David Sanabria of Perris on Wednesday admitted two counts of possession of child porn and one count of contacting a minor for the purpose of committing a criminal offense under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors agreed to drop three related charges against Sanabria in exchange for his admissions.

Superior Court Judge Gary Polk scheduled a sentencing hearing for Nov. 21 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The plea deal specifies 365 days in county jail, two years’ felony probation and lifetime status as a sex registrant under Penal Code section 290, which prescribes restrictions on where convicted sex offenders can work, with whom they can interact and where they can stay.

According to sheriff’s Investigator David Schell, Sanabria was first arrested last November following an investigation that uncovered instances in which he had sent sexually explicit material to minors, whose identities were not disclosed.

The defendant tried to arrange a meeting with one of the victims, with whom he was communicating via social media, but was unsuccessful, according to court papers.

He posted bond at the time, and one of the conditions of his release was that he not visit places where minors were gathered.

Schell said that Sanabria did just that, ” attending several churches in Riverside County (where he was) around and with children” in the congregation. That led to the defendant being re-arrested in April and held in lieu of $250,000 bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

The post RivCo Child Porn User Sentencing: Lifetime Sex Offender, 1 Year Jail appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Salvador Gonzalez pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

The plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office was announced during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal at the federal courthouse in downtown Riverside. Bernal scheduled a sentencing hearing for Oct. 7.

Each count carries a maximum three-year prison term.

Gonzalez remains free on bond.

He was arrested in March 2023 after a federal grand jury handed down a 47-count indictment.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the defendant operated Grace’s Lighthouse Resource Center Inc., and from 2016 to 2021, he “prepared income tax returns for individuals and corporate clients to submit to the IRS that claimed tens of thousands of dollars in bogus business losses.”

“Gonzalez directed his clients to create a phony corporation and to title their homes, cars and other assets in the name of the corporation,” the agency stated. “Gonzalez then referred those clients to an associate to prepare these sham corporations’ tax returns.”

Prosecutors said the defendant arranged for customers to submit business and personal expenses, including mortgage and car payments, as well as utility bills, indicating a “loss” at the end of every tax cycle.

“Gonzalez then prepared the clients’ individual income tax returns, which incorporated the fraudulent business losses and offset their income,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “To further reduce the clients’ taxes owed to the IRS, Gonzalez fabricated deductions on the personal returns such as unreimbursed employee expenses, cash contributions to charity and medical and dental expenses.”

The defendant’s fees were initially $500 per return, but in 2019, he converted the payment for services to 1% of customers’ adjusted gross incomes, prosecutors said.

The case was investigated by the IRS.

The post Corona Tax Preparer Who Cheated IRS Facing Up To 9 Years In Prison appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

RIVERSIDE, CA — A man who accidentally killed a 21-year-old woman during gunplay at a Woodcrest property admitted voluntary manslaughter in a plea directly to a Riverside County Superior Court judge, without the involvement of prosecutors, the District Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday.

Brady Matthew Castillo, who turns 23 Thursday, of Riverside pleaded guilty to the felony count, along with a sentence-enhancing gun use allegation, during a status hearing Monday before Judge Gary Polk at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Polk accepted the plea from Castillo without input or objection from the prosecution.

The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for Nov. 22, without indicating the length of imprisonment under consideration. The defendant is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by sheriff’s Investigator David Sandoval, Castillo was with Isabella Ruiz at an unnamed friend’s residence in the 18000 block of Gentian Avenue, near Chicago Avenue, on the night of March 31, 2023, when the shooting occurred.

Sandoval said earlier that day, the defendant had been “hanging out with his friend” when he grabbed a semiautomatic handgun stashed in a drawer at the house and “took selfies,” posing with the pistol before handing the gun to his friend and leaving.

“Later that evening (about 11:45 p.m.), Castillo returned to the same place and was hanging out with Ruiz and the previously noted friend,” according to the sheriff’s declaration. “Castillo noticed the same firearm from earlier on top of a table in the bedroom. He picked up the firearm with his left hand, racked the slide to the rear, pointed the firearm at Ruiz’s face, and three to five seconds later, pulled the trigger, striking her in the face.”

Sandoval wrote that Ruiz was sitting in a chair situated at a desktop computer, “looking at Castillo when he pulled the trigger, and neither party said anything to each other.”

“Castillo was unaware if the firearm was loaded and assumed it was not,” the investigator said.
Castillo’s friend called 911 immediately after the shooting, and the victim was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where she died about 90 minutes later.

The defendant later told detectives he had not had any “formal gun training” but realized “the dangerousness of firearms,” the affidavit stated.

He was arrested on the afternoon of April 1, 2023, but posted an $80,000 bond and was released from custody. His bail was revoked three months later when he failed to make a court appearance.

Castillo has no documented prior misdemeanor or felony convictions in Riverside County.

The post Accidental Gunplay Death Leads To Guilty Plea From RivCo Defendant appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.