lay dying from his wounds, said Martin was the shooter, Dodd said.

The jury, which consists of seven men and five women, deliberated for about 30 minutes today without reaching a verdict. They are set to return to court at 9 a.m. Thursday to continue deliberating.

The jury has the option of convicting Martin of first-degree murder or second-degree murder, or of acquitting him.

Martin's defense attorney, Antonio Bestard, asked Judge Charles Horan to introduce manslaughter as a possible jury verdict. Bestard argued that Martin killed Espinoza in the "heat of passion."

The judge denied Bestard's request, saying there was insufficient evidence for a manslaughter verdict.

After the hearing, Bestard called the judge's ruling "devastating."

"That was really the only defense that (Martin) had," Bestard said.

Miguel Martin was shot to death on Dec. 5, 2008 outside Guadalajara Market on Mission Boulevard in Pomona. Within two days of his death, police arrested two people on suspicion of murder.

After his brother's death, Joel Martin said he heard that Espinoza, a friend of the accused killers, made the remark about his brother deserving to die.

Joel Martin told police that he purchased a loaded pistol three or four hours before he killed Espinoza. He told police the killing was unplanned.

He said he was driving west in a Chevrolet Astro van on Mission Boulevard at about 1:30 p.m. on his way to a car wash when he spotted Espinoza sitting at a bus stop at Mission and Buena Vista Avenue.

According to a witness who testified during the trial, the shooter was sitting in the passenger seat of the van. The van pulled over and the shooter opened fire, hitting Espinoza six times. The witness said another man was driving the van, but Martin claimed he acted alone.

Espinoza was shot twice in the chest, once in the back, once in the leg and once in each arm.

Before he died about three hours later, he told people his shooter's nickname was "Guero," according to police testimony. Martin later acknowledged that "Guero" was his nickname.

Espinoza told police that the shooter's brother had recently been killed at a nearby market. He said he was friends with the people responsible for the killing.

He gave police the intersection where he believed the shooter lived - it was the intersection where Joel Martin lived with his family.

In his closing argument to the jury, Bestard said prosecutors failed to present enough evidence for a verdict of first-degree murder. He said Espinoza's killing was unplanned and was fueled by rage that Martin felt over his brother's death.

Bestard compared Martin's feelings upon seeing Espinoza as those the jury might feel if Osama Bin Laden walked into the courtroom.

"He was enraged," Bestard said. "He was blinded."

Bestard did not call any witnesses during the defense portion of the case. He said that keeping his client off the witness stand was a "tactical decision." He declined to elaborate.

POMONA - The prosecution called its first witnesses today in the murder trial of a Pomona man charged with shooting someone to avenge his brother's killing.

Joel Martin, 24, is accused of shooting Carlos Espinoza six times at a Mission Boulevard bus stop in Pomona on Feb. 4, 2009.

According to testimony from two Pomona police officers, as Espinoza lay dying from his wounds, he identified his killer as a man he knew by the nickname "Guero," and said the man's brother had recently been shot and killed outside Guadalajara Market on Mission.

Espinoza told police that he wasn't responsible for Miguel Martin's death, but he was friends with the people who were, according to testimony in Pomona Superior Court.

Detectives immediately sought Joel Martin after Espinoza's death, but they were unable to locate him until a year later when he was found in Portales, New Mexico.

After his arrest, Joel Martin confessed to shooting Espinoza, and said he killed him because Espinoza made a remark he didn't like about his brother, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd said in an opening statement to jurors.

Martin acted "not in a true sense of retaliation, not because Carlos Espinoza had anything to do with the killing of Miguel, but because he was mad," Dodd said.

Two men have been convicted in connection with 24-year-old Miguel Martin's killing on Dec. 5, 2008. The shooter, Jose Luis Gutierrez, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison. Gutierrez was 16 at the time of the killing.

Today was the first day of testimony in Joel Martin's trial. Testimony is expected to conclude Wednesday, and jurors will then begin their deliberations, Judge Charles Horan said.

The first witness called by the prosecution was a friend of Espinoza's who was with him during the shooting.

Hazar Parra said that the day of the shooting, she and Espinoza ate lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant, then walked to a bus stop at the northwest corner of Mission and Buena Vista Avenue.

Parra testified that she was sitting on Espinoza's lap on a bus stop bench when a Chevrolet Astro van pulled up next to them. A man sitting in the passenger seat addressed Espinoza through an open window, Parra testified.

"He asked Carlos if he was Carlos," Parra said. "He said, 'Are you Carlos?' Carlos said, 'Yes.' As soon as he answered he started shooting at us."

Parra said Espinoza pushed her away as the gunman opened fire.

