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Local News

• Folsom man who led violent robbery ring gets life-plus sentence



A Folsom man and two other men have been sentenced in federal court to lengthy prison terms for their roles in a series of violent crimes and robberies.

U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced John That Luong, 38, of Folsom to life in prison, plus 80 years. Kevin Lattanaphom, 32, of Oakland, was sentenced to life in prison, plus 45 years, and Hoang Al Le, 39, of Daly City, to 28 years and four months, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation news release issued this week.

The case was investigated by the FBI and Stockton Police Department.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys William S. Wong and Jason Hitt, who prosecuted the case, evidence during the trial showed that between December 1995 and January 1996, Luong's criminal organization planned and carried out four armed robberies, and attempted a fifth, of computer chip companies and a Stockton jewelry store.

Two of the robberies included an "action" team that conducted brutal home invasions of owners from targeted businesses to extract burglary alarm codes, security information and keys to the business. Once the information and keys were obtained, a second "transport" team would drive to the business and steal the property.

During the invasion of Stockton jewelry store owner Vuth Hong's home, Hong and his family were brutally tortured for approximately four hours. The robbers used a blowtorch, a hot iron and firearms to extract information, according to the news release. Lattanaphom eventually shot and killed Vuth Hong. Vuth's brother Srun Hong was shot four times but survived.

The defendants were found guilty on Dec. 14, 2007. Luong was found guilty on nine counts for his part as the leader and organizer of four violent armed robberies, one of which included the murder of Vuth Hong and shooting of Srun Hong. The jury returned seven guilty verdicts against robbery crew member and gunman Lattanphom, and two guilty verdicts against Le.

Another defendant in the case, robbery crew chief Minh Hunh, 37, received nine guilty verdicts. His sentencing was continued, according to the news release.

In an earlier trial in 2003 arising from the same indictment, robbery crew members Thy Chann, 34, Bao Lu, 30, and Son Van Nguyen, 34, all of Oakland, were convicted of the same armed robberies and sentenced by Judge Shubb to life in prison.

• Folsom pharmacy robbed twice in a month



By Chelsea Phua cphua@sacbee.com

Folsom police say a robbery on Friday at a local pharmacy shared many similarities with one that happened a month ago at the same business.

No one was injured in both incidents, police said.

About 6:30 p.m., employees at Folsom Medical Pharmacy reported the robbery at the store in the 1300 block of East Bidwell Street.

They told police that a masked man entered the store, displayed a handgun and demanded pain medication. He then fled the store with an undisclosed amount of a controlled substance, police said.

The man is described white, about 6 feet tall weighing about 200 pounds. He was wearing a ski mask and a red sweatshirt. No vehicle was seen, police said.

Police said the way the crime was committed was similar to what happened during a robbery at the store Jan. 25. Suspects' descriptions in both cases also matched. In both cases, the men were masked and asked for pain prescription before fleeing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact WeTip at 1-800-78-CRIME or www.wetip.com. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.

• Sacto 9-1-1: Samaritans save woman, children from being hit by train



A woman driving in Folsom with her two young daughters drifted onto light rail tracks after falling asleep at the wheel earlier tonight, but the family was saved by passersby who pulled them from the vehicle minutes before a a train smashed into the car, police said.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred just after 7 p.m. near the Iron Point light rail station, Folsom police Lt. Perry Albers said.

The woman was driving a 2007 Honda Civic northbound on Folsom Boulevard with her daughters, ages 10 and 7, when she fell asleep and the car drove through a ditch and onto the railroad tracks, where it came to a stop, Albers said.

Witnesses stopped and rushed to the car, helping the family of three get out of the vehicle. Two minutes later, a Regional Transit light-rail train with one operator and four passengers smashed into the car and demolished the passenger side, Albers said.

The wreck slightly damaged the train, but it was able to continue after the tracks were cleared of debris.

Albers said no one in the car or on the train was hurt.

"Not a scratch," he said. "It could have been a whole different outcome."

• Folsom-based trash hauler again tops $1 billion in revenue



Another year, another billion dollars.

For the second consecutive year, Folsom-based trash hauler Waste Connections Inc. has topped $1 billion in revenue.

The company said Monday that 2009 revenue was $1.19 billion, up more than 13 percent over $1.05 billion in 2008.

Net income for the year was $109.8 million, or $1.37 per share, compared with $102.9 million, or $1.44 per share, in 2008.

