A Sept. 11 preliminary hearing has been set for a drunk driving suspect accused of causing the death of Gregory Scott, a Spring Valley father, who died on June 17.
Scott, 40, was driving on Interstate 15 just north of Friars Road, around 2:50 a.m. when he crashed into an abandoned Jeep that had been left in freeway lanes by David Armando Olvera, 29, of Chula Vista.
A Sept. 11 preliminary hearing has been set for a drunk driving suspect accused of causing the death of Gregory Scott, a Spring Valley father, who died on June 17.
Scott, 40, was driving on Interstate 15 just north of Friars Road, around 2:50 a.m. when he crashed into an abandoned Jeep that had been left in freeway lanes by David Armando Olvera, 29, of Chula Vista.
Scott, a long time employee of Crownair Aviation, was killed while he was on his way home from a late night hockey practice. He was the sole support of his wife Christy, and their two children, Jack and Izzy, according to their gofundme.com page.
Other cars also hit Olvera’s abandoned Jeep. A prosecutor said Olvera had been drinking and may have struck something with his Jeep, and for some reason, he walked away, leaving it partially blocking a traffic lane in the early morning hours.
Olvera is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, drunk driving with injury to one other person, hit and run with death, and driving with a measurable alcohol level of .15, which is nearly twice the limit for drunk driving.
Olvera was convicted twice of misdemeanor drunk driving in 2009 and 2007, according to San Diego Superior Court records. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility on $1 million bail.
Spring Valley business owner sentenced
Cynthia Lozano, who owned a tax preparation business in Spring Valley, was sentenced July 12 to 14 1/2 years in federal prison for using stolen identification to file fraudulent tax returns seeking $2 million in refunds.
Lozano, 35, of Lemon Grove, was ordered to pay $1,429,134.77 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia.
Lozano was charged in April 2013 for filing false tax returns in the names of people who were often unaware that she used their names and Social Security numbers to defraud the IRS. Lozano directed the IRS to deposit tax refunds into bank accounts opened under the names of her relatives and associates.
She pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated identity theft, 11 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and 13 counts of filing false claims. While she was awaiting sentencing in 2015, IRS agents discovered she filed additional federal tax returns in a manner similar to the earlier scheme.
Lozano was indicted again in 2016 in the new scheme in which she used the names and Social Security numbers from Section 8 tenants and those who submitted rental applications to Lozano for properties she owned in Arizona. She pleaded guilty to 51 charges in the second indictment in November 2016.
Battaglia mentioned Lozano committed additional crimes while free on bond. The restitution ordered includes $107194 to HUD for supplemental rental payments that Lozano received as a result of her false statements.
“The lying, cheating defendant went on a white-collar crime spree that continued even after she got caught,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson. “Her greed-fueled rampage ends today, with a sentence that recognizes the significant losses suffered by her victims, including U.S. taxpayers.”
“Individuals who commit refund fraud and identity theft of this magnitude and with this degree of trickery, dishonesty and deceit, deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” state IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent R. Damon Rowe, who added the IRS will “remain vigilant” in identifying and prosecuting this type of crime.
A forfeiture hearing of the Arizona properties she purchased with the proceeds of the original scheme is set for August 25.
Two people from Lemon Grove charged with possession of fentanyl
Two people from Lemon Grove have been charged with possession of 44 kilograms of fentanyl with the intent to distribute. It is one of the nation’s largest fentanyl seizures, according to the U.S. Attorney.
U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Major ordered Jonathan Ibarra, 45, of Lemon Grove, and Hector Fernando Garcia, 46, of San Diego, to be detained without bail. She allowed Anna Baker, 30, of Lemon Grove, to post $20,000 bond.
Drug traffickers use pure fentanyl powder to increase the potency of heroin or to manufacture counterfeit opioid painkillers that resemble oxycodone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The trio was indicted by a federal grand jury in June and ordered to appear in court on July 31 to set a trial date. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Most of the fentanyl was seized from a house in Lemon Grove. Some of the evidence against them was tape recorded on a wiretap, according to court records. Baker was allegedly a courier and transported the narcotics in three separate trips.
