Stanislaus County Private Investigator Sentenced for Conspiring to Obstruct Justice

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Gary L. Ermoian, 52, of Modesto, was sentenced today to six months in prison and six months in a community corrections center for conspiring to obstruct justice. Ermoian, a private investigator in Stanislaus County, was charged with conspiring to obstruct an FBI investigation into Bob Holloway and others. Trial was held in August 2010, and Ermoian and co-defendant Steve Johnson were convicted. Holloway pleaded guilty to racketeering charges prior to trial.

As the wiretap evidence introduce at trial revealed, in September 2007, Ermoian, acting on confidential law enforcement information received from a retired Stanislaus County Deputy Sheriff, alerted Holloway to the fact that search warrants might be executed at Holloway’s residence and business. Thereafter, Ermoian and Holloway discussed how to hide evidence from law enforcement, and Ermoian and Johnson discussed possible law enforcement surveillance activity at Road Dog Cycle (Holloway’s business).

Johnson’s sentencing is set for May 16, 2011, before Judge Oliver W. Wanger.

This case was the product of an extensive investigation by the Central Valley Gang Impact Task Force, a task force composed of state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Modesto Police Department, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Cullers and Laurel J. Montoya prosecuted the case.