The company had adjusted net income of $29.3 million, or 37 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $24.3 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Fourth-quarter revenue was $309.9 million, a 19.4 percent increase over $259.6 million in the final quarter of 2008.

"Our results in the quarter once again exceeded the upper end of our expectations, positioning us well for 2010," said Ronald Mittelstaedt, company chairman and CEO. "… We reported record free cash flow for the year of $192.3 million, or 16.1 percent of revenue, despite increasing capital expenditures year-over-year. "

In its financial report, Waste Connections said it expects "approximately 7.5 percent revenue growth" this year, "excluding additional acquisitions." That much growth puts Waste Connections on a path to generate revenue of $1.28 billion in 2010.

In a little more than a dozen years, Waste Connections has seen profits grow via a business plan of acquiring small, privately held waste firms, typically avoiding large urban markets with intense competition for customers.

Waste Connections, founded in 1997, provides solid waste collection, disposal and recycling services to about 2 million residential, commercial and industrial clients in 26 states, mostly in the West and South. It employs about 6,000.

The complete financial report and more information can be viewed at www.wasteconnections.com.

• New casino-restaurant complex hiring in Rancho Cordova




The Cordova Casino and Restaurant has undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation to transform a 20,000-square-foot warehouse into a gaming and dining complex. Rancho Cordova officials hope it will attract visitors to spend money in town.

A 20,000-square-foot restaurant and card room complex will open at the end of this month in a Rancho Cordova outlet warehouse that is undergoing a multimillion-dollar face-lift.

"It's gorgeous," said Curt Haven, the city's economic development director.

The Cordova Casino and Restaurant is expected to provide an attraction for visitors and residents to spend money in town, he said.

The restaurant complex will include a sports bar and grill and a fine-dining room that is greatly needed in a town with few such options, Haven said.

The Cordova Casino and Restaurant is owned by John Park, who also owns a similar operation in Petaluma.

The new casino and restaurant will employ about 150 people and is still looking for cashiers and security personnel. A job fair for line cooks will be offered today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Thursday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the casino site.

The site, highly visible to traffic on Highway 50, was once a restaurant that changed into the Bridal Mart, said Kenneth Noack Jr., a senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis Co., who brokered the sale.

The Bridal Mart is downsizing and moved into the Nimbus Winery, he said.

"This is a great opportunity from a sales-tax revenue standpoint. It's a classy facility, not seedy, not back-alley; it's polished and top-cabin," he said of the card room.

The city allows only two card rooms in town and another existing one has closed, Haven said.

The city manager in Petaluma, where the same owner operates Casino 101 and City Limits Bar & Grill, said the business draws a significant out-of-town crowd, but the city has never done targeted research on economic benefits.

"It does a brisk business and they keep the tables occupied," said John Brown, the city manager. "From our standpoint, it doesn't create the problems you might want to associate with gambling."

The Rancho Cordova card room will be reminiscent of high-roller style rooms, with touches such as a grand fireplace, vaulted ceilings and state-of-the-art bar over two-levels, said Bree-Ann Deemer, a spokeswoman for the card room.

The room will offer all the popular games, such as Pai Gow and Texas hold 'em, a game that has expanded the poker player demographic to include more women and younger players.

At least one in 10 of card room customers are female, Deemer said, and the new room is designed to make women feel welcome.

California has 90 licensed card rooms, said Pamela Mares, a spokeswoman for the California Gambling Control Commission, which regulates them. Sacramento has four licensed card rooms.

Restrictions on card rooms, such as hours of operations and number of tables and types of card games, are controlled by the local jurisdictions, Mares said.

Card rooms can offer only card games and cannot have slot machines or games such as blackjack or baccarat.

The card room is at 2801 Prospect Park Drive, where the job fairs will be. For information on other job opportunities or to apply, go to www.fortiss.net. Fortiss is a Los Angeles-based company that provides services for casinos, such as hiring.

The casino is expected to open Feb. 26, with a grand opening planned for March.

• Intel's Folsom campus is set to go solar



Intel Corp.'s Folsom campus is targeted to have the largest of eight new solar power systems the company plans to install in four states.

Intel announced Monday that it has new contracts for generating approximately 2.5 megawatts of solar energy at new solar power projects in California, Oregon, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Intel spokesman Mark Pettinger said the approximately 1-megawatt-plus solar field to be built in Folsom will cover about six acres of ground on the southwest portion of Intel's property between Highway 50 and Iron Point Road.

