LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court will listen to oral arguments from Roman Polanski's attorneys about why it should require a lower court to decide whether to dismiss charges against the fugitive director, whether he is present or not.
Polanski in July appealed a Los Angeles Superior Court judge's decision not to dismiss the criminal case because the director didn't appear for a hearing. The California Second District Court of Appeal on Monday set oral arguments for Dec. 10.
Los Angeles authorities have considered the Oscar-winning director a fugitive since he fled the United States in February 1978 just before he was to be sentenced for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.
The appeal was filed before Polanski's arrest in Switzerland on Sept. 25. He has resisted efforts to return him to Los Angeles. Extradition paperwork filed by U.S. authorities states the maximum sentence that Polanski, 76, faces is two years in prison.
Polanski's French attorney has filed a new bail offer with Swiss authorities in an attempt to free the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
Lawyer Herve Temime said the offer Monday includes "adequate guarantees" that Polanski will not flee justice if released. Polanski is awaiting a decision on extradition to the United States.
Switzerland's Justice Ministry rejected a bail offer Friday, considering Polanski a high flight risk. They noted it was not a cash offer.
Temime said Sunday the new offer would include a "very, very significant" cash amount, but he gave no further details Monday.
The California appellate court's decision to schedule oral arguments came 10 days after prosecutors and Polanski's attorneys filed supplemental briefs on why the appeal should either be heard or dismissed.
Prosecutors have consistently argued that Polanski needs to be present for the judge to consider whether to dismiss the case against him. They argued the appeal should be barred by Polanski's status as a fugitive, and that his arrest has rendered the case moot since there is now a chance that he will be returned to the United States.
Polanski's attorneys, however, argued his status as a fugitive shouldn't disqualify his appeal. The Superior Court judge should be required to decide whether to dismiss the case because of a judge's misconduct in handling Polanski's original criminal case, they stated in court filings.
They also contend that because of the previous misconduct, Polanski should not have to attend the hearing.
Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, has repeatedly asked for dismissal of the charges against Polanski. Her attorney filed a declaration in the appeals case last month, stating that the case's re-emergence has caused her undisclosed health issues and problems at her workplace.
Source
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Authorities release details in case of Pomona man linked to three killings
A Pomona man charged in connection with a September gang killing and linked to two additional killings is expected to be arraigned on murder charges this morning.
Robert Louis Caballero, 32, had been charged Oct. 30 in connection to the Sept. 29 shooting death of Armando Vidana, 25, of Pomona, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In the hours after Caballero was arrested Saturday by Pomona police, investigators learned the locations of two additional victims whose killings are believed to be tied to Caballero, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
"We do believe they're related," Whitmore said.
Authorities identified the two additional victims as El Monte native David Arthur Padilla Jr., 29, whose body was found under a Chino freeway overpass, and 32-year-old Lorraine Minjarez of Covina. Minjarez's body was buried along Mt. Baldy Road in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Multiple police sources declined to specify how authorities learned of the two additional victims.
Vidana was shot multiple times after 3 a.m. Sept. 29 in the 600 block of Illinois Street and later died at a local hospital.
Investigators linked Caballero to the shooting after witnesses told police that prior to Vidana's death, Caballero told people he was going to kill him, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd said.Caballero and Vidana were members of rival gangs, and Caballero's motive in the killing was related to the gang rivalry, Dodd said.
Three days after the killing, on Oct. 2, police located Caballero and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Jessica Renee Prendiz of Pomona, Dodd said.
Caballero and Prendiz ran from police, and as they fled Prendiz discarded the weapon allegedly used to kill Vidana, Dodd said.
Prendiz was later captured and has been charged with an accessory to murder after the fact. She remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail and is next due in Pomona Superior Court on Nov. 24.
At about 1 a.m. Saturday, Pomona police attempted to stop a car for a routine traffic violation in the area of Holt Avenue and Reservoir Street, according to a police news release.
The driver, who was Caballero, led officers on a brief pursuit into Montclair. His silver Dodge Charger crashed into a light pole at Pradera Avenue and Granada Street. He attempted to flee on foot before he was arrested, police said.
Source
Robert Louis Caballero, 32, had been charged Oct. 30 in connection to the Sept. 29 shooting death of Armando Vidana, 25, of Pomona, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In the hours after Caballero was arrested Saturday by Pomona police, investigators learned the locations of two additional victims whose killings are believed to be tied to Caballero, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
"We do believe they're related," Whitmore said.
Authorities identified the two additional victims as El Monte native David Arthur Padilla Jr., 29, whose body was found under a Chino freeway overpass, and 32-year-old Lorraine Minjarez of Covina. Minjarez's body was buried along Mt. Baldy Road in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Multiple police sources declined to specify how authorities learned of the two additional victims.
Vidana was shot multiple times after 3 a.m. Sept. 29 in the 600 block of Illinois Street and later died at a local hospital.
Investigators linked Caballero to the shooting after witnesses told police that prior to Vidana's death, Caballero told people he was going to kill him, Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd said.Caballero and Vidana were members of rival gangs, and Caballero's motive in the killing was related to the gang rivalry, Dodd said.
Three days after the killing, on Oct. 2, police located Caballero and his girlfriend, 20-year-old Jessica Renee Prendiz of Pomona, Dodd said.
Caballero and Prendiz ran from police, and as they fled Prendiz discarded the weapon allegedly used to kill Vidana, Dodd said.
Prendiz was later captured and has been charged with an accessory to murder after the fact. She remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail and is next due in Pomona Superior Court on Nov. 24.
At about 1 a.m. Saturday, Pomona police attempted to stop a car for a routine traffic violation in the area of Holt Avenue and Reservoir Street, according to a police news release.
The driver, who was Caballero, led officers on a brief pursuit into Montclair. His silver Dodge Charger crashed into a light pole at Pradera Avenue and Granada Street. He attempted to flee on foot before he was arrested, police said.
Source
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Petters' attorneys lose bid for mistrial
The fraud trial of Tom Petters turned contentious Monday as his attorneys had their request for a mistrial immediately denied and prosecutors played an audiotape to show Petters was running out of energy to keep the scheme alive several weeks before federal authorities raided his business.
Prosecutors put Larry Reynolds, a former attorney who has a lengthy criminal past, on the stand. Reynolds said he was deeply involved in the alleged $3.5 billion fraud scheme at Petters Co. Inc.
But after his testimony ended and the jury left the courtroom, Petters' defense team told U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle that he had prevented them from asking the questions they wanted of Reynolds, whom they called their most important witness.
"There's a fraud within a fraud," defense attorney Paul Engh said.
Engh argued for the mistrial because Kyle repeatedly upheld prosecutors' objections to questions about Reynold's history.
Specifically, Reynolds was involved in a scheme in Massachusetts in the early 1980s to collect $700,000, even as he was cooperating with federal authorities and wearing a concealed recording device to catch another criminal, Engh said with the jury absent.