A deputy medical examiner from the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner testified that Espinoza was shot six times - with two chest wounds that alone would have been fatal.

Parra's testimony about Espinoza's comments after the shooting echoed the recollections of police officers.

"(Espinoza) mentioned it was the brother of a guy who had got shot at a store or a market," Parra said.

Espinoza was airlifted for treatment to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, but he died about three and a half hours after being shot.

The investigating officer in Espinoza's killing was also one of the detectives who investigated Miguel Martin's death.

During Detective Mark McCann's testimony today, a portion of his recorded interview with Joel Martin was played aloud in court.

"We already put your brother's murderers away," McCann told Joel Martin. "Why didn't you just let it lie?"

RIVERSIDE -- A trial is under way for a former Upland resident accused of mutilating and killing cats in April 2008 at a motel in Corona.

Prosecutors accuse Timothy Kooyman, 26, of killing three cats at the National Inn Motel, 420 Lincoln Ave., and torturing and mutilating the animals.

A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy testified at a preliminary hearing in May that Kooyman confessed to breaking the cats' legs, decapitating one cat with an ax, running over another with his truck, and repeatedly slicing another with a razor blade.

Kooyman is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for mutilating and killing cats in Rancho Cucamonga. He faces three counts of felony animal cruelty in Riverside County.

Kooyman's trial began last week in Riverside Superior Court, though a jury has not yet been selected to hear the case.

A judge ruled today on the admissibility of some evidence, according to minutes of the hearing. The trial is set to resume Tuesday morning in Judge James Stafford Hawkins' courtroom.

After Kooyman was arrested in May 2008 for killing cats in Rancho Cucamonga, he confessed to a sheriff's deputy many other instances when he had killed cats.

According to a police report, Kooyman told the deputy that during the two weeks he lived at the National Inn Motel, he lured three cats from a nearby neighborhood and later killed them.

During Kooyman's stay, a maid at the motel who cleaned his room saw a large knife, blood stains and fur in Kooyman's room, according to the report.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A woman has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for embezzling $720,000 from a company that supplies San Bernardino County jails with phone cards and other materials.

Carmen Ascencio, former manager of the Rancho Cucamonga branch of Canteen Corrections, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of embezzlement and was sentenced in West Valley Superior Court.

Ascencio, of Palmdale, was arrested in September following an investigation by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

According to police reports contained in her court file, investigators found evidence that Ascencio embezzled the funds over the past five years using three methods:

-- She falsified invoices for inmate phone cards and cashed the checks for herself, taking $401,000.

-- She underreported vending machine sales at local jails and kept the balance, totaling $95,000.

-- She stole sacks of quarters totaling $224,000 that were meant for use by inmates in jail pay phones.

POMONA -- A La Verne man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he murdered 3-year-old Ethan Esparza, a Pomona boy who was killed four years ago by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting.

Pablo Adame, 27, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in Pomona Superior Court to one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder filed in connection with the Nov. 19, 2006 shooting in the 800 block of East Columbia Street.

Ethan was killed during a party thrown to celebrate his fourth birthday. The shooting shocked many in Pomona and led to an increase in community anti-crime efforts.

Adame was arrested in June after police linked shell casings recovered at the scene to another shooting in Norwalk in which Adame was a suspect.

He has six prior felony convictions for crimes including assault with a deadly weapon and domestic abuse.

Police have said that the intended targets during Ethan's shooting were two teens who were standing in the front of the home.

Adame remains jailed in lieu of $4 million bail and is next due in court Feb. 1.

Pictured: Isaac Gallegos

RIVERSIDE -- A judge ruled today that a man accused of killing his 2-year-old son must stand trial for murder.

Alex Baeza, 27, is accused of causing serious head injuries to Isaac Gallegos on April 10, leading to the toddler's death three days later.

The boy lived with his mother in Ontario, and was allegedly abused during a court-ordered visitation at Baeza's house in Moreno Valley, according to testimony during a preliminary hearing in Riverside Superior Court.

Baeza gave conflicting explanations for the boy's injuries to the boy's mother and to several investigators, according to court testimony.

In one explanation to a Riverside County sheriff's investigator, Baeza reportedly said he grew frustrated while changing the boy's diaper and yanked at it violently, accidentally flinging the boy from a bed onto the floor.

"He said he was impatient, you know, just frustrated," said Senior Investigator Robert Masson.

The boy's mother, 23-year-old Andrea Gallegos, listened to the testimony with her family and cried during much of the hearing. She declined to comment afterward.

Her father, Mike Lester, said his family hadn't heard most of the evidence against Baeza that was presented by prosecutors during the hearing.

"(Based on) the evidence that I heard today, he is definitely, definitely guilty," Lester said in an interview. "I already knew that though."

