District Attorney Jill Ravitch has announced that after a thorough investigation, her office today initiated criminal proceedings against Pacific Gas and Electric Company ("PG&E") for its role in causing the 2019 Kincade Fire. The criminal complaint, filed with the Sonoma County Superior Court, alleges that PG&E recklessly caused the fire that started on the night of October 23, 2019 at the Geysers Geothermal Field northeast of Geyserville. Specifically, the complaint charges PG&E with 5 felonies and 28 misdemeanors, including unlawfully causing a fire that resulted in great bodily injury, unlawfully causing a fire that resulted in the burning of inhabited structures, and unlawfully causing a fire that resulted in the burning of forest land, as well as various air pollution crimes.

Defendant Austin McClure, 22 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced earlier today by the Honorable Christopher Honigsberg to serve 7 years in state prison after pleading no contest in March to charges of felony domestic assault and forgery.

Defendant Ethan Dean Holbrook, 28 years-old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced on March 25, 2021 by the Honorable Christopher Honigsberg to 7 years and 8 months in state prison after pleading no contest to charges of felony domestic battery using a deadly weapon.

District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced today that the gunman and getaway driver in a September 2020 shooting near the Healdsburg Railroad Depot, were sentenced this morning by the Honorable Shelly J. Averill in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Defendant Alberto Ramon Martinez, 25 year old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced on March 18, 2021 by the Honorable Christopher Honigsberg to serve six years and four months in state prison after pleading no contest to charges of felony domestic battery against his girlfriend. Additionally, he admitted to having two prior domestic violence related convictions within the last seven years.

District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced today that the three adult defendants involved in a September 2020 shooting near the Healdsburg Railroad Depot in Healdsburg have pleaded “no contest” to felony offenses and were found guilty by the Honorable Shelly J. Averill in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Defendant Brandon Byron Cooper, 30 years old of Petaluma, was sentenced today by the Honorable Robert LaForge to serve 15 years to life in prison, plus an additional 9 years, after being found guilty of 3 felony sexual assault crimes in March of 2019 following a court trial. 

Defendant Betai Koffi, 33 years old of Southern California, was sentenced Thursday by the Honorable Christopher Honigsberg to serve 3 years on felony probation and spend 12 months in county jail after pleading "no contest" to multiple felony counts of assault for a string of crimes that he committed while under the influence of LSD in Bodega Bay on July 4, 2019. 

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has recently been awarded a federal grant in the amount of $340,000 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a subdivision of the US Department of Justice, to assist with the investigation and prosecution of opioid-related crimes committed in Sonoma County.

On Friday, February 5, 2021 following a contested hearing, the Honorable Peter Ottenweller denied a motion for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon brought by convicted sex offender Matthew David Phillips, 46 years old of Santa Rosa, related to his 2008 felony sex convictions.

Defendant Israel Fabian Fuentes, 34 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced earlier today  by the Honorable Shelly Averill to serve 9 years in state prison after pleading guilty in May of last year to charges of felony infliction of corporal injury on his pregnant girlfriend, the mother of his three year old child, and admitting an enhancement for causing great bodily injury. 

Diane Sandahl, 77 years-old of Sebastopol, was ordered to pay $10,103.67 to the Sonoma County CHANGE organization, on January 21, 2021 after a restitution hearing in front of the Honorable Troye Shaffer.

Defendant Nancy Jeannethe Serrano, 26 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today to 3 years in state prison by the Honorable Mark Urioste following her convictions in November of last year for leaving the scene of an accident, vehicular manslaughter, and driving on a suspended license. 

Defendant Andrew Paul Flolo, 20 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today by the Honorable Shelly Averill to serve 20 years in prison after entering a no-contest plea last November to six felony offenses involving the human trafficking of a minor. 

Michael Silva, 37, of Cazadero pled guilty to three felony counts related to environmental violations on property where he was growing 1,450 cannabis plants without environmental permits.

District Attorney Jill Ravitch has announced that defendant Thanh Van Nguyen, 69, of Santa Rosa was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Kenneth English for having an over limit of abalone in violation of F&G Code 5521.5(b).

District Attorneys Jill Ravitch announced that Tropical Seas, Inc. (“TS”) of Florida has agreed to resolve a civil environmental enforcement case filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office in conjunction with 21 district attorney offices in California.

District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced today that on September 29, 2020 Prison Inmate Vinh The Phang, now 60 years old, was once again denied parole by the California Board of Parole.

District Attorney Ravitch reminds all Sonoma County residents and businesses that price gouging during a state of emergency is illegal under Penal Code Section 396, and her office will investigate and prosecute those that attempt to wrongfully profit from the destructive fires and from the pandemic.

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch today announced a $1.43 million settlement against Kelly-Moore Paint Company (Kelly-Moore) to resolve allegations that the company violated state laws governing hazardous waste.

District Attorney Jill Ravitch, in conjunction with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, announced today that Varenna LLC, Oakmont Senior Living LLC, and Oakmont Management Group LLC, the owners and operators of Varenna and Villa Capri, two Residential Care Facilities For the Elderly located in Fountaingrove, settled a civil law enforcement action related to their conduct on the night of the Tubbs Fire in 2017.

Defendant Moises Flores, 23 years old, was sentenced today by the Honorable Shelly Averill to serve 6 years in state prison after pleading no contest to one charge of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 in violation of Penal Code section 288(a).

District Attorney Jill Ravitch has announced that defendant City Ventures Homebuilding, LLC (“CV”) has resolved a civil environmental enforcement action for water pollution and unlawful business practices during construction of new homes in the Fox Hollow subdivision

Prison inmate Oscar Perez, age 34, of Santa Rosa was denied early release on parole after a contested hearing held remotely via Zoom before the Board of Prison Terms on Thursday, April 30th, 2020.

The conviction of 52-year old Timothy Marble, of Napa, CA, sentenced to serve life in prison without possibility of parole for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 13-year old Napa County girl, was upheld on appeal yesterday in a decision by the California Court of Appeal.