"He lied to the jury about his crimes," Engh said. "The jury has to hear the truth."
Reynolds' birth name is Larry Reservitz, and he is a native of the Boston area who was disbarred in the early 1970s after he took part in a scheme to file fake insurance claims for auto accidents.
Reynoldsfled the country to avoid prosecution in the insurance fraud case. He later returned to Massachusetts and pleaded guilty to larceny in 1973.
By the early 1980s, Reynolds was involved in other crimes and pleaded guilty to a drug charge stemming from an attempt to bring a semi-truck full of marijuana into Massachusetts.
Soon after, facing charges on another scam involving bank checks, he said, he agreed to work with prosecutors and wore the hidden recording device to bring down another criminal deal. Afterward, he said, he learned that a contract had been put out on his life. After serving 13 months of an 18-month sentence, he entered the federal witness protection program.
The program issued him a new Social Security number, gave him a new name — Larry Reynolds — and relocated his family to San Diego.
He testified that he met Petters in the mid-1990s and said they initially did legitimate business deals together, involving buying and reselling shoes and clothing. Reynolds said he never told Petters about his past.
Reynolds testified that Petters asked him in 1998 to come up with a fake invoice for $1.7 million. Petters needed it to convince investors he had a real deal for shoes, Reynolds said, explaining that he made up the fake invoice that Petters used to get the financing, and the fraud scheme with Reynolds only grew after that.
Reynolds also testified that when Petters needed warehouses that an insurance inspector could visit, Reynolds contacted a friend and inspections were set up in the friend's warehouses. The insurance inspection documents were then presented to investors to reassure them that the deals were real and that the consumer electronics and other goods were secured by an insurance policy.
The insurance inspectors were concerned with the security of the warehouses "sprinkler systems, alarm systems, locks" and not the presence of actual merchandise, Reynolds said. Over the years, Reynolds said he moved $12 billion through bank accounts for Petters, helping convince investors that the money was actually being used to finance the purchase of consumer electronics.
Reynolds has pleaded guilty to fraud and is hoping his testimony in the Petters case will reduce the 20-year maximum sentence he faces.
Petters is on trial on 20 counts of fraud related and faces 30 years in prison. He told investors he was using their money to buy massive amounts of consumer goods and sell them to retailers, prosecutors say, but in fact was constantly dependent on finding new investors to pay off existing ones.
Petters maintains his associates carried out the alleged fraud behind his back.
In other testimony, Reynolds said that on the evening of Sept. 23, 2008, he and Petters were at the Bellagio resort casino in Las Vegas, playing slots and discussing the pressure they were under.
Reynolds worked from Los Angeles and Las Vegas and rarely came to the Twin Cities. Petters wanted Reynolds to act as an auditor at Petters Co. in Minnetonka to satisfy the hedge funds, Reynolds said. "I said I just can't do it," Reynolds testified. "I haven't the vaguest idea what an auditor does to come up with their numbers."
The next morning, federal authorities raided Petters' headquarters and searched the homes of Reynolds and several others involved in the scheme.
Engh's cross-examination of Reynolds focused on his criminal past and a pattern of activity.
"All you've done through the courts is commit crimes, get caught, testify and hope for a break," Engh said. "It's the Larry Reynolds way, isn't it?" Engh was cut off by an objection before Reynolds could respond.
Prosecutors also played an audio recording, which they said Deanna Coleman, a Petters' aide, captured with a secret device in Petters' corporate offices Sept. 9, 2008.
Executives at Petters Co. had just heard that Palm Beach Capital Group, a hedge fund that invested in the company, was planning to send auditors the next day.
"The auditors suspect this is a complete fraud," Jim Wehmhoff, an accountant and Petters executive, says on the tape. Wehmhoff has pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud and could testify as early as today. Petters says on the tape that he would call Palm Beach and tell them not to send auditors, but no one in the conversation is convinced anything can keep the auditors out.
Wehmhoff discusses what records the auditors would want and what the company had to give them.
"By the way, you didn't get us into this," Petters tells Wehmhoff. As Wehmhoff asks what they can show auditors, Petters says, "What are you going to give them, Jim? Empty hands?"
Petters says later on the tape that he had been trying to raise money seven days a week for 12 months and that he was wearing out.
"I can't put on a game face anymore," Petters says. "I can't do it anymore. I can't. I'm done."
As the executives in the room talked about how the scheme might collapse, Petters says, "You don't know how bad it's going to be."
Source
Prosecutors put Larry Reynolds, a former attorney who has a lengthy criminal past, on the stand. Reynolds said he was deeply involved in the alleged $3.5 billion fraud scheme at Petters Co. Inc.
But after his testimony ended and the jury left the courtroom, Petters' defense team told U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle that he had prevented them from asking the questions they wanted of Reynolds, whom they called their most important witness.
"There's a fraud within a fraud," defense attorney Paul Engh said.
Engh argued for the mistrial because Kyle repeatedly upheld prosecutors' objections to questions about Reynold's history.
Specifically, Reynolds was involved in a scheme in Massachusetts in the early 1980s to collect $700,000, even as he was cooperating with federal authorities and wearing a concealed recording device to catch another criminal, Engh said with the jury absent.
"He lied to the jury about his crimes," Engh said. "The jury has to hear the truth."
Reynolds' birth name is Larry Reservitz, and he is a native of the Boston area who was disbarred in the early 1970s after he took part in a scheme to file fake insurance claims for auto accidents.
Reynoldsfled the country to avoid prosecution in the insurance fraud case. He later returned to Massachusetts and pleaded guilty to larceny in 1973.
By the early 1980s, Reynolds was involved in other crimes and pleaded guilty to a drug charge stemming from an attempt to bring a semi-truck full of marijuana into Massachusetts.
Soon after, facing charges on another scam involving bank checks, he said, he agreed to work with prosecutors and wore the hidden recording device to bring down another criminal deal. Afterward, he said, he learned that a contract had been put out on his life. After serving 13 months of an 18-month sentence, he entered the federal witness protection program.
The program issued him a new Social Security number, gave him a new name — Larry Reynolds — and relocated his family to San Diego.
He testified that he met Petters in the mid-1990s and said they initially did legitimate business deals together, involving buying and reselling shoes and clothing. Reynolds said he never told Petters about his past.
Reynolds testified that Petters asked him in 1998 to come up with a fake invoice for $1.7 million. Petters needed it to convince investors he had a real deal for shoes, Reynolds said, explaining that he made up the fake invoice that Petters used to get the financing, and the fraud scheme with Reynolds only grew after that.
Reynolds also testified that when Petters needed warehouses that an insurance inspector could visit, Reynolds contacted a friend and inspections were set up in the friend's warehouses. The insurance inspection documents were then presented to investors to reassure them that the deals were real and that the consumer electronics and other goods were secured by an insurance policy.
The insurance inspectors were concerned with the security of the warehouses "sprinkler systems, alarm systems, locks" and not the presence of actual merchandise, Reynolds said. Over the years, Reynolds said he moved $12 billion through bank accounts for Petters, helping convince investors that the money was actually being used to finance the purchase of consumer electronics.
Reynolds has pleaded guilty to fraud and is hoping his testimony in the Petters case will reduce the 20-year maximum sentence he faces.
Petters is on trial on 20 counts of fraud related and faces 30 years in prison. He told investors he was using their money to buy massive amounts of consumer goods and sell them to retailers, prosecutors say, but in fact was constantly dependent on finding new investors to pay off existing ones.
Petters maintains his associates carried out the alleged fraud behind his back.
In other testimony, Reynolds said that on the evening of Sept. 23, 2008, he and Petters were at the Bellagio resort casino in Las Vegas, playing slots and discussing the pressure they were under.
Reynolds worked from Los Angeles and Las Vegas and rarely came to the Twin Cities. Petters wanted Reynolds to act as an auditor at Petters Co. in Minnetonka to satisfy the hedge funds, Reynolds said. "I said I just can't do it," Reynolds testified. "I haven't the vaguest idea what an auditor does to come up with their numbers."
The next morning, federal authorities raided Petters' headquarters and searched the homes of Reynolds and several others involved in the scheme.
Engh's cross-examination of Reynolds focused on his criminal past and a pattern of activity.
"All you've done through the courts is commit crimes, get caught, testify and hope for a break," Engh said. "It's the Larry Reynolds way, isn't it?" Engh was cut off by an objection before Reynolds could respond.
Prosecutors also played an audio recording, which they said Deanna Coleman, a Petters' aide, captured with a secret device in Petters' corporate offices Sept. 9, 2008.
Executives at Petters Co. had just heard that Palm Beach Capital Group, a hedge fund that invested in the company, was planning to send auditors the next day.
"The auditors suspect this is a complete fraud," Jim Wehmhoff, an accountant and Petters executive, says on the tape. Wehmhoff has pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud and could testify as early as today. Petters says on the tape that he would call Palm Beach and tell them not to send auditors, but no one in the conversation is convinced anything can keep the auditors out.
Wehmhoff discusses what records the auditors would want and what the company had to give them.
"By the way, you didn't get us into this," Petters tells Wehmhoff. As Wehmhoff asks what they can show auditors, Petters says, "What are you going to give them, Jim? Empty hands?"
Petters says later on the tape that he had been trying to raise money seven days a week for 12 months and that he was wearing out.
"I can't put on a game face anymore," Petters says. "I can't do it anymore. I can't. I'm done."
As the executives in the room talked about how the scheme might collapse, Petters says, "You don't know how bad it's going to be."
Source
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Spinka Grand Rabbi, Four Others Plead Guilty
Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Weisz, the Brooklyn-based grand rabbi of the Spinka sect, along with four local associates, pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy charges in downtown federal district court Monday.
As part of the plea agreement, Weisz, 61, admitted he worked with others in a decade-long $8.5 million tax fraud and money-laundering scheme, which was set up to fund four charities and a school for Spinka, an ultra-Orthodox sect that originated in 19th century Romania and has adherents in Israel, Europe and Brooklyn.
The Spinka pleas come nearly two weeks after U.S. prosecutors charged five Syrian rabbis from New York and New Jersey in a public corruption and international money-laundering investigation that included three mayors and two state assemblymen. But local prosecutors say the July 23 arrests had no direct influence on Monday’s guilty pleas.
“They had executed the plea agreement prior to the arrests in New Jersey,” U.S. assistant attorney Dan O’Brien said.
According to the federal prosecutors, the Spinka scam began in 1996 and continued until 2007, laundering money back to donors — up to 95 percent, based on court documents — through a network of Los Angeles businesses, including some in and around the city’s downtown jewelry district, as well as through donors and the Tel Aviv-based United Mizrahi Bank and its Los Angeles branch.
In his plea agreement, Weisz admitted learning from his assistant, Gabbai Moshe E. Zigelman, that Spinka charities received nearly $8.5 million in 2006 and had “profits” of $744,596 after deducting amounts paid back to various contributors.
Los Angeles businessman Robert Kasirer, who had helped raise money for Spinka, first tipped off investigators about the scam in October 2004, when he turned state’s evidence in exchange for a reduced sentence on civil fraud charges stemming from his health care business.
The four local Spinka associates who also pleaded guilty Monday for their roles in the money-transfer network included Alan Jay Friedman, 45; Moshe Arie Lazar, 62; Yosef Nachum Naiman, 57; and Yaacov Zeivald, 44.
In March, Weisz’s assistant, Zigelman, 62, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in June 2008. Joseph Roth, an Israeli banker who also pleaded guilty in June 2008 for his role, was sentenced to 14 months and released on time served.
Weisz is scheduled for a Nov. 16 sentencing and is expected to face a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison. Friedman, Lazar and Zeivald will be sentenced Nov. 23, while Naiman will appear on Nov. 30.
Defense attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
Federal prosecutors are still investigating more than 100 contributors to Spinka charities, and O’Brien said he expects two plea agreements from contributors in the coming weeks.
Attorneys for five Spinka charitable organizations are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter regarding a plea agreement for Spinka’s charities on Wednesday. Yeshiva Imrei Yosef Spinka is expected to enter a guilty plea to similar conspiracy charges, and will likely face a fine. As part of the plea agreement, which was filed Tuesday, O’Brien said other Spinka charities would not be charged but would face strict compliance rules, including maintaining detailed accounting records and adopting corporate ethics rules.
Sentencing for the yeshiva is also expected to take place in November.
Source
As part of the plea agreement, Weisz, 61, admitted he worked with others in a decade-long $8.5 million tax fraud and money-laundering scheme, which was set up to fund four charities and a school for Spinka, an ultra-Orthodox sect that originated in 19th century Romania and has adherents in Israel, Europe and Brooklyn.
The Spinka pleas come nearly two weeks after U.S. prosecutors charged five Syrian rabbis from New York and New Jersey in a public corruption and international money-laundering investigation that included three mayors and two state assemblymen. But local prosecutors say the July 23 arrests had no direct influence on Monday’s guilty pleas.
“They had executed the plea agreement prior to the arrests in New Jersey,” U.S. assistant attorney Dan O’Brien said.
According to the federal prosecutors, the Spinka scam began in 1996 and continued until 2007, laundering money back to donors — up to 95 percent, based on court documents — through a network of Los Angeles businesses, including some in and around the city’s downtown jewelry district, as well as through donors and the Tel Aviv-based United Mizrahi Bank and its Los Angeles branch.
In his plea agreement, Weisz admitted learning from his assistant, Gabbai Moshe E. Zigelman, that Spinka charities received nearly $8.5 million in 2006 and had “profits” of $744,596 after deducting amounts paid back to various contributors.
