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Tag: El Cajon

  • El Cajon business, hiring manager plead guilty after fed raid over undocumented workers

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    San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in El Cajon. (Photo courtesy of Google Street View)

    An El Cajon-area business that was raided by federal agents earlier this year pleaded guilty Wednesday along with its hiring manager to federal charges related to employing undocumented workers.

    In March, federal agents swarmed San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings’ warehouse on Magnolia Avenue and detained numerous individuals at the business, which specializes in paint and coatings, including for military and government vessels.

    Prosecutors said the company’s general manager, John Washburn, employed undocumented workers and let them live inside the company’s warehouse. Washburn pleaded guilty earlier this year to engaging in a pattern or practice of employing aliens, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.

    On Wednesday, the company pleaded guilty and as part of its plea agreement, admitted Washburn and others hired people who did not have authorization to work in the United States.

    The company also agreed to forfeit $230,000 it gained as a result and agreed to take part in the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program. The program involves an agreement by participating companies to audits verifying that only people authorized to work in the U.S. are employed and training on topics like fraudulent documents and forced labor.

    The company’s hiring manager, Karli Buxton, 41, also pleaded guilty and admitted she was aware some employees presented fraudulent documents indicating they were authorized to work in the country.

    According to a criminal complaint filed in Washburn’s case, the investigation into the business involved an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent who obtained a job there with a fraudulent Permanent Resident card and Social Security number.

    The agent secured the job with the help of a “confidential source” who worked there and told Washburn he was looking to get his “friend” a job.

    The complaint alleges that during the conversation, it was clear Washburn was aware the “friend” was purportedly undocumented and that multiple other employees at the business were also undocumented.

    Washburn’s plea agreement includes admissions that he knew at least 10 of the company’s workers were undocumented immigrants and that he had discussed with other managers that some employees weren’t legally authorized to work in the United States. Those discussions led to only assigning employees with “good paperwork” to work at military bases due to the extensive screening procedures on-base.

    San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings admitted in its plea agreement that it knowingly avoided sending undocumented workers to military bases or ports of entry due to stricter screening procedures at those locations.


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  • Woman found dead in ravine in 1998 identified but mystery remains, CA cops say

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    A woman found dead in a ravine in 1998 has been identified, California police say.

    A woman found dead in a ravine in 1998 has been identified, California police say.

    Photo from El Cajon Police Department

    For decades, a woman found dead in a California ravine posed a mystery.

    But now, the woman’s family has some answers; she has been identified as Alicia Ledezma Sanchez, El Cajon police said in an Oct. 30 Facebook post.

    The woman, whose body was decomposing and had no identification when it was found in an El Cajon ravine surrounded in heavy shrubbery on Aug. 13, 1998, was believed to have been dead for up to six weeks.

    Despite an investigation, police said the woman’s identity remained a mystery.

    Five years later, police said its cold case team took another look at the case, and a forensic artist created a sculpture using the woman’s skull.

    “Photographs of the sculpture were released in hopes that a member of the public could assist in identifying the woman,” police said.

    Still, no leads surfaced, and the woman’s case stayed cold, according to police.

    Again, in 2008, police tried to push the case forward.

    After getting a DNA sample, police said investigators made a DNA profile for the woman.

    When the profile was uploaded into a database, however, no matches were found, police said.

    In 2023, police said they partnered with Othram Inc. and Parabon Labs and set their sights on advanced DNA techniques, including genetic genealogy and phenotyping, in hopes of identifying the woman.

    Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.

    DNA phenotyping is a process that uses DNA to predict physical appearance, according to Parabon NanoLabs.

    Othram said its scientists created “a comprehensive DNA profile from skeletal remains,” which was then used in genetic genealogy research, the company said in a news release.

    “Due to the unknown woman’s unique biogeographical ancestry, efforts to find close relatives were challenging,” Othram said.

    Further research, though, showed the woman “likely family ties to Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico, and potential relatives in the San Diego area,” the company said.

    In August, police shared the woman’s story across their social media channels and included an image of what the woman may have looked like.

    Soon, a potential family member contacted the cold case team, believing they may know the woman’s identity, police said.

    The woman’s DNA was compared to a possible son’s, confirming her identity as Sanchez, who was born in 1968, police said.

    “Families deserve answers and this is a case where identifying the victim is the first step in getting answers,” Kristen Mittelman, Othram’s chief development officer, said in an email to McClatchy News.

    An investigation into Sanchez’s slaying is ongoing, police said. Anyone with information about Sanchez is asked to contact police at 619-579-3320.

    El Cajon is about a 15-mile drive northeast from San Diego.

    Daniella Segura

    McClatchy DC

    Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.

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    Daniella Segura

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  • Alleged hit-and-run driver in custody after boy left with major head injuries

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    El Cajon police. (File photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)

    A Lakeside man was behind bars Friday on suspicion of hit-and-run after a 12-year-old boy was struck in El Cajon, leaving him severely injured.

    Dani A. Korkis, 35, allegedly was driving a white BMW X5 that hit the young pedestrian in the 300 block of Ballantyne Street at about 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to El Cajon police.

    Emergency personnel arrived to find the victim lying in the roadway with extensive head injuries. Debris from the vehicle that hit him was scattered in the street, Lt. Joe Crawford said.

    Paramedics took the child to a hospital, where he was admitted in critical condition. He remained hospitalized Friday, but his vital signs were stable, Crawford said.

    An automated license-plate reader and other databases identified the suspect vehicle, and detectives found it parked at a Lakeside business, damaged in a manner consistent with the hit-and-run, police said. They then located Korkis and arrested him.

    The driver was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of felony hit-and run causing great bodily injury. He is being held on $50,000 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Tuesday


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