CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM CANCER CENTERPorterville RecorderThursday, July 28, 2005

Visalia man earns 10-year sentence for theft, fraud

By The Porterville Recorder staff

A Visalia man was sentenced to 10 years in state prison Wednesday after pleading no contest to 29 felony charges, including theft from a Valley cancer center.

Ruben Tavarez III, 29, committed the crimes between Oct. 23, 2003 and Dec. 12, 2004.


In May, Tavarez pleaded no contest to a long list of charges, including transporting narcotics while carrying a handgun, four counts of commercial burglary, three counts of identity theft, 15 counts of forgery and one count of unlawfully taking a car.

In October 2003, officers with the Tulare Police Department contacted Tavarez regarding check fraud. Upon contacting the defendant, Tavarez gave a false name and had numerous checks in his wallet, made payable to different businesses in the area. Officers also located receipts for merchandise purchased by the defendant using fraudulent checks.

In December 2004, Tavarez was stopped for driving a vehicle with license plates that were registered for a different car. He again gave a false name. Officers learned the car was stolen and a search of Tavarez revealed he was in possession of methamphetamine, false identification and five cell phones. A search of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of two laptop computers, two copier/scanner/printers, copies of $20 bills and several duffel bags containing 19 fraudulent pieces of identification, 10 Social Security cards, numerous checks and materials to manufacture checks. An investigation determined one computer had been taken from Sequoia Regional Cancer Center.

The case was investigated by the Tulare Police Department and the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

The prosecution for this case was conducted by Deputy District Attorney Marguerite Grant with the Tulare County District Attorney's Office White Collar Crime Unit.