Sacramento, California - California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, joined by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its failure to designate any areas of the country as having unhealthy levels of smog in excess of federal Clean Air Act requirements. These designations are critical because an area that is designated as not meeting the requirements must take active measures to improve its air quality. EPA was required to make these designations by October 1, but it failed to do so. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Sacramento, California - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of an armed and dangerous individual who is suspected of robbing several Northern California banks.

San Francisco, California - A former Bay Area resident was arrested Wednesday in Barnstable, Massachusetts on charges related to a long-running investment fraud scheme.  John Bryan Murphy was charged on November 30, 2017, by a federal grand jury in San Francisco with wire fraud and money laundering announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  The indictment was unsealed late yesterday following Murphy’s arrest.

Sacramento, California - Jason Sebastian Sparks, 29, of Oroville, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to 14 years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

San Francisco, California - Liang Chen, Donald Olgado, Wei-Yung Hsu, and Robert Ewald were charged for their respective roles in an alleged scheme to steal trade secrets from a Bay Area semiconductor chip equipment manufacturer, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  

Fresno, California - Marci Jessie Ramirez, 46, of Fresno, pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.