The solar field will provide up to 7 percent of the Folsom campus' overall power supply.

Intel said the Folsom site will be one of the largest non-utility ground-mounts in California. It's the only one of the planned Intel installations that does not involve solar panels installed on rooftops.

Intel's Folsom campus employs nearly 6,000.

The Santa Clara-based chip maker said the announcement is part of a larger commitment to green, efficient energy use on its campuses.

"Intel is committed to renewable energy to reduce our own carbon footprint as well as to spur the market and make renewables more economically feasible for individuals and businesses to deploy," said Brian Krzanich, vice president and general manager of Intel's manufacturing and supply chain.

He added: "These announcements represent our broader commitment, which includes diversifying our energy portfolio through solar and other clean energy investments, and this will continue to be a priority for us around the globe."

Pettinger said Intel has approved the Folsom system and has submitted applications to the city of Folsom. The design is being reviewed by the city and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

Subject to approvals, Intel said it hopes to break ground in Folsom by March 22 and have the system generating power by June 30. All of the new solar installations are expected to be completed over the next seven months.

Pettinger said the contractor on the Intel systems is Foster City-based SolarCity Corp. Financial terms of the project were not disclosed.

Intel's announcement comes on the heels of a large-scale solar project at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova.

In November, Roseville-based Solar Power Inc. inaugurated a 3.6-megawatt solar-power project – the region's largest – and announced plans to install an additional 2.4 megawatts on-site by spring.

When completed, the panels will meet just over 10 percent of the rocket producer's electricity demand and help SMUD meet its goals of expanding solar power and reducing greenhouse gases.

The first phase of the Aerojet project cost about $20 million. The federal government provided a tax credit of 30 percent of the system's capital cost.

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Regional News

• Sacramento drunken killer, road-rage slayer due parole hearings



A man who killed an 18-year-old while he was drunk and a man who shot to death another motorist in an act of road rage are among Sacramento area convicts who have paroles hearings scheduled next week.

They are:

-March 18, Kenneth Roy Stark, 55, Mule Creek State Prison.

A Yolo County Superior Court judge sentenced Stark to life in prison for the June 13, 1985 beating death of a homeless man, The Bee reported.

The body of Ronald Eugene Meyers, 42, was dumped in a Yolo Bypass field.

-March 18, Ralph Kendall Blasingame IV, 34, California State Prison, Solano.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Blasingame to 19-year-to-life in prison for fatally shooting an 18-year-old stranger in a drunken act of bravado, The Bee reported.

Blasingame killed Sean Michael Renfro with a single bullet fired from 100 feet at a car leaving a river party late at night on Oct. 16, 1993.

According to testimony, someone had shouted an obscenity and Blasingame, who was standing on the road, mistakenly thought the passing Honda was filled with people he and his friends had tangled with earlier that night. He claimed to have fired wildly into the night, never knowing he hit anything.

-March 18, Thongsanh Phongsavat, 34, California State Prison, Solano.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Phongsavat to 18-year-to-life in prison on April 26, 1996 for shooting and killing a motorist in a driving dispute on Interstate 80, The Bee reported.

Killed during the rush hour as he exited Interstate 80 at Northgate Boulevard on Oct. 10, 1995, was Brit C. Bahn, 24. Bahn and his brother, Chad, 25, were driving from Woodland to a store to return a television.

Bahn was hit in the temple with a single rifle shot fired from a Honda in which Phongsavat was riding as a passenger.

The incident began on I-5 when the Honda was tailgating the truck, and the occupants became embroiled in an exchange of gestures and racial slurs.

-March 18, John Lee Hart, 52, California State Prison, Solano.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Hart to life in prison for shooting to death Charles Mojeske, 22, of Sacramento at his home in 4200 block of May Street, The Bee reported.

The July 27, 1991 attack also resulted in injuries to two of the victim's brothers, neither of whom was hurt seriously.

Hart shot Mojeske when he opened the door to his house. Testimony showed that Mojeske earlier had been involved in a fight with Hart's 15-year-old brother.

-March 19, James Elmer Harmon, 69, California State Prison, Solano.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Harmon to life plus 17 years in April 1987 for a kidnap-robbery with a couple of accomplices that netted them $3,000, The Bee reported.

Harmon hit the victim with a pipe in the September 1986 crime.

