Latest news with #SonomaCountyDistrictAttorney'sOffice
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Sonoma County court sentences man to 34 years in prison for child sex crimes
(KRON) — A South Carolina man was sentenced in Sonoma County Superior Court to 34 years in state prison Tuesday for multiple child sex crimes. The man, 20-year-old Jordan Evans-Ramirez, of Boiling Springs, pled guilty to multiple crimes committed against two 13-year-old girls, including forcible sexual assault on a child, possession of child pornography and human trafficking of a minor. Bay Area woman caught using n-word in viral TikTok: 'I'm not racist' The Santa Rosa Police Department began investigating the case in February of 2024, when Evans-Ramirez used social media to coerce a 13-year-old girl into sexual acts by threatening to release explicit pictures of her to her friends and family, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office. 'At the sentencing hearing Tuesday morning, a statement provided by the initial victim noted the significant psychological and physical trauma Evans-Ramirez had inflicted on her, and how she will remain impacted and fearful of him for the remainder of her life,' the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said in a press release Thursday. Man who allegedly gunned down 2 people at Vallejo encampment captured: VPD In December of 2025, authorities found a second victim, also 13 years old, while investigating Evans-Ramirez's social media accounts. Evans-Ramirez lured the second victim to isolated locations and sexually abused her, coercing her into sexual acts and offering her drugs and money. 'Messages retrieved from Evans-Ramirez's accounts also revealed disturbing fantasies of violence and domination, underscoring the deliberate nature of his crimes,' the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Alex Fisher. The investigation was led by Detective Matt Sanchez of the Santa Rosa Police Department. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
13-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Friend stole 73-year-old's life savings, left her ‘destitute,' CA officials say
A retired Internal Revenue Service agent is accused of stealing her friend's life savings in a scheme, California prosecutors said. Elana Cohen-Roth, 81, of Marina Del Rey was sentenced to 12 years in state prison in relation to a yearslong scheme, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said in a May 9 news release. 'The victim's years of hard work and lifetime savings are gone due to Ms. Cohen-Roth's greed,' District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in the release. 'Unfortunately, the victim will never be made whole financially and her life is forever impacted.' Attorney information for Cohen-Roth was not immediately available. Years of 'investments' Cohen-Roth is accused of stealing from the Sonoma County woman over a seven-year period, prosecutors said. In 2013, Cohen-Roth, 'a retired IRS agent and professional tax preparer,' was working on the woman's taxes, prosecutors said. 'They quickly became good friends,' prosecutors said. Through their relationship, both personally and professionally, Cohen-Roth got access to the woman's financial information, prosecutors said. She told her friend 'that while her investments were making some money, she could earn far more by investing with her,' according to prosecutors. Cohen-Roth offered to invest her friend's money in a real estate deal — one that would 'earn at least 10% interest at 'no risk,'' prosecutors said. Given Cohen-Roth's position and their friendship, the woman 'completely trusted' the financial advice, prosecutors said. Cohen-Roth's 'investment opportunities' continued, and the woman agreed to 20 'investments,' according to prosecutors. The ''investments' ranged from $25,000 to $150,000 each and all carried the same promise of at least 10% interest at 'no risk,'' prosecutors said. With each incident, the woman liquidated her investments, then wired money to Cohen-Roth, thinking her money was being invested, prosecutors said. Bank records reveal scheme Cohen-Roth's bank records, however, showed otherwise, prosecutors said. She was instead 'running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme,' wherein 'investors' deposited large sums of money into her bank account, according to prosecutors. Cohen-Roth used some of the woman's money to pay those who 'invested' with her earlier, prosecutors said. She 'used the rest to support her lavish lifestyle and make gifts to family members,' prosecutors said. After the friend depleted all her investments by September 2019, she 'took out a reverse mortgage to send additional money to Cohen-Roth,' prosecutors said. Scheme falls apart When the friend demanded some of her money back so she could relocate near family in 2020, 'Cohen-Roth's Ponzi scheme collapsed,' prosecutors said. With no money to pay her friend, 'the entire scheme fell apart,' according to prosecutors. None of the woman's money was ever returned to her, prosecutors said. 'The then 73-year-old victim went from owning her own home and having around $1,000,000 in investments to live on, to being financially destitute,' prosecutors said. The woman couldn't afford daily living expenses, 'while Elana Cohen-Roth lived comfortably on the victim's money,' prosecutors said. The scheme left the woman 'devastated financially and emotionally,' prosecutors said. 'The discovery that her dear and trusted friend turned out to be a con-artist who was just using her to satisfy her own greed was heart-wrenching,' prosecutors said. A jury convicted Cohen-Roth of 23 felony financial fraud charges after a three-week long trial, prosecutors said. Because of her age, Cohen-Roth was given a 12-year prison sentence, as opposed to a maximum term of 28 years, according to prosecutors.