Los Angeles businessman Robert Kasirer, who had helped raise money for Spinka, first tipped off investigators about the scam in October 2004, when he turned state’s evidence in exchange for a reduced sentence on civil fraud charges stemming from his health care business.
The four local Spinka associates who also pleaded guilty Monday for their roles in the money-transfer network included Alan Jay Friedman, 45; Moshe Arie Lazar, 62; Yosef Nachum Naiman, 57; and Yaacov Zeivald, 44.
In March, Weisz’s assistant, Zigelman, 62, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in June 2008. Joseph Roth, an Israeli banker who also pleaded guilty in June 2008 for his role, was sentenced to 14 months and released on time served.
Weisz is scheduled for a Nov. 16 sentencing and is expected to face a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison. Friedman, Lazar and Zeivald will be sentenced Nov. 23, while Naiman will appear on Nov. 30.
Defense attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
Federal prosecutors are still investigating more than 100 contributors to Spinka charities, and O’Brien said he expects two plea agreements from contributors in the coming weeks.
Attorneys for five Spinka charitable organizations are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter regarding a plea agreement for Spinka’s charities on Wednesday. Yeshiva Imrei Yosef Spinka is expected to enter a guilty plea to similar conspiracy charges, and will likely face a fine. As part of the plea agreement, which was filed Tuesday, O’Brien said other Spinka charities would not be charged but would face strict compliance rules, including maintaining detailed accounting records and adopting corporate ethics rules.
Sentencing for the yeshiva is also expected to take place in November.
Source
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Carpet Cleaner Pleads Guilty to Ten Criminal Counts
The owner of a carpet cleaning company that bullied customers, many of them elderly, into paying multiple times the advertised price was found guilty of fraud Tuesday after an investigation launched by the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office.
Sharon “Sean” Gilboa, the owner of a Los Angeles-based carpet cleaning company, pled guilty to four counts of grand theft and six counts of false advertising stemming from his company’s “widespread fraud operation” in Southern California, the City Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
The City Attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit began investigating the company after an 85-year-old Santa Monica resident complained she had paid $560 to clean the carpet in her 570-square-foot apartment, or more than 1,000 percent more than the advertised price of $49.95.
The company -- which bargained down from an initial $2,000 estimate and intimidated the elderly woman into accepting the final offer -- left the carpet wet and did not return her calls.
Another customer – this one an 89-year-old Los Angeles woman who lives alone – responded to the same ad and was coerced into paying the company $1,600, according to the complaint filed by the City.
“This is a shameful scam,” said Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky. “The promise of carpet cleaning is just a ruse to get these bullies into people’s homes.
“We caution everyone to use carpet cleaners only after verifying that the company is legitimate, with a real location, a local business license, and a good rating with the Better Business Bureau.”
Formerly known as Clean Dry USA, Gilboa’s company later changed names to Target Carpet Care, Clean N’ Dry Carpet and, more recently, SoCal Dry-Tech.
The company ran glossy color ads in the Clipper Magazine, Money Mailer, and other prominent advertising circulars, Radinsky said.
“The ads offered to clean three rooms of carpet for $49.95, using special “dry” cleaning technology,” he said. “However, when customers requested service, a very different scenario took place”
According to Radinsky, the company would send an operative to the customer’s home who would then use “bullying, intimidation, and false statements to coerce the customer into paying many times the advertised price.
“Often the operative began ‘cleaning’ before the customer agreed to any work, or to a price,” Radinsky said.
The operatives would then set the price “based on the perceived vulnerability of the customer,” Radinsky said. Elderly customers were charged more than other customers.
“The ‘service’ provided was usually worthless,” he said. “Most customers’ carpeting was left wet and in worse condition than before.”
The operation was widespread, covering most of Southern California, with ads appearing in coupon circulars distributed as far apart as Ventura County, the Inland Empire, Orange County, and all parts of Los Angeles County.
Under the agreement reached with the Santa Monica City Attorney’s office, Gilboa was sentenced to three years’ probation.
He must refund the full amount to all customers, a sum that totals more than $20,000, and perform 360 hours of hard labor community service.
Source
Sharon “Sean” Gilboa, the owner of a Los Angeles-based carpet cleaning company, pled guilty to four counts of grand theft and six counts of false advertising stemming from his company’s “widespread fraud operation” in Southern California, the City Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
The City Attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit began investigating the company after an 85-year-old Santa Monica resident complained she had paid $560 to clean the carpet in her 570-square-foot apartment, or more than 1,000 percent more than the advertised price of $49.95.
The company -- which bargained down from an initial $2,000 estimate and intimidated the elderly woman into accepting the final offer -- left the carpet wet and did not return her calls.
Another customer – this one an 89-year-old Los Angeles woman who lives alone – responded to the same ad and was coerced into paying the company $1,600, according to the complaint filed by the City.
“This is a shameful scam,” said Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky. “The promise of carpet cleaning is just a ruse to get these bullies into people’s homes.
“We caution everyone to use carpet cleaners only after verifying that the company is legitimate, with a real location, a local business license, and a good rating with the Better Business Bureau.”
Formerly known as Clean Dry USA, Gilboa’s company later changed names to Target Carpet Care, Clean N’ Dry Carpet and, more recently, SoCal Dry-Tech.
The company ran glossy color ads in the Clipper Magazine, Money Mailer, and other prominent advertising circulars, Radinsky said.
“The ads offered to clean three rooms of carpet for $49.95, using special “dry” cleaning technology,” he said. “However, when customers requested service, a very different scenario took place”
According to Radinsky, the company would send an operative to the customer’s home who would then use “bullying, intimidation, and false statements to coerce the customer into paying many times the advertised price.
“Often the operative began ‘cleaning’ before the customer agreed to any work, or to a price,” Radinsky said.
The operatives would then set the price “based on the perceived vulnerability of the customer,” Radinsky said. Elderly customers were charged more than other customers.
“The ‘service’ provided was usually worthless,” he said. “Most customers’ carpeting was left wet and in worse condition than before.”
The operation was widespread, covering most of Southern California, with ads appearing in coupon circulars distributed as far apart as Ventura County, the Inland Empire, Orange County, and all parts of Los Angeles County.
Under the agreement reached with the Santa Monica City Attorney’s office, Gilboa was sentenced to three years’ probation.
He must refund the full amount to all customers, a sum that totals more than $20,000, and perform 360 hours of hard labor community service.
Source
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Three Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegally Exporting Highly Sensitive U.S. Technology to China
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In two separate cases, three men have been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to transport sensitive and advanced U.S. technology to the People's Republic of China (PRC). Two men were sentenced yesterday, and another man linked to one of the schemes was sentenced last week to five years in prison.
