Category: Court News

BULLHEAD CITY – A local judge last Friday rejected a plea agreement for the last of three defendants being prosecuted for a Feb., 2019 drug bust in Mohave Valley. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle said it was unfair that Javier Escalante, 41, Ontario, California receives less prison time than another co-defendant who was less culpable. Carlisle said a presentence report indicated that Escalante was directing co-defendants Maria Kormes, 33, Mohave Valley and Edgar Melgoza, 39, Fresno, California when drugs were seized from two vehicles during traffic stops. Carlisle sent Melgoza to prison for 7.5 years in October under…

BULLHEAD CITY – A local judge last Friday rejected a plea agreement for the last of three defendants being prosecuted for a Feb., 2019 drug bust in Mohave Valley. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle said it was unfair that Javier Escalante, 41, Ontario, California receives less prison time than another co-defendant who was less culpable. Carlisle said a presentence report indicated that Escalante was directing co-defendants Maria Kormes, 33, Mohave Valley and Edgar Melgoza, 39, Fresno, California when drugs were seized from two vehicles during traffic stops. Carlisle sent Melgoza to prison for 7.5 years in October under…

KINGMAN – Police Chief Rusty Cooper said authorities don’t know if drugs or mental health conditions explain what motivated a Kingman man’s bizarre crime spree on Jan. 7. The ordeal began with a 911 call at 3:08 p.m. that a man confronted and assaulted a 76-year-old woman in the parking lot of Walmart, at 3300 Stockton Hill Road. “He punched the victim in the head and face, knocking her to the ground,” Cooper said. The suspect was later identified as Robert Spano, 42. Cooper said Spano tried to take the woman’s keys from her pockets to steal her vehicle. He…