Two men plead guilty in $1.5M conspiracy to defraud Tulare County construction company
Two men have pleaded guilty to defrauding a Tulare County construction company of up to $1.5 million worth of building materials.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced David Theron Ross — 64 of Sparks, Nevada — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Monday.
Ross is accused of working alongside Eduardo Jara, 37, of Lindsay to defraud a construction company they worked for. Prosecutors say the scheme occurred from March 2021 to December 2023 in Tulare County.
Jara, an assistant purchasing manager for the company, would order the building materials before Ross — a forklift driver — would sell the materials to local companies, prosecutors say.
The two would share the proceeds, prosecutors say, and Jara would submit falsified receipts to the company headquarters in Michigan.
The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office investigated alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Ross is set to be sentenced August 24. Jara pleaded guilty on April 20 and is set to be sentenced on July 27.
Ross and Jara face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Two men plead guilty in $1.5M conspiracy to defraud Tulare County construction company."