William Chi-Wai Tsu, 61, a Beijing resident, was sentenced yesterday to 40 months imprisonment for his role in exporting high-tech integrated circuits with military applications to the PRC.
In a separate case, Tah Wei Chao, 53, of Beijing, was sentenced yesterday to 20 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle 10 highly sensitive and advanced thermal-imaging cameras to China. Chao's co-defendant Zhi Yong Guo, 50, also of Beijing, was sentenced on July 27 to five years in federal prison for his involvement in the thermal-imaging cameras scheme.
All three defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter. The defendants in the two cases were charged under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for procuring and illegal exporting sensitive technology in violation of United States export laws.
In the case involving the integrated circuits, Tsu, who was vice president of a Hacienda Heights company called Cheerway Trading, illegally shipped more than 400 sophisticated integrated circuits to China, according to court documents. Tsu was arrested on Jan. 10, 2009, and he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of March 13, 2009. Investigators said the thumbnail-size circuits that were shipped out of the country have a variety of potential applications, including use in sophisticated communications and military radar systems.
Prosecutors argued in a sentencing brief that Cheerway was nothing more than a front company that Tsu used to ship items to his Beijing-based company called Dimagit Science & Technology Co. Ltd. According to the sentencing brief, Dimagit's catalog was imprinted with images of military craft and clearly explained Tsu's business: "to facilitate the building of the national defense of China" and to "revitalize the Chinese military industry."
Prosecutors also argued that Tsu supplied restricted U.S. technology to several customers in China, including the "704 Research Institute," which is known as the "Aerospace Long March Rocket Technology Company" and is affiliated with the state-owned China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation.
Tsu was indicted on federal charges on February 6, 2009 and he pleaded guilty to two federal counts on March 13, 2009.
In the case involving the thermal-imaging cameras, Chao and Guo were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on April 4, 2008 while attempting to board an international flight to China with 10 thermal-imaging cameras secreted in their luggage. The cameras, which were manufactured by FLIR Systems, Inc. and cost more than $5,000 each, were stuffed inside the defendants' shoes and concealed in their clothes.
The cameras, which are contained in two-inch cubes, are so sensitive that they can perceive a heat source on an object that is not visible to the naked human eye. In addition, the cameras can perceive the residual heat source image on an object long after the heat source has been removed. These cameras, according to the manufacturer, have a wide range of military, law enforcement and civilian applications.
Chao and Guo were indicted on federal charges on April 18, 2008. Ten days later, Chao pleaded guilty to three federal counts. In February, following a one-week jury trial, Guo was convicted of two federal counts.
Under IEEPA and EAR, the United States bars the export of sensitive technology and equipment to certain countries. The integrated circuits and the thermal-imaging cameras involved in these two cases are considered "dual-use" items, meaning they have potential military applications, as well as non-military uses. As such, their export to China is strictly controlled and would require advance permission from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
These two cases were investigated by the Export and Anti-proliferation Global Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Task Force. The counter-proliferation task force was created by the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, in conjunction with federal law enforcement agencies, to jointly investigate and combat the illegal exports of arms and sensitive technologies.
Members of the EAGLE Task Force include the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export and Enforcement; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Diplomatic Security Service and the Transportation Security Administration.
Source
William Chi-Wai Tsu, 61, a Beijing resident, was sentenced yesterday to 40 months imprisonment for his role in exporting high-tech integrated circuits with military applications to the PRC.
In a separate case, Tah Wei Chao, 53, of Beijing, was sentenced yesterday to 20 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle 10 highly sensitive and advanced thermal-imaging cameras to China. Chao's co-defendant Zhi Yong Guo, 50, also of Beijing, was sentenced on July 27 to five years in federal prison for his involvement in the thermal-imaging cameras scheme.
All three defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter. The defendants in the two cases were charged under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for procuring and illegal exporting sensitive technology in violation of United States export laws.
In the case involving the integrated circuits, Tsu, who was vice president of a Hacienda Heights company called Cheerway Trading, illegally shipped more than 400 sophisticated integrated circuits to China, according to court documents. Tsu was arrested on Jan. 10, 2009, and he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of March 13, 2009. Investigators said the thumbnail-size circuits that were shipped out of the country have a variety of potential applications, including use in sophisticated communications and military radar systems.
Prosecutors argued in a sentencing brief that Cheerway was nothing more than a front company that Tsu used to ship items to his Beijing-based company called Dimagit Science & Technology Co. Ltd. According to the sentencing brief, Dimagit's catalog was imprinted with images of military craft and clearly explained Tsu's business: "to facilitate the building of the national defense of China" and to "revitalize the Chinese military industry."
Prosecutors also argued that Tsu supplied restricted U.S. technology to several customers in China, including the "704 Research Institute," which is known as the "Aerospace Long March Rocket Technology Company" and is affiliated with the state-owned China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation.
Tsu was indicted on federal charges on February 6, 2009 and he pleaded guilty to two federal counts on March 13, 2009.
In the case involving the thermal-imaging cameras, Chao and Guo were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on April 4, 2008 while attempting to board an international flight to China with 10 thermal-imaging cameras secreted in their luggage. The cameras, which were manufactured by FLIR Systems, Inc. and cost more than $5,000 each, were stuffed inside the defendants' shoes and concealed in their clothes.
The cameras, which are contained in two-inch cubes, are so sensitive that they can perceive a heat source on an object that is not visible to the naked human eye. In addition, the cameras can perceive the residual heat source image on an object long after the heat source has been removed. These cameras, according to the manufacturer, have a wide range of military, law enforcement and civilian applications.
Chao and Guo were indicted on federal charges on April 18, 2008. Ten days later, Chao pleaded guilty to three federal counts. In February, following a one-week jury trial, Guo was convicted of two federal counts.
Under IEEPA and EAR, the United States bars the export of sensitive technology and equipment to certain countries. The integrated circuits and the thermal-imaging cameras involved in these two cases are considered "dual-use" items, meaning they have potential military applications, as well as non-military uses. As such, their export to China is strictly controlled and would require advance permission from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
These two cases were investigated by the Export and Anti-proliferation Global Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Task Force. The counter-proliferation task force was created by the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, in conjunction with federal law enforcement agencies, to jointly investigate and combat the illegal exports of arms and sensitive technologies.
Members of the EAGLE Task Force include the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export and Enforcement; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Diplomatic Security Service and the Transportation Security Administration.
Source
Monday, September 28, 2009
Suspect's '86 robbery bears similarity to Lily Burk case
Charles Samuel, the parolee accused of killing Lily Burk, was convicted 22 years ago of another violent robbery that bore a striking similarity to last month's abduction and slaying of the high school senior in downtown Los Angeles, according to court records reviewed by The Times.
As in the Burk case, Samuel was accused of kidnapping someone -- this time an elderly man -- and driving in the man's car to an ATM, where he demanded that the man withdraw cash.