Harmon had an extensive criminal history going back to 1959. The deputy district attorney who prosecuted him for the kidnap-robbery was the son of the deputy district attorney who won a conviction of Harmon in 1960.

If you want to give your opinion of an inmate's suitability for parole, you may mail a letter to:

Martin Hoshino, executive director

Board of Parole Hearings

1515 K Street

Sacramento, CA 95811

For more information on the Board of Parole Hearings, go to:

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Divisions_Boards/BOPH/

• Sac sheriff: Woman arrested in imprisonment, torture of man



A Sacramento woman accused of beating a man and holding him against his will was being held in lieu of $1 million bail tonight at the Sacramento County Jail.

Kathlyne Alycia Smart, 46, of Sacramento, was arrested late Friday by Sacramento Sheriff's deputies on suspicion of torture with intent to cause cruel or extreme pain, false imprisonment and assault with a deadly weapon with the likelihood of causing great bodily harm after deputies were called to an apartment in the 5100 block of Andrea Boulevard, said Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

Neighbors told deputies they heard sounds of screaming coming from the apartment about 10:50 p.m. Friday, Curran said.

Deputies arrived to find a 41-year-old man who said he was being held against his will. It was unknown how long the man had been held.

Curran said the man had been beaten and burned and was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released.

Curran did not know the extent of the pair's relationship, but said the two were acquainted.

Smart is scheduled to appear Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

• Sacramento postal worker indicted for worker's comp fraud



A federal grand jury has indicted a 46-year-old Sacramento postal worker for allegedly illegally claiming $278,000 in workers' compensation benefits, according to the U.S. attorney Benjamin Wagner.

The 15-count indictment issued earlier this week alleges that Nicki Lee Buxmann falsely claimed to have been injured on the job and then denied she had outside employment and income, Wagner said in a news release.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel Loomis Rimon, who is prosecuting the case, the indictment alleges that Buxmann defrauded the Postal Service by claiming that she had injured her back, neck, and shoulder while on the job and then denying that she had outside employment and income while receiving benefits.

The indictment alleges that Buxmann owned and operated TNT Takeover/MMA Boxing and Fitness 180 businesses in Elk Grove and Roseville, Rimon said.

Buxmann is also charged with separate counts of theft of U.S. property and false statements or fraud to obtain employee's compensation, Rimon said.

The case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General, Wagner said.

• Sac sheriff asking public's help in finding robbery suspect



Sacramento County sheriff's detectives are seeking help in identifying a man suspected of attempting to rob a fast-food restaurant.

Robbery detectives said that about 4 p.m. Feb. 21 a man ordered food at the Del Taco restaurant in the 9100 block of Keifer Boulevard and asked to speak to the manager.

When the manager approached, the man pointed a handgun at him and demanded money. The manager ran behind the counter and the suspect fled without cash.

The suspect is described as a black male in his 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He has a tattoo on the right side of his neck.

Anyone with information is asked to call robbery detectives at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-4357.

• Sacto 9-1-1: Sacramento child killer among inmates up for parole hearings



A man who murdered his 1-year-old son in 1996 and a woman who killed a man in 1988 who she suspected of being a child molester are among the Sacramento area convicts who are up for parole hearings early in March.

According to the Board of Parole Hearings, a division of the State Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, the following hearings are scheduled for these convicts who are serving life sentences:

-March 8, Robert Ramirez Vela Jr., 34, Avenal State Prison.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Vela on July 18, 1997, to 15-years-to-life in prison for the murder of his 1-year-old son, Daniel Vergos, who died of a massive skull fracture, The Bee reported.

An autopsy revealed that the victim had toxic levels of prescription drugs in his blood system, according to court documents. The drugs, which included codeine, were of such high doses that they alone would have killed him, said Deputy District Attorney Robin Shakely.

During the trial, Vela said he accidentally bumped his son's head against a wall when he was rocking the boy. Prosecution evidence showed the child's head injuries were so severe they were equivalent to a fall from a building several stories high.

-March 10, Frederick Brinkley, 47, Avenal State Prison.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Brinkley to life in prison in November 1983 for a nine-day kidnapping and robbery spree in 1982.

Brinkley and a second person kidnapped three persons and robbed four others in separate crimes that took place in parking lots.

One victim was bound, gagged and left in the trunk of an abandoned car. She was able to free herself and pick the lock with her fingernails.

