Bakersfield doctor sentenced to 1 year, 1 day in prison for evading paying $300K in taxes
A Bakersfield pain management doctor was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison Monday after he overstated his expenses and filed false individual tax returns, which allowed him to evade paying more than $300,000 in taxes.
Janardhan Grandhe, 65, did business with Central Valley Pain Management, 6401 Truxtun Ave. B, and gave checks to employees to reimburse expenses that Grandhe said workers incurred while getting their medical education, meals, mileage and other travel expenses, according to prosecutors.
However, those expenses weren’t ever incurred by employees — Grandhe instead told employees to cash the check and give the money back to him. Grandhe then deposited that money into accounts controlled by him or family members, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District announced.
Grandhe gave false documents to his tax preparer supporting these false deductions, the office said.
Between 2017 to 2019, Grandhe also put business receipts in his personal bank account and diverted them from his tax preparer so the amount would go unreported. This method allowed Grandhe to have a decreased net income on his personal tax returns, which allowed him to pay less taxes, federal prosecutors added.
The California Highway Patrol renewed its call Monday for tips to
help solve a decade-old cold case involving the fatal hit-and-run of a former Kern High School District’s chief of police.
Steven Alvidrez was riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with his wife on June 17, 2011 just before midnight when he was hit by another vehicle on Highway 99, south of Delano, the CHP reported.
Alvidrez died at the scene, while his wife, Ramona, suffered major injuries. The driver fled and hasn’t been identified since.
“We are calling on the public to help us bring justice to the Alvidrez family,” Capt. Vince Pagano, commander of the Bakersfield CHP office, said in a statement. “Every piece of information, no matter how small, can make a difference in solving this case. As we observe National Crime Victim’s Rights Awareness Week, we want to remind everyone (that) crime victims have the right to justice. We (will) work with our law enforcement partners to do everything we can to ensure that the rights of our victims are upheld, and justice is served.”
Tips should be directed to CHP by calling 661-396-6628.
After roughly a four-day break in witness testimony, jurors will
resume hearing evidence today in the murder trial of the California City toddlers’ adoptive parents’ murder trial.
Trezell and Jacqueline West have pleaded not guilty each to two charges of second-degree murder, an involuntary manslaughter charge, conspiracy, cruelty to a child and falsely reporting an emergency in the deaths of Orrin, 4, and Orson, 3, West.
On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, jurors conducted a jury viewing to see the locations prosecutor Eric Smith has presented in court. Jurors went to the Casa Loma Apartments in Bakersfield and spent Thursday in California City.
In eastern Kern, jurors visited the Wests’ house, their backyard from where the defendants say the boys went missing, the neighborhood and the “surrounding area,” according to a Superior Court spokeswoman.
The last witness to take the stand was Alfredo Bayaca, a criminalist with the Kern County Regional Crime Lab. He testified about combing the Wests’ van for evidence of “foul play,” and didn’t find any.
The court is scheduled to hear testimony in the case only today and Wednesday this week.
A Bakersfield man pleaded guilty Monday to selling fentanyl pills to
a woman who died from an overdose after taking the drugs, according to federal prosecutors.
The father of the victim’s children said he went over to her house on Dec. 18, 2020 to pick up their kids and found her in bed unresponsive, according to a criminal complaint. Her face was discolored and she wasn’t breathing.
Marcus Randall, 39, sold fentanyl pills to the woman on Dec. 16, 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District added.
This case involved the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, Bakersfield Police Department, Kern County Probation Department and California Highway Patrol.
Randall is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 7.
A pedestrian died Saturday after four cars struck him on Highway
58, according to the California Highway Patrol.
An unidentified person was driving a vehicle heading west on Highway 58, east of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at an unknown speed and hit a pedestrian walking in the No. 3 lane, CHP reported.
As the pedestrian — a 39-yearold man from Las Cruces, N.M. — laid on the road, he was struck by an Acura, Toyota and Tesla.
The first person who collided into the pedestrian fled, but the other cars stopped and cooperated with the CHP, a news release said.
Alcohol or drugs don’t appear to be factors in the crash, CHP reported.
This incident is still under investigation, so anyone with more information about what happened may call the Bakersfield CHP office at 661-396-6600.
Two Bakersfield residents were arrested Friday in connection to
trying to steal a purse from a woman and threatening to shoot her.
Gilberto Avalos, 35, approached a woman and reportedly attempted to forcefully remove her purse and then threatened to shoot her, the Bakersfield Police Department reported. It added Avalos and Helen Summitt, 39, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and robbery.
Police were called to the 2800 block of Brundage Lane at about 11 a.m. for the robbery report, BPD noted.