Tag: allegedly

Police union manager in California allegedly imported illegal opioids from India, Hong Kong, Singapore

The office manager for a Northern California police union allegedly imported illegal synthetic opioids from India and other countries and at least once used her work computer and address and the union’s UPS account to ship the drugs within the country, federal prosecutors said.

Joanne Marian Segovia, executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, was charged with attempting to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, federal prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.

Starting in 2015, Segovia had at least 61 drug shipments mailed to her San Jose home from India, Hong Kong, Hungary and Singapore with manifests that listed their contents as “wedding party favors,” “gift makeup,” “chocolate and sweets” and “food supplement,” according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

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It was not immediately known if Segovia, 64, has an attorney who can speak on her behalf.

Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the police union in San Jose, said Segovia, a civilian, has worked for the union since 2003, planning funerals for officers who die in the line of duty, being the liaison between the department and the officers’ families and organizing office festivities and fundraisers.

He said that federal officials informed the union last Friday that Segovia was under investigation and that no one else at the union was involved or knew about Segovia’s alleged acts.

The revelation shocked her colleagues, Saggau said.

“We didn’t have any reason to suspect her,” he said, adding that the union’s board of directors has pledged to fully support the federal investigation.

Federal prosecutors said that in 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a parcel being sent to her home address that contained $5,000 worth of Tramadol, a synthetic opioid, and sent her a letter telling her they were seizing the pills. The next year, the CBP again intercepted a shipment of Tramadol valued at $700 and sent her a seizure letter, court records showed.

But federal officials didn’t start investigating Segovia until last year when investigators found her name and home address on the cellphone of a suspected drug dealer who is part of a network that ships controlled substances made in India to the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the complaint. That drug trafficking network has distributed hundreds of thousands of pills in 48 states, federal prosecutors said.

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Segovia used WhatsApp messaging service and her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid tablets and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States, prosecutors said.

On at least one occasion in 2021, Segovia shipped the illicit drugs to a North Carolina address by using the police union’s UPS account, prosecutors said. That address is linked to at least five illicit drug seizures, they said.

Investigators found hundreds of photographs in a WhatsApp chat on Segovai’s cellphone, including an image of the UPS shipping slip and another one of a computer screen showing a PayPal payment to an Indian name and Segovia’s police union business cards under it.

“Based on my training and experience, I know that shippers of controlled substances often send receipts and tracking numbers as proof that they in fact sent a package. I believe that the receipt provided by SEGOVIA was offered by her as proof that she sent a package to the North Carolina addressee,” David Vargas, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigation, wrote in the affidavit.

According to the complaint, Segovia continued to order controlled substances even after being interviewed by federal investigators in February. On March 13, federal agents seized a parcel in Kentucky, containing valeryl fentanyl, addressed to Segovia. The package allegedly originated from China three days earlier and declared its contents as a “clock,” prosecutors said.

Father of UCLA's Mick Cronin allegedly involved in verbal dispute with fan during Pac-12 title game

An Arizona fan allegedly got into a verbal altercation with the father of UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin following Saturday’s PAC-12 Championship, according to a radio broadcast of the game which caught the incident as it played out.  Head coach Mick Cronin rushed off the stage during a postgame press conference following the Bruins’ … Continue reading Father of UCLA's Mick Cronin allegedly involved in verbal dispute with fan during Pac-12 title game

California mom with suspected illicit ties allegedly kidnapped 2-year-old daughter: police

A California woman who had her daughter taken away from her by the state has abducted the two-year-old girl, police said Thursday.  Crystal Mendez was last seen with her daughter Tayana at an Oakland BART station, the San Jose Police Department said. The child was possibly taken from a residence, police said. Hours later, the … Continue reading California mom with suspected illicit ties allegedly kidnapped 2-year-old daughter: police

Bail set to $1 million for WA man who allegedly carried guns into a courthouse

A man suspected of carrying guns into a courthouse in Washington state earlier in the week, prompting a standoff and a three-hour lockdown before his arrest, had bail set Tuesday at $1 million.

Snohomish County District Court Presiding Judge Jennifer Rancourt set bail during a first court appearance for 32-year-old David Hsu, The Daily Herald reported.

Hsu’s attorney, Lorcan Malone, had requested little to no bail, noting Hsu has no criminal history and wasn’t accused of any violent offenses. Hsu, of Woodinville, remained jailed Tuesday afternoon.

WA MAN ARRESTED AFTER WALKING INTO COURTHOUSE WITH SEVERAL RIFLES, BULLETPROOF VEST

Rancourt said she found probable cause to hold Hsu on investigation of resisting arrest, carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct, and unlawful display of a weapon.

Wearing a protective vest, Hsu had entered the Snohomish County Courthouse lobby in Everett at about 12:30 p.m. Monday with guns and ammunition, the county sheriff’s office said. Hsu demanded to see two judges and the sheriff to change arrangements for custody of his child, detectives said in court documents.

Hsu was immediately confronted by law enforcement officers who ordered him to drop his weapons, authorities said, adding he placed two rifles on the ground, but refused to relinquish additional firearms and weapons and leave the building.

After hours of negotiations with law enforcement, Hsu was arrested. No one was hurt.

Sheriff’s office detectives said they recovered two rifles, four handguns, more than 300 rounds of ammunition, a ballistic armor vest, six knives, a hatchet and brass knuckles from the lobby of the courthouse.

Trans cheerleader kicked out of camp after allegedly choking a female teammate

A transgender cheerleader who was born a biological male was kicked out of a Texas cheerleading camp and given a criminal citation after allegedly choking a female teammate.

“Well guys I’m officially retired as a cheerleader as of last night at 5:30 AM. A girl on the team was being very disrespectful and told me I am a MAN with a PENIS and that [guys] should not be on the team,” the cheerleader, Averie Chanel Medlock, wrote on Facebook last week. “I stood up for myself and she called her mom and dad because she was scared because I [stood] up for myself. Her father said ‘she still has testosterone and a penis and I will kill anyone who comes after my daughter.’”

The incident took place at Ranger College, where police responded to a dispute between the members of the team, according to Facebook posts from team members. Medlock alleges that a teammate made transphobic and racist remarks before the altercation, with cell phone video showing other cheerleaders hiding in a room from an agitated Medlock.

The father of the girl whom Medlock allegedly choked was also called to the scene by his daughter and he has begun pushing for police to release body camera and CCTV footage of the incident.

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“I ask you what you would have done when receiving a phone call at 1 o’clock in the morning from your daughter stating they had locked themselves in the room with other girls,” the father, Mike Jones, wrote on Facebook. “At no time did I ever say anything about your race or your gender.”

Medlock asserts that the physical confrontation with the other cheerleader was actually a joke, but police on the scene gave the former cheerleader a criminal citation for assault and removed Medlock from campus.

The incident comes as debate continues to rage about transgender participation in female athletics, most recently in the case of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.

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Thomas competed for the school’s male swim team between 2017 and 2020, but transitioned to compete with females for the 2021 season. Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division 1 national championship in 2022, and has since been at the center of debate around transgender participation in sports.

The controversy has led to 18 states passing legislation that bans or limits transgender participation to the athlete’s birth sex.

Grand jury indicts two men who allegedly posed as federal agents, gave Secret Service agents gifts

Two men accused of posing as Homeland Security personnel and heaping lavish gifts on Secret Service agents were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges of false impersonation of an officer of the United States and unlawful possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, according to a court filing.