When no money appeared, Samuel struck the man using the victim's wooden cane, punched him in the stomach and threatened to kill him if he reported the crime to police, court records show.
Samuel pleaded guilty in June 1987 to robbery, residential burglary and car theft in connection with the attack, which took place in San Bernardino.
During an interview with a probation officer before his sentencing, Samuel gave what appeared to be conflicting accounts about that night, according to a probation report that a judge unsealed Tuesday in response to a request from The Times.
Samuel said he was intoxicated and didn't recall the events of that night but also complained that he "had not gotten justice," alleging that the incident involved a dispute over a mutual girlfriend.
At one point Samuel tried to cast doubt on the allegations.
"If I had beat him like they said, I should have killed him," he told the probation officer.
As in the Burk case, Samuel was accused of kidnapping someone -- this time an elderly man -- and driving in the man's car to an ATM, where he demanded that the man withdraw cash.
When no money appeared, Samuel struck the man using the victim's wooden cane, punched him in the stomach and threatened to kill him if he reported the crime to police, court records show.
Samuel pleaded guilty in June 1987 to robbery, residential burglary and car theft in connection with the attack, which took place in San Bernardino.
During an interview with a probation officer before his sentencing, Samuel gave what appeared to be conflicting accounts about that night, according to a probation report that a judge unsealed Tuesday in response to a request from The Times.
Samuel said he was intoxicated and didn't recall the events of that night but also complained that he "had not gotten justice," alleging that the incident involved a dispute over a mutual girlfriend.
At one point Samuel tried to cast doubt on the allegations.
"If I had beat him like they said, I should have killed him," he told the probation officer.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Whale’s defense vs. Harrah’s gains traction
Gaming regulators are finally starting to acknowledge the seriousness of a Nebraska high roller’s allegations against Harrah’s Entertainment.
Philanthropist Terrance K. Watanabe gambled away tens of millions of dollars at Harrah’s casinos in 2007. This year Harrah’s asked the Clark County district attorney’s office to file criminal charges against the 52-year-old for allegedly failing to repay $14.7 million in markers at two of the corporation’s casinos, Caesars Palace and the Rio.
In his defense, the 52-year-old Watanabe accused Harrah’s of supplying him with alcohol and prescription painkillers to keep him intoxicated at the tables as his losses mounted.
If this is true, not only is it contrary to the responsible gambling standards Harrah’s has set for itself, but it’s also against the law. Gaming regulations prohibit casinos from allowing “visibly intoxicated” players to continue to gamble. And illegal trafficking of prescription narcotics is drug dealing no matter where it happens.
Watanabe’s potentially explosive allegations got the attention of Harrah’s because, as the Sun reported July 25, the casino giant has brought in a national law firm to help it conduct an internal investigation.
And, after regulators downplayed the case for three months, Dennis Neilander, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, last week said the board’s Corporate Securities Division is “monitoring” the budding scandal and is “making inquiries.”
But beyond the prospect of regulatory sanctions, Harrah’s has something else to worry about — its credibility as an opponent of irresponsible gambling.
Source
Philanthropist Terrance K. Watanabe gambled away tens of millions of dollars at Harrah’s casinos in 2007. This year Harrah’s asked the Clark County district attorney’s office to file criminal charges against the 52-year-old for allegedly failing to repay $14.7 million in markers at two of the corporation’s casinos, Caesars Palace and the Rio.
In his defense, the 52-year-old Watanabe accused Harrah’s of supplying him with alcohol and prescription painkillers to keep him intoxicated at the tables as his losses mounted.
If this is true, not only is it contrary to the responsible gambling standards Harrah’s has set for itself, but it’s also against the law. Gaming regulations prohibit casinos from allowing “visibly intoxicated” players to continue to gamble. And illegal trafficking of prescription narcotics is drug dealing no matter where it happens.
Watanabe’s potentially explosive allegations got the attention of Harrah’s because, as the Sun reported July 25, the casino giant has brought in a national law firm to help it conduct an internal investigation.
And, after regulators downplayed the case for three months, Dennis Neilander, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, last week said the board’s Corporate Securities Division is “monitoring” the budding scandal and is “making inquiries.”
But beyond the prospect of regulatory sanctions, Harrah’s has something else to worry about — its credibility as an opponent of irresponsible gambling.
Source
Friday, August 28, 2009
Supreme Court Cites Los Angeles DUI Attorney as Authority
In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court has cited a Los Angeles DUI lawyer as authority in reversing previous law prohibiting California DUI attorneys from offering evidence in trial that breathalyzers used in drunk driving cases are susceptible to inherent error.
In California v. Neal, the Supreme Court three times cited the legal textbook California Drunk Driving Defense, 4th edition as scientific authority for its decision. Used by California DUI lawyers statewide, the best-selling text on the subject is authored by Los Angeles DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor. As reported in TheNewspaper.com: A Journal of the Politics of Driving:
The California Supreme Court last Thursday entered a ruling allowing motorists accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) to question the reliability of the breathalyzer machinery used to secure convictions.
"Simply put, the machines all automatically convert the amount of alcohol tested in the tiny amount of breath taken from the suspect," California DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor explained. "The internal computer multiplies the amount by 2100 -- using the average ratio of alcohol in blood to alcohol in breath -- to estimate the amount of alcohol in the suspect's blood. Problem: We are not all average. And ratios vary from 1300:1 to 3500:1."
With this in mind, the supreme court held that partition ratio evidence may now be raised as a defense to a general DUI charge. The court, however, in previous rulings made it clear that motorists could be convicted of per se DUI regardless of any scientific evidence regarding actual intoxication. The high court cited Lawrence Taylor as an authority on the subject three times in its decision, but Taylor blasted the decision as irrational.
Known nationally as "The Dean of DUI Attorneys", Lawrence Taylor is a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney and Fulbright Professor of Law who has lectured to DUI lawyers in over 41 states. Taylor currently heads his law firm of 8 DUI defense lawyers serving clients in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area.
The decision has been widely applauded by DUI defense attorneys in California, while prosecutors have criticized the decision, predicting that it will result in far more DUI lawyers winning acquittals.
Source
In California v. Neal, the Supreme Court three times cited the legal textbook California Drunk Driving Defense, 4th edition as scientific authority for its decision. Used by California DUI lawyers statewide, the best-selling text on the subject is authored by Los Angeles DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor. As reported in TheNewspaper.com: A Journal of the Politics of Driving:
The California Supreme Court last Thursday entered a ruling allowing motorists accused of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) to question the reliability of the breathalyzer machinery used to secure convictions.
"Simply put, the machines all automatically convert the amount of alcohol tested in the tiny amount of breath taken from the suspect," California DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor explained. "The internal computer multiplies the amount by 2100 -- using the average ratio of alcohol in blood to alcohol in breath -- to estimate the amount of alcohol in the suspect's blood. Problem: We are not all average. And ratios vary from 1300:1 to 3500:1."