San Francisco Chronicle
10-05-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tax preparer sentenced for defrauding Bay Area woman of life savings
An 81-year-old retired IRS agent has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after a Sonoma County jury convicted her of systematically defrauding a woman of her life savings. While working as a professional tax preparer, former IRS agent Elana Cohen-Roth befriended a client, a 66-year-old Sonoma County woman, according to a news release from the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office about the case. After gaining access to the victim's financial information, Cohen-Roth told her that she could get better returns on her investments by entrusting the tax preparer with the money, promising she would invest it in real estate deals that would provide reliable, 'no risk' returns of 10% or more. From December 2013 to September 2019, Cohen-Roth pitched 'investment opportunities' to the victim more than 20 times, in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $150,000 each. Each time, the victim liquidated investments and sent the resulting funds to Cohen-Roth, who she believed was investing the money on her behalf. Instead, prosecutors ultimately discovered that Cohen-Roth was running 'a sophisticated Ponzi scheme' where she used the victim's money to pay off dividends to other people who she'd entrapped in the same scheme. Cohen-Roth also used the funds to support a lavish lifestyle and make gifts to family members, prosecutors said. By September 2019, Cohen-Roth had bilked the victim of all of her investments and persuaded her to take a reverse mortgage on her home, prosecutors said. The Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2020 when the victim asked for some of the money back so that she could move to be near family. With no other victims, Cohen-Roth couldn't pay the woman back, and 'the entire scheme fell apart,' according to the DA's office. Then 73 years old, the victim went from owning her own home and investments of about $1 million to being financially destitute and unable to pay for her minimal daily living expenses even as Cohen-Roth had lived comfortably on her money, prosecutors said. The victim was devastated financially and emotionally by Cohen-Roth's deceit: The discovery that her trusted friend turned out to be a con artist who was just using her to satisfy her own greed was heart-wrenching, prosecutors said. After a three-week trial, a Sonoma County jury convicted Cohen-Roth of 23 felony financial fraud charges, which could have carried a sentence of up to 28 years in prison. Judge Paige Hein handed down a 12-year sentence Friday due to Cohen-Roth's advanced age, but acknowledged the severe harm her behavior caused to the victim's physical and emotional health, according to the DA's office. District Attorney Carla Rodriguez, in a statement, called the sentence 'entirely appropriate' and said she hopes it will provide some sense of justice to the victim. 'The victim's years of hard work and lifetime savings are gone due to Ms. Cohen-Roth's greed,' Rodriguez said. 'Unfortunately, the victim will never be made whole financially and her life is forever impacted.' The Sonoma County Public Defender's Office, which represented Cohen-Roth, was not available for comment Saturday morning.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Career criminal sentenced for Petaluma murder
(KRON) — A Sonoma County judge sentenced a killer to serve 50 years to life in state prison for committing a 2024 murder in Petaluma. Paul Coilton, 59, pleaded no contest last month to murdering 49-year-old Steven Edward Lopez, prosecutors said. Coilton was sentenced by Judge Laura Passaglia on Wednesday. District Attorney Rodriguez said, 'It is incredibly sad to hear the impact that this offense has had on the family members of the victim in this case. This was a senseless tragedy, and hopefully this sentence brings some small measure of closure to the family.' Coilton shot Lopez five times and left him dying on the side of Highway 116 near Ernie's Tin Bar in Petaluma on November 10, 2024, prosecutors said. The victim died in an ambulance on his way to a hospital. Sheriff's deputies found the murder weapon, a .380 Ruger Security handgun, at the scene. Investigators found surveillance video showing the two men loading marijuana into the back of Lopez's truck just before the homicide. Twelve hours after Lopez died, deputies spotted Coilton driving the victim's truck in San Jose and arrested him. Man arrested in connection with Oakland I-880 shooting Coilton entered a 'no contest' plea on February 6 to first-degree murder. The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office described Coilton as a career criminal. He cycled in and out of prisons for decades, completed five different sentences, and his record dates back to 1983, according to the DA's office. Despite his new lengthy sentence, the 59-year-old inmate will have a chance for parole in 20 years because of his age. The district attorney's office explained, 'Although Coilton was sentenced to a term of 50 years to life in prison, under California's elder parole statute which was enacted by the California legislature in 2018, Coilton will be eligible for possible release after serving only 20 years of his sentence.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
