Romanian EBT theft suspect pleads no contest to all charges
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Romanian man accused with two others of stealing more than $100,000 in EBT funds pleaded no contest Monday to all charges for a court-indicated two-year prison term.
The open plea was made over the objection of prosecutor Anthony Yim, who said defendant Alberto-Ionel Baran faced up to 10 years and eight months in prison if convicted at trial.
Baran deserves more than two years in custody after he 'massively disrupted the lives' of more than 175 people who couldn't withdraw the benefits they needed, Yim said.
In response, defense attorney Victor Nasser noted there are two other defendants charged in the case and the amount the prosecution says was stolen can't be attributed solely to Baran.
Judge Gloria Cannon said she took into account Baran's lack of a prior criminal record and his youth — he's 24 — in making her decision. She said she's aware many people were impacted.
Sentencing is set for June 3.
In November 2024, Baran and two other Romanians — Fernando Stantu and Mari-Mar Milica — were arrested after being found with 48 cloned EBT cards and more than $15,000 in stolen cash, according to prosecutors.
A total of seven Romanian nationals have been identified in Kern County for EBT fraud. Click here for more on 17 News' investigation into this widespread fraud that's affecting thousands of people countywide.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
2nd defendant arraigned in 2020 killing of convenience store clerk
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — One of two men facing murder and attempted robbery charges in connection with the shooting death of a convenience store clerk in 2020 was arraigned Monday afternoon. Not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Miles Clancy and his next hearing date was scheduled June 20. Clancy is being held without bail. Co-defendant Joseph Lee Aguirre was previously arraigned and is due back in court June 25. The shooting happened Oct. 14, 2020, at a convenience store at North Chester and McCord avenues. Man sentenced for deadly shooting of trespasser in Cal City neighborhood Two masked men entered the store and one of them immediately pulled a gun, according to court documents. The clerk grabbed a BB gun to defend himself and was shot once. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspects ran to a waiting black Toyota Corolla. The car was missing its rear license plate, but a review of surveillance footage showed the same vehicle had gone to the store earlier that day, its rear plate clearly visible, investigators said in court documents. Investigators said they tracked down the car's owner and gathered information that helped identify the suspects. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Police use water cannon in response to anti-immigrant violence in Northern Ireland town
LONDON (AP) — Demonstrators pelted police with bricks, bottles and fireworks and set vehicles alight on Tuesday in a second night of anti-immigrant violence in the Northern Ireland town of Ballymena. Police used water cannon and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse a crowd of several hundred people in the town 25 miles (40 km) north of Belfast. Violence erupted Monday after a peaceful march to show support for the family of the victim of an alleged sexual assault on the weekend. Two 14-year-old boys have been charged. The suspects have not been identified because of their age. They were supported in court by a Romanian interpreter. Several houses were set on fire on the first night of disorder on Monday. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said 15 officers were injured. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said officers were 'actively working to identify those responsible for last night's racially motivated disorder in Ballymena and bring them to justice.' He said the violence should be 'loudly condemned by all right thinking people. 'Any attempt to justify or explain it as something else is misplaced,' he said.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
N.Ireland town hit by second night of unrest
Violence flared for a second night Tuesday in a Northern Irish town after "racially motivated" attacks sparked by the arrest of two teenagers accused of attempting to rape a young girl. Hundreds of protestors, many of them masked, took to the streets of Ballymena, throwing petrol bombs, bottles and masonry as police responded with water cannon, an AFP journalist said. There was a heavy police presence in one area of the town, some 30 miles (48 kilometres) northwest of Belfast, as the protesters set fire to a car and barricades. Police also fired plastic baton rounds to disperse the crowds, an AFP journalist saw. Later as night fell, crowds began to disperse in Ballymena although smaller groups still milled around the town centre. And local media reported that protestors were also blocking roads in Belfast. The unrest first erupted Monday night after a vigil in a neighbourhood where an alleged serious sexual assault happened on Saturday. "This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police," Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said Tuesday. He told a press conference: "It was racist thuggery, pure and simply, and any attempt to justify it or explain it as something else is misplaced." Tensions in the town, which has a large migrant population, remained high throughout the day on Tuesday, as residents described the scenes as "terrifying" and told AFP those involved were targeting "foreigners". Two teenage boys, charged by police with the attempted rape of a teenage girl, had appeared in court Monday, where they asked for a Romanian interpreter, local media reports said. The trouble began when masked people "broke away from the vigil and began to build barricades, stockpiling missiles and attacking properties", police said. Houses and businesses were attacked, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said, adding it was investigating "hate attacks". Security forces also came under "sustained attack" with petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks thrown by rioters, injuring 15 officers including some who required hospital treatment, according to the force. One 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with riotous behaviour, disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police. Four houses were damaged by fire, and windows and doors of homes and businesses smashed. Cornelia Albu, 52, a Romanian migrant and mother-of-two who lives opposite a house targeted in the attacks, said her family had been "very scared". "Last night it was crazy because too many people came here and tried to put the house on fire," Albu, who works in a factory, told AFP. She said she would now have to move, but was worried she would not find another place to live because she was Romanian. - 'Scared as hell' - A 22-year-old woman who lives next door to a burnt-out house in the same Clonavon neighbourhood said the night had been "terrifying". "People were going after foreigners, whoever they were, or how innocent they were," the woman, who did not want to share her name for security reasons, told AFP. "But there were local people indoors down the street scared as hell." Northern Ireland saw racism-fuelled disorder in August after similar riots in English towns and cities triggered by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport, northwest England. According to Mark, 24, who did not share his last name, the alleged rape on the weekend was "just a spark". "The foreigners around here don't show respect to the locals, they come here, don't integrate," said Mark. Another man was halfway up a ladder, hanging a Union Jack flag in front of his house as a "precaution -- so people know it's not a foreigner living here". "Ballymena has a large migrant population, a lot of people actually work in the town and provide excellent work," Mayor Jackson Minford told AFP. "Last night unfortunately has probably scared a lot of people. We are actively working to identify those responsible and bring them to justice," said Henderson. A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the "disorder" in Ballymena was "very concerning". pmu-jkb/