With this in mind, the supreme court held that partition ratio evidence may now be raised as a defense to a general DUI charge. The court, however, in previous rulings made it clear that motorists could be convicted of per se DUI regardless of any scientific evidence regarding actual intoxication. The high court cited Lawrence Taylor as an authority on the subject three times in its decision, but Taylor blasted the decision as irrational.
Known nationally as "The Dean of DUI Attorneys", Lawrence Taylor is a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney and Fulbright Professor of Law who has lectured to DUI lawyers in over 41 states. Taylor currently heads his law firm of 8 DUI defense lawyers serving clients in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area.
The decision has been widely applauded by DUI defense attorneys in California, while prosecutors have criticized the decision, predicting that it will result in far more DUI lawyers winning acquittals.
Source
Monday, July 20, 2009
RICO case: Mexican Mafia 'Shot Caller' nabbed for murder of 3-week-old baby
Indictment of 8 includes money laundering, narcotics trafficking, kidnapping and violence
The superseding indictment also charges three defendants with the 2001 murder of Jose Barajas, whom gang members allegedly mistook for a rival. In addition, the indictment charges a criminal defense attorney with laundering the gang’s illegal proceeds and committing other acts on behalf of, and at the direction of, an imprisoned Mexican Mafia member, identified in the indictment only as "Mexican Mafia #1."
The anti-gang operation is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department. This federal indictment supersedes an October 2007 federal indictment that charged 18 defendants with alleged drug trafficking, and a subsequent November 2007 federal indictment that charged a nineteenth defendant. Fifteen of the defendants named in the original federal indictments are charged in this superseding federal indictment, along with an additional 24 defendants who were not previously charged.
The 31-count superseding federal indictment unsealed today charges 39 members and associates of the CLCS with participating in a racketeering conspiracy that involved acts of violence, narcotics distribution, money laundering and violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR). Lead defendant Sergio Pantoja, aka “Tricky,” 33, is described in the indictment as a “Shot Caller” of the CLCS, which is alleged to have been controlled by a Mexican Mafia member currently serving a life-without-parole sentence.
The CLCS allegedly used violence and intimidation to control narcotics distribution in an area adjoining MacArthur Park in the Westlake District of Los Angeles. According to the indictment, under Pantoja’s direction, as well as the direction of CLCS Shot Callers who preceded Pantoja, narcotics suppliers and street dealers paid “rent” – typically a percentage of proceeds from the sale of narcotics – in exchange for permission from the CLCS to sell narcotics in the gang’s territory; those who paid rent received the exclusive authorization to sell narcotics in CLCS territory as well as protection from rivals.
The indictment also alleges that street vendors operating in CLCS territory were required to pay rent to the gang in order to be allowed to sell their wares near MacArthur Park. According to the indictment, failure or refusal to pay rent and otherwise follow the gang’s rules would result in retribution, including acts of violence.
The indictment alleges that on September 15, 2007, after a street vendor refused to make a nominal rent payment to the CLCS, at the direction of Pantoja, several CLCS members and associates acted together to shoot and seriously injure the vendor. Although the man survived, a 3-week-old infant sitting in a stroller next to the vendor was struck by a bullet and killed.
According to the federal indictment, shortly after the failed attempt to murder the vendor and the resulting fatal shooting of the infant, Pantoja ordered the kidnaping and murder of the shooter to make amends with the Mexican Mafia. 18th Street Gang members thereafter took the shooter to Mexico under the false pretense of hiding him from the police. Once in Mexico, the federal indictment alleges, the shooter was driven to a remote area, where he was strangled, and dumped on the side of a road. Unbeknownst to his would-be killers, the shooter survived the attack.
“Today we are holding this gang accountable for the violence and intimidation it used to bring terror to the citizens living and working within the gang’s territory,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “The tragic murder of a 3-week-old infant is the result of a rebuffed demand for $50. The citizens of this community deserve better, and we are working with every tool at our disposal to clean the streets of gang activity.”
"This investigation is the result of several years of collaboration by agents and their partners with the LAPD and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to identify the senior leadership of this particular 18th Street gang clique, and to use federal racketeering statutes to target shot callers who, otherwise, would continue to operate with impunity," said Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles.
The indictment charges criminal defense attorney Isaac Guillen, 48, of West Covina, with regularly transferring thousands of dollars of CLCS rent proceeds to a Mexican Mafia member imprisoned at the federal “Supermax” facility in Florence, Colorado. According to the indictment, from October 2003 until September 2008, Guillen transferred approximately $27,500 into the Mexican Mafia member’s prison account. The indictment also alleges that Guillen and the imprisoned Mexican Mafia Member are partners in several businesses, including a limousine service, a liquor distributor, and a real estate holding corporation.
"We have known for a long time that this particular clique of the 18th Street gang was a criminal enterprise with a reach far beyond any single neighborhood or city," said Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles Police Department. "Today is an excellent example of multiple law enforcement agencies working together to impact a criminal street gang with tentacles that cross jurisdictional lines and even prison walls."
All of the defendants charged in the federal indictment are facing a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment based on their alleged participation in the CLCS racketeering conspiracy and/or their alleged participation in narcotics distribution within CLCS territory. Each of the defendants alleged to have participated in the September 2007 murder of the three-week old infant, as well as three individuals charged in connection with the July 2001 murder of 22 year old Jose Barajas, face a potential maximum penalty of death.
Source
(The following is based on reports and court documents obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police's Organized Crime Committee.)
Federal and local law enforcement authorities on Tuesday arrested eight of 39 members and associates of one of the most entrenched “cliques” of the 18th Street Gang after the return of federal criminal charges alleging that the gang operated a racketeering enterprise responsible for the October 2007 attempted murder of a street vendor near MacArthur Park that resulted in the fatal shooting of a 3-week-old infant, a murder of an innocent young man that occurred in 2001.
Two weeks ago, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment in a racketeering case that now charges 39 members and associates of the Colombia Lil Cycos (CLCS) set of the 18th Street Gang. In addition to the fatal shooting of the infant, which is also being prosecuted by the District Attorney in Los Angeles, the federal indictment alleges that the gang was responsible for the subsequent kidnaping and attempted murder of the CLCS member who wounded the vendor and killed the child.The superseding indictment also charges three defendants with the 2001 murder of Jose Barajas, whom gang members allegedly mistook for a rival. In addition, the indictment charges a criminal defense attorney with laundering the gang’s illegal proceeds and committing other acts on behalf of, and at the direction of, an imprisoned Mexican Mafia member, identified in the indictment only as "Mexican Mafia #1."
The anti-gang operation is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department. This federal indictment supersedes an October 2007 federal indictment that charged 18 defendants with alleged drug trafficking, and a subsequent November 2007 federal indictment that charged a nineteenth defendant. Fifteen of the defendants named in the original federal indictments are charged in this superseding federal indictment, along with an additional 24 defendants who were not previously charged.
The 31-count superseding federal indictment unsealed today charges 39 members and associates of the CLCS with participating in a racketeering conspiracy that involved acts of violence, narcotics distribution, money laundering and violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR). Lead defendant Sergio Pantoja, aka “Tricky,” 33, is described in the indictment as a “Shot Caller” of the CLCS, which is alleged to have been controlled by a Mexican Mafia member currently serving a life-without-parole sentence.
The CLCS allegedly used violence and intimidation to control narcotics distribution in an area adjoining MacArthur Park in the Westlake District of Los Angeles. According to the indictment, under Pantoja’s direction, as well as the direction of CLCS Shot Callers who preceded Pantoja, narcotics suppliers and street dealers paid “rent” – typically a percentage of proceeds from the sale of narcotics – in exchange for permission from the CLCS to sell narcotics in the gang’s territory; those who paid rent received the exclusive authorization to sell narcotics in CLCS territory as well as protection from rivals.
The indictment also alleges that street vendors operating in CLCS territory were required to pay rent to the gang in order to be allowed to sell their wares near MacArthur Park. According to the indictment, failure or refusal to pay rent and otherwise follow the gang’s rules would result in retribution, including acts of violence.
The indictment alleges that on September 15, 2007, after a street vendor refused to make a nominal rent payment to the CLCS, at the direction of Pantoja, several CLCS members and associates acted together to shoot and seriously injure the vendor. Although the man survived, a 3-week-old infant sitting in a stroller next to the vendor was struck by a bullet and killed.
According to the federal indictment, shortly after the failed attempt to murder the vendor and the resulting fatal shooting of the infant, Pantoja ordered the kidnaping and murder of the shooter to make amends with the Mexican Mafia. 18th Street Gang members thereafter took the shooter to Mexico under the false pretense of hiding him from the police. Once in Mexico, the federal indictment alleges, the shooter was driven to a remote area, where he was strangled, and dumped on the side of a road. Unbeknownst to his would-be killers, the shooter survived the attack.
“Today we are holding this gang accountable for the violence and intimidation it used to bring terror to the citizens living and working within the gang’s territory,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “The tragic murder of a 3-week-old infant is the result of a rebuffed demand for $50. The citizens of this community deserve better, and we are working with every tool at our disposal to clean the streets of gang activity.”
"This investigation is the result of several years of collaboration by agents and their partners with the LAPD and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to identify the senior leadership of this particular 18th Street gang clique, and to use federal racketeering statutes to target shot callers who, otherwise, would continue to operate with impunity," said Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles.
The indictment charges criminal defense attorney Isaac Guillen, 48, of West Covina, with regularly transferring thousands of dollars of CLCS rent proceeds to a Mexican Mafia member imprisoned at the federal “Supermax” facility in Florence, Colorado. According to the indictment, from October 2003 until September 2008, Guillen transferred approximately $27,500 into the Mexican Mafia member’s prison account. The indictment also alleges that Guillen and the imprisoned Mexican Mafia Member are partners in several businesses, including a limousine service, a liquor distributor, and a real estate holding corporation.
"We have known for a long time that this particular clique of the 18th Street gang was a criminal enterprise with a reach far beyond any single neighborhood or city," said Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles Police Department. "Today is an excellent example of multiple law enforcement agencies working together to impact a criminal street gang with tentacles that cross jurisdictional lines and even prison walls."
All of the defendants charged in the federal indictment are facing a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment based on their alleged participation in the CLCS racketeering conspiracy and/or their alleged participation in narcotics distribution within CLCS territory. Each of the defendants alleged to have participated in the September 2007 murder of the three-week old infant, as well as three individuals charged in connection with the July 2001 murder of 22 year old Jose Barajas, face a potential maximum penalty of death.
Source
Monday, July 13, 2009
Arrest of anti-gang leader Alex Sanchez sparks criticism of gang outreach programs
Former MS-13 gang member and anti-gang crusader Alex Sanchez was taken into custody today as a part of a federal indictment of several MS-13 gang members. Sanchez, along with the other suspects named in the indictment, is accused by the FBI of being involved in multiple slayings, extortion and assaults in the Lafayette Park area. During his youth, Sanchez was an active member of MS-13. After violating parole in 1994, Sanchez was deported to his home country of El Salvador. He returned to the United States a year later and formally renounced his affiliations with MS-13. He would go on to help organize the local chapter of Homies Unidos, an nonprofit organization dedicated to gang violence prevention.
Sanchez gained notoriety a few years ago when authorities attempted to deport him a second time. Several notable figures came to Sanchez's aid, including former state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who testified in his defense. He was eventually granted political asylum after it was found that he had been harassed by the LAPD.
The original L.A. Now article on the arrest has spurred a significant amount of debate. Many readers contended that Sanchez should not have been granted political asylum, and they were critical of gang outreach programs.
"Ho hum. The only ones shocked are those that haven't been reading the paper for YEARS. It's old news that the government is paying "former" gang members to do "outreach." Yes, your tax dollars are funding gang crime and killings. Disgusting and stupid, but no one really cares," wrote windu. "Silly to think that he actually left MS-13! Silly court to have overturned the deportation and let him stay in the country AFTER he had re-entered illegally! Silly Tom Hayden! Why must we spend tax dollars prosecuting and incarcerating these vicious criminals? I say send them back to their country of origin to rot in their jails! Enough of this!!!! And this is coming from a self-described latino lefty liberal! I am so tired of politicians in general and Latino politicians in particular who don't have the guts to say no to illegal immigration, no to gangs, no to lawlessness because they fear losing face with their latino constituents," said Frankie.
Source
Sanchez gained notoriety a few years ago when authorities attempted to deport him a second time. Several notable figures came to Sanchez's aid, including former state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who testified in his defense. He was eventually granted political asylum after it was found that he had been harassed by the LAPD.
The original L.A. Now article on the arrest has spurred a significant amount of debate. Many readers contended that Sanchez should not have been granted political asylum, and they were critical of gang outreach programs.
"Ho hum. The only ones shocked are those that haven't been reading the paper for YEARS. It's old news that the government is paying "former" gang members to do "outreach." Yes, your tax dollars are funding gang crime and killings. Disgusting and stupid, but no one really cares," wrote windu. "Silly to think that he actually left MS-13! Silly court to have overturned the deportation and let him stay in the country AFTER he had re-entered illegally! Silly Tom Hayden! Why must we spend tax dollars prosecuting and incarcerating these vicious criminals? I say send them back to their country of origin to rot in their jails! Enough of this!!!! And this is coming from a self-described latino lefty liberal! I am so tired of politicians in general and Latino politicians in particular who don't have the guts to say no to illegal immigration, no to gangs, no to lawlessness because they fear losing face with their latino constituents," said Frankie.
Source
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