Thread: Stanislaus defendants accused as accessories in Newman cop killing return to court

BY ROSALIO AHUMADA

JANUARY 04, 2019 01:53 PM,

UPDATED 3 HOURS 33 MINUTES AGO


From left: Conrado Virgen Mendoza, Ana Leyde Cervantes, Adrian Virgen, and Erik Razo Quiroz

Four defendants accused of helping a man evade capture after the shooting death of Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh returned to Stanislaus Superior Court on Friday for a brief hearing.

Paulo Virgen Mendoza has been charged with murder in Singh’s death. Mendoza is accused of killing Singh during a Dec. 26 traffic stop in Newman. Mendoza is still identified in court and jail records as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, an alias.

Mendoza’s girlfriend Ana Leyde Cervantes, 30; his brothers Conrado Virgen Mendoza, 34, and Adrian Virgen, 25; and his co-worker Erik Razo Quiroz, 35, pleaded not guilty to felony accessory charges in Stanislaus County on Monday.

They are among seven defendants facing federal charges; accused of helping Mendoza slip through a police dragnet and escape into Mexico. After a 55-hour manhunt, Paulo Virgen Mendoza was captured near Bakersfield.

If convicted of the federal charge of conspiracy and aiding and abetting, harboring and shielding from detection an illegal alien, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court.

Cervantes and Adrian Virgen appeared to cry after they spoke briefly with their attorneys and were ushered into the courtroom Friday. Julissa Echevarria, Cervantes’ attorney, handed tissues to her client to wipe her tears shortly before the hearing began.

Conrado Mendoza and Quiroz sat quietly next to their attorneys. All four defendants were wearing jail inmate jumpsuits and shackled handcuffs on their wrists and ankles.

The court-appointed defense attorneys told the judge they did not have conflicts of interest in representing their clients. Echevarria told the judge her office has already received more than 600 pages of discovery evidence from prosecutors. She asked for more time to review the evidence.

The other defense attorneys — Bruce Perry, Mary Ellen Hertle and Deputy Public Defender Shaun Wahid — also asked for more time to review the case before proceeding.

https://www.modbee.com/news/local/cr...223926265.html

If convicted of the federal charge of conspiracy and aiding and abetting, harboring and shielding from detection an illegal alien, each defendant could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court.

We've got a whole lot of folks in this country that could be charged with this!

Go after Jerry Brown, Kamala Harris, Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer, Kevin DeLeon and the WHOLE lot of them giving illegal alien jobs in their offices, awarding them taxpayer funded benefits, sanctuary, healthcare, school and drivers licenses and signing them up to vote!

Go after they ones on the border escorting illegal aliens over our border! That is human trafficking!

Who is in charge of prosecuting these government EMPLOYEES who are in direct violation of our Federal Immigration and Visa Laws???