An Assistant U.S. Attorney, who is in line to be a U.S. Magistrate Judge, is being accused of “hitting on” a female defendant in a kidnapping case he was prosecuting and her attorney wants the case dismissed, according to court testimony Tuesday.
Shana Gaviola, formerly of Clovis, and Julio Sandoval, of Piedmont, Missouri, and a former dean of a boarding school for troubled youth, were indicted in August 2022 for their involvement in a scheme to kidnap Gaviola’s teenage son and secretly transport him to Missouri. The pair are accused of violating a protective order.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine…