Hearing postponed for man accused of embezzling from Kern County Fair

A man who faces embezzlement charges in connection with the Kern County Fair had his pre-preliminary hearing postponed Monday to next year.

William Hebert, a maintenance supervisor, is accused of gathering scrap metal and copper wire from the fair and making thousands of dollars after giving it to recycling facilities. A Kern County District Attorney investigator wrote in a summary report Hebert recycled 47,290 pounds from 2017 to 2019. A pre-preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 6.

The three felony charges Herbert faces allege he embezzled more than $950, so the minimum amount the DA believes he stole is at least $2,850.

An Antioch man pleaded guilty Monday to taking two children to Bakersfield’s Desert

Star Motel and coordinating their prostitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of California.

Darnell Bernard Edwards, 33, also supplied the children with marijuana and tattooed them with the letter “D” and a crown. He pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor for incidents stemming from April and May of 2019.

Edwards is scheduled to be sentenced March 20. He faces 10 years in prison to life in prison, a fine of $250,000, a life term of supervised release, forfeiting property and possible restitution, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

Kern County Sheriff’s deputies in Lamont launched an investigation Monday morn

ing after a dead man was found in a playground.

Deputies were called to Bear Mountain Park, 10300 San Diego St., around 8 a.m. to check the welfare of a person lying on the ground.

A man was found near the playground with “obvious signs of trauma,” which prompted the start of a homicide investigation, according to a KCSO news release.

Anyone with information about this incident may call the KCSO at 661-861-3110 or Secret Witness at 661-322-4040.