AJ Man Gets 133 Years In Molestation Case
Found guilty on 19 of 26 counts involving girls from ages 8 to 15
By Jill Jones
The News
FLORENCE- Pinal County Superior Court Judge Stephen McCarville handed down a 133 year sentence in a sexual molestation case involving an Apache Junction man and four female juveniles.
   The sentence was imposed on Jeremy Dean Garcia, 37, last Friday, January 4, 2008, following his conviction on 19 of 26 counts of felony sexual abuse and molestation charges earlier last year.
   Garcia was sentenced to 102 years to be served day-for-day and another 31 years to be served consecutively. According to Apache Junction Police (AJPD) Interim Chief Tom Kelly, if the judged had not ruled for the 31 years to be served concurrently, Garcia’s sentence would have stretched to 170 years.
   Garcia was found guilty of sexually molesting four girls, ranging in age from 8-15 years of age, over a period of six years. The assaults were said to have occurred in his home in the 1900 block of South Plaza Dr.
   The case came to the attention of the AJPD in 2005 but a lack of evidence prevented Garcia’s arrest until a break in the case in April 2006.  

See A-1

Detention Officer Indicted On Felony Charges
Apache Junction resident suspected of selling marijuana and bringing contraband into county jail
By Ed Barker
The News
FLORENCE- A Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Detention Officer (DO) was indicted on two felony counts by a Pinal County Grand Jury on December 27, 2007.
   The indictment comes following a three month investigation into the activities of Officer Jose (Joe) Dolores Felix, 45, of Apache Junction, who has been charged with two Class Two Felonies for conspiracy to take contraband into a correctional facility and conspiracy to transport and/or sell marijuana.
   Felix, who was reportedly on a medical leave at the time of the indictment, turned himself in to authorities on Thursday, January 2, 2008 and made his initial appearance in Pinal County Superior Court at 4 p.m. Felix is being held in a Maricopa County Jail facility on a $250,000 secured bond while he awaits further charges.
   Felix is currently on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case and an additional ongoing PCSO Professional Standards investigation.

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School District Facing Choices
AJUSD to host community meetings in January to discuss budget cuts
APACHE JUNCTION- Due to the defeat of the Apache Junction Unified School District Override Renewal in a November election, decisions are going to have to be made before June regarding where cuts will be made in the 2008-2009 school budget to accommodate the necessitated $1 million annual cutback, according to district officials.
   In an effort to involve the community in the decision-making process, the district will be hosting three Community Town Hall meetings in January that all interested persons — parents and non-parents — are being encouraged to attend. The topic will be “Challenges and Choices,” and the Town Hall meetings will be held on Tuesday, January 15, Tuesday, January 22, and Tuesday, January 29. All of the meetings will begin at 7 p.m.
   “The forums will involve recognizing the challenges facing us and taking input from the community as we seek solutions and prioritize. This input, along with suggestions coming internally from employees, will be used in producing recommendations for the governing board,” said Dr. Greg Wyman, superintendent.
   He explained that input from the January meetings will be used to create initial recommendations which will then be brought back to be shared with the community at March meetings for more feedback. Final recommendations for measures to adopt will be presented by staff to the governing board late this spring as next year’s budget is being formulated.  
   “We sincerely want people to participate in these discussions; we want the community to be involved,” Wyman emphasized. He added that people can attend one, two or all three of these sessions, although he explained that they will all be essentially the same in format and scope. The group attending the meeting will be broken into smaller discussions groups, if necessary, so that everyone’s ideas can be heard and recorded, Wyman said.

See A-1

AJ Football ‘Giving Back’
Prospector players, coaches help to build Habitat for Humanity home
By Chuck Baker
The News
Their season ended more than a month ago but that doesn’t mean the Prospector football players at Apache Junction High School are taking it easy during their off season. This past Saturday, approximately thirty players arrived at 1762 W. Mockingbird Street to help build a Habitat for Humanity home for a most deserving Apache Junction family.
   The players traded in their helmets, pads and cleats on Saturday for hammers, screwdrivers and paint brushes as they worked several hours helping to build a home for the Cobian family.
   The Cobians, father Jose and mother Maria, and their four children, Bernice, 14, John, 8, Calvin, 7, and one-year-old Jeremiah, were eager to participate in the Habitat homeownership program and have expressed their gratefulness to those helping to make a dream come true.
   “To those involved in the Habitat mission: we will thank you for the rest of our lives,” Jose Cobian said.

See C-1 and See Habitat, C-6