Gallegos and Baeza began dating when they were neighbors at a Riverside apartment complex, and Gallegos became pregnant six months later, Masson testified.

The couple split up before Isaac was born, and Baeza didn't take an interest in the child until his first birthday, Masson testified. He then obtained a court order allowing him to visit the child twice a week.

Three times before Isaac's death, the boy suffered injuries at his father's home, such as bruises and scratches, Masson testified.

Gallegos reported Isaac's injuries to several police departments, and tried unsuccessfully to have Baeza's visitation rights revoked.

The morning of April 10, Gallegos brought Isaac to her aunt's house in Fontana to drop him off with Baeza, who planned to take the boy to his home in the 25400 block of Juanita Avenue in Moreno Valley.

Masson testified that Gallegos said the boy didn't want to go with his father. "Isaac was crying, was pulling away from the defendant," Masson testified.

At about 6 p.m. on April 10, Baeza called Gallegos and told her Isaac was having trouble breathing.

When the mother rushed to a nearby hospital to see her son, Baeza reportedly told her he left the boy unattended in his bedroom, and when he returned the boy had fallen onto the floor.

A Riverside County sheriff's investigator testified that the bed is 27 inches from the floor, which is carpeted.

According to testimony from several investigators, doctors said the boy suffered a serious head injury that caused fatal brain swelling.

One doctor said the blow to the boy's head was comparable to an injury a toddler might suffer in a car accident, a Riverside County sheriff's investigator testified.

At the conclusion of today's hearing, Judge Larrie R. Brainard ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for Baeza's case to proceed trial.

Baeza, who remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail, is next due in court Jan. 14.

Gallegos and her family believe a San Bernardino Superior Court judge downplayed the mother's concerns when she sought seven months before Isaac's death to have Baeza's visitation rights modified.

In rejecting Gallegos' request, Judge John M. Pacheco told the mother she was overreacting and threatened to revoke her custody rights, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Lester said that his family and their friends have sent several dozen letters to Pacheco, but he has not responded.

"He'll never admit to doing anything wrong," Lester said.

LOS ANGELES -- A Claremont woman pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud this week for her role in an illegal foreclosure rescue scheme, federal officials said today.

Robin Phillips, 53, could face up to five years in prison for her role in the scam, in which she and two accused co-conspirators filed fraudulent bankruptcy petitions to halt foreclosure proceedings against distressed homeowners.

Phillips and her co-defendants collected nearly $550,000 in fees from distressed homeowners through their scheme, which began in late 2006 and involved $725 million in mortgages, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

In exchange for a monthly fee of about $1,500, Phillips and her co-conspirators offered distressed homeowners relief from imminent foreclosure, the news release said.

The accused conspirators would first have the distressed homeowner sign a deed granting one-eighth ownership of the home to a fictitious person, the news release said.

Then, without the homeowner's knowledge, the conspirators would file a bankruptcy petition on behalf of the fictitious person, causing an automatic stay of foreclosure proceedings, the news release said.

Foreclosure proceedings on the homes would not resume until the fictitious person's bankruptcy was resolved, the news release said.

Phillips is scheduled to be sentenced April 4 in Los Angeles federal court by U.S. District Judge John F. Walker.

The co-conspirators charged in the case are Irving Cohen, 75, and Darwin Bowman, 74. Both men are from Van Nuys.

CHINO -- A man convicted of embezzling from the booster club for Ayala High School's girls basketball team was sentenced today to 16 months in state prison.

Donald Williamson, former president of the booster club, will also be required to pay about $1,100 in restitution to the club, Judge Colin Bilash said.

Despite pleading guilty in September to felony grand theft, Williamson, 49, maintains his innocence.

In an interview before his sentencing in Chino Superior Court, Williamson said he spent the money he's accused of embezzling on expenses incurred while president of the booster club last year.

He said he accepted a plea bargain from prosecutors because if he had been found guilty in a jury trial, he could have faced a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

"I just look at it as a learning experience," Williamson said. "When you deal with other people's money, you keep good receipts and everything."

Williamson had been free since he was charged in July, but at the end of his sentencing he was taken into custody.

In a past interview, Williamson said he first became involved in the booster club in fall 2008, during his daughter's freshman year at the school. His daughter played on the basketball team.

Williamson, who describes himself as a professional cook, said his contributions to the club's snack bar led to a dramatic increase in sales.

Other boosters encouraged him to seek the club's presidency, and he ran unopposed for the unpaid position, Williamson said.

Once he became president, he said he was issued a debit card that allowed him to access the club's bank account. He said the booster club never explained its reimbursement rules to him.

He said he withdrew money from the account to pay for club-related expenses such as gasoline purchases.