Yuba City Man Sentenced to 24 Years for 2023 Manslaughter and Felony Sexual Battery
YUBA COUNTY — A 41-year-old Yuba City resident has been sentenced to 24 years in state prison following plea agreements in a fatal 2023 incident and a separate felony sexual assault case.
Ricky Singh Lasher entered a no contest plea to voluntary manslaughter on April 10, 2026, for the death of Amery Sweany, along with admitting to a 2024 charge of felony sexual battery involving a separate victim. Superior Court Judge Julia Scrogin handed down the 24-year aggregate sentence, which includes mandatory lifetime sex offender registration and a lifetime suspension of driving privileges in California.
Sweany’s body was discovered in an orchard off Simpson Lane in April 2023, with an autopsy confirming she died from blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle. The initial investigation stalled due to minimal physical evidence beyond tire tracks and footwear impressions along a dirt road.
A break occurred in 2024 when a witness contacted investigators after reading a media report, allowing detectives to reconstruct Sweany’s last known movements on April 26, 2023. Surveillance footage captured Lasher repeatedly approaching Sweany near an AM/PM and Habit Burger in Marysville before driving off with her belongings. Further analysis linked tire marks on the victim, debris found on Lasher’s rented vehicle, and footwear impressions in the orchard where Sweany had attempted to flee before being run over.
Recognizing evidential complexities for a jury trial, prosecutors and Sweany’s family agreed to the negotiated plea. The case involved extensive joint efforts by Yuba County Sheriff’s detectives, California Department of Justice analysts, and the California Highway Patrol Valley Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team.
