FBI pursues cases against ex-cops from Yuba City, Fresno

Two area cops came down with a case of the Mondays, following separate FBI announcements on May 4.

According to a news release summarizing a four-count indictment against former Yuba City police Officer Gursharan Phagura and a second defendant, the 39-year-old Phagura used his authority within the Yuba City Police Department to gather sensitive information that a co-conspirator then passed onto someone posing as a cocaine trafficker. The alleged scheme crumbled April 15, when both men were arrested.

Phagura is out on $100,000 bond.

Meanwhile, an ex-Fresno vice squad detective recently learned he’d be doing two years in federal prison. Derik Carson Kumagai, 41, received the sentence Monday along with a co-defendant.

According to an FBI release, Kumagai solicited a $20,000 bribe from a suspected marijuana trafficker who was under federal investigation at the time.

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