-March 10, Joy Celeste Pense, 43, California Institution for Women.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced Pense of Martinez in December 1989 to 27-years-to life in prison for killing a man because she believed he had molested the 3-year-old daughter of a friend, The Bee reported.

Pense was convicted of the Nov. 12, 1988, gunshot slaying of Tracy James Helling, 19, of Concord.

According to trial testimony, Pense lured Helling to a remote area of the Delta in Sacramento County with a promise she could get him some good drugs, then produced a gun and shot Helling several times in the torso and head, including one fatal round to the heart.

After leaving Helling's lifeless body on the shoulder of a road in the Sandy Beach area, Pense returned to Martinez and told the mother of the molestation victim that she had killed Helling. "Boom, I shot him in the head and in the gut," the mother quoted Pense.

The mother explained to the jury that she had learned from her daughter in May 1989 that Helling had been playing a "secret game" with her 3-year-old daughter and had attempted unsuccessfully to get the Contra Costa County authorities to prosecute him on child-molestation charges.

Pense was the child's baby sitter and shared in the mother's frustration with the criminal justice system, she testified.

-March 11, George Edward Mixon, California State Prison, Los Angeles County.

No background information was available.

If you want to give your opinion of an inmate's suitability for parole, you may mail a letter to:

Martin Hoshino, executive director

Board of Parole Hearings

1515 K Street

Sacramento, CA 95811

For more information on the Board of Parole Hearings, go to:

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Divisions_Boards/BOPH/

• 'On-call' Sacramento sheriff's deputy arrested on sex charges




Eric Cephus

A 39-year-old man employed by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department as an "on-call" deputy has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at a Lincoln hotel, according to authorities.

Eric Cephus was taken into custody late Tuesday night in San Jose, said Lincoln police acting Chief Paul Shelgren.

He was booked into the Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 and transporting to commit rape, Shelgren said. He is expected to arrive in Placer County this afternoon.

Police began investigating Cephus on Feb. 27, after a Lincoln patrol officer came across the girl walking in the area of Ferrari Ranch Road and Joiner Parkway in the early morning, Shelgren said.

The girl was "pretty forthcoming about what happened" hours earlier, Shelgren said.

He said detectives suspect that Cephus met the girl "through the course of his employment," but declined to elaborate.

Shelgren said the girl was not brought to Lincoln against her will. It's unclear to detectives at this point whether the sex was forced; however, Shelgren said he found it hard to imagine a scenario in which sex with a 13-year-old girl would be consensual.

In addition to the two sex-related charges, Shelgren told The Bee earlier today that Cephus had been arrested on suspicion of engaging in an act of prostitution. However, he said this afternoon that detectives did not have enough evidence to support such a charge.

He declined to say whether the girl characterized herself as a prostitute or whether Cephus paid her.

Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness confirmed that Cephus is employed as an "on-call" deputy sheriff, although he is on administrative leave because of the arrest. He said Cephus had been employed as a full-time deputy sheriff until he was laid off in August as a result of department-wide budget cuts.

At the time he was laid off, Cephus had been employed by the Sheriff's Department for a "couple years," McGinness said.

Cephus lives in San Jose with his girlfriend and the couple's son, according to their babysitter, who spoke briefly to The Bee but did not give her name. A message for Cephus' girlfriend, left with the babysitter, has not been returned.

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National News

• Actor Corey Haim dies

Actor Corey Haim, who appeared in a number of movies during the 1980s, died early Wednesday of a possible drug overdose after being taken to a hospital, Los Angeles police said.


• Mexico to U.S.: Allow cross-border trucking

Mexico asked the United States to move forward with creating a proposal to end a ban on cross-border trucking in violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.


• Man pleads guilty after security scare

A New Jersey man who breached security to give his girlfriend a kiss, causing scores of flight delays, pleaded guilty Tuesday to defiant trespass, his lawyer said.


• Graduates rally for embattled school

Graduates of the nation's most vilified high school descended upon campus Tuesday evening to support the school's fired teachers. They also had a message for President Obama: Don't bash our school.


• Archdiocese defends decision to deny children over lesbian parents

The archdiocese of Denver, Colorado, is defending its decision not to re-enroll two children in a Catholic school in Boulder next year because their parents are lesbians.


• Sheen set to return to '2 and a Half Men'

Charlie Sheen is set to return to the set of his sitcom "Two and a Half Men," his publicist said.

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