Two women and a man from Santa Maria pleaded not guilty last week to fraud-related charges in which theyâre accused of using a California home to collect more than $390,000 in state medical benefits over more than a decade while living in Nevada.Â
Seferino Hernandez and Eden Bautista, both 59, and Thelma Pedroche, 62, appeared via Zoom before Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Patricia Kelly on Dec. 7 and entered their pleas to the charges, including presenting a false Medi-Cal claim and criminal conspiracy.
Additionally, Bautista and Pedroche each received an enhancement accusing them of stealing more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded benefits.
Specifically, Hernandez, Bautista and Pedroche are accused of fraudulently collecting funds from January 2005 to December 2016 for the state s in-home support services program, which allows non-medical personal care for elderly and disabled individuals in their own homes, instead of long-term care facilities, according
2 Santa Maria men injured in 2 separate but unrelated shootings lompocrecord.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lompocrecord.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Thursday, Dec. 3:
INCIDENT â At 5:07 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a robbery near the intersection of North Thornburg and West Main streets.
INCIDENT â At 6:23 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a person brandishing a weapon in the 1800 block of North Broadway.
ARREST â At 9:36 a.m., Juventino Najera, 26, was arrested in the 1000 block of West Orange Street and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence and willful cruelty to a child.
ARREST â At 1:38 p.m., Jeannette Almanza, 34, of Santa Maria was arrested at the County Jail in Spanish Fork, Utah, on a probation detainer and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, with possible great bodily injury, grand theft, identity theft and probation violations.