The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 27

ipnry-yyinyTl'iryfr'Hr I I' I I I I -nrnriw-ir-r gi- t-ii -( y-rtyT- mytiiwynj-r-y I. B4 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1998 LOS ANGELES TIMES A summary of developments across Los Angeles County Official Business I COURTS AND GOVERNMENT EWS BRIEF I ft Et pilll 1 1 11 1 I'll I I iiiiiiwri iJnrBT-r1 rw "wzm CVv T. son Investment Banker Sentenced for Fraud A Pacific Palisades investment banker was sentenced Monday to 51 months in federal prison for bilking clients out of $1.3 million. Benjamin Bush, former owner of Ben Bush Investment Management also was ordered to make nearly $1.2 million in restitution to eight victims who suffered most of the losses. Bush, 53, pleaded guilty in May to one money laundering count and admitted that he laundered the funds he bilked from his clients.

In the early 1990s, Bush convinced dozens of people to invest with him, based on false documentation regarding his investment performance history, Assistant U.S. Atty. Barbara Scheper said. After they agreed to invest, Bush recommended that his clients buy stock in certain small companies, then directed them to send payment to bank accounts he controlled, Scheper said. But Bush never bought the stocks.

He spent the money on vacations, sports equipment, computers and tickets to Los Angeles Kings hockey games. 1 X. KIRK McKOY Loa Angeles Times Pedestrians pass by newly unveiled Jefferson Park gateway monument on the corner of West Jefferson and Crenshaw boulevards. Jefferson Park Commemorative Marker Hails Revitalization Effort said Councilman Nate business, Holden said. Los Angeles city officials on veiled a community marker at a Monday un- occurring in that area, busy inter Holden, who represents was funded by donations from and Ralphs Grocery Store.

Holden the project symbolized a new investment in local business. Erected on the corner of Jefferson and Crenshaw boulevards, Gateway Monument was built by a local African American construction company and a local landscaping section in the Jefferson Park district of South Los Angeles. The Jefferson Park Gateway Monument was built as a sign of the revitalization volving a Paramount clinic, investigators executed two more search warrants Monday, one at the home of the clinic's operator and the other at a second clinic where she worked. Investigators from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the Sheriff's Department swooped down shortly before noon on Dr. Candace Chang's home in Monterey Park and a Long Beach clinic where she practiced, authorities said.

Criminal charges have not been filed in connection with the investigation, which until now has concentrated on the Paramount Medical Center, said Deputy Carrie Stuart. The center, which was operated by Chang, has remained closed since investigators removed billing and medical records two weeks ago. The clinic is suspected of recruiting children from low-income neighborhoods to give blood samples and undergo unnecessary tests, as well as improperly billing a state family planning program, according to a memo from the chief of the county health department's inspection and audit division. Once the children had blood drawn or underwent examinations, Medi-Cal would be billed for the tests, investigators said. The tests generally cost the state $100 to $300, but some ran as high as $1,200, investigators said.

Investigators are examining allegations that the clinic gave gynecological exams to girls as young as 9, telling them to lie about their ages, and paid employees for each patient that they rounded up and brought to the clinic. Compton Teacher Jailed for Violating Probation Shannon Barron, the former Compton schoolteacher who made national headlines when she accused students of dousing her with excrement, was sentenced Monday to 120 days in jail for violating the conditions of her probation. Municipal Judge Ellen Deshazer jailed Barron on Monday after' hearing that the former teacher failed to attend two work sessions with Caltrans as required by the terms of her sentence. A jury found Barron guilty in June of filing a false police report when she alleged last year that students at Dominguez High School drenched her with human urine and feces. A police investigation found no excrement stains on her blouse, only some on and inside her jeans.

Barron was sentenced to a four-month suspended jail term, a year of probation, 90 days of electronic monitoring and 12 Saturdays working with a Caltrans highway transportation crew. On Monday, Deshazer imposed the full four-month jail sentence when she heard that Barron skipped her first scheduled workday with Caltrans and then missed another after she told her Caltrans supervisor that she was pregnant, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Garie Lynn Oehler. Pregnant women are exempted from Caltrans work.

Barron's lawyer, Angelyn Gates, argued that Barron was joking when she said she was pregnant. Former County Official Guilty of Embezzlement A former Los Angeles County treasurer-tax collector supervisor pleaded guilty Monday to embezzling public monies and tax eva- sion, the district attorney's office announced. Debra J. Aguirre, 39, of Norwalk allegedly embezzled at least $169,000 while working as a cashier's supervisor for the treasurer-tax collector. She pleaded guilty to one embezzlement count and two state tax evasion counts on the day she was to face trial for the charges, according to Deputy Dist.

Atty. Dennis Poey. Aguirre faces a possible maximum prison term of seven years and four months. Prosecutors said Aguirre, who had worked for the county since 1995, took cash payments that were to be used to pay environmental health and public health taxes. The money included payments made by mobile food vendors and vendors at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona.

Aguirre was charged based on evidence from an investigation by the treasurer-tax collector, the county auditor-controller and the Sheriff's Department. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30 in Alhambra by Superior Court Judge James M. Ideman. i.

House OKs $50 Million for Flood Project The House of Representatives passed a bill Monday that includes $50 million next year for a construction project designed to protect hundreds of thousands of people in southeast Los Angeles County from the threat of flooding. The $240-million flood control improvement project, which is under construction, will shore up 23 miles of flood channels in the region and better protect residents in the event of a catastrophic deluge. Last year, Congress gave the project $21 million in funding. This year's $50-million figure was negotiated in conference committee after the Senate approved $40 million and the House recommended $60 million. The entire appropriations bill is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed by President Clinton in the next two weeks, said an aide for Rep.

Stephen Horn (R-Long Beach). The project was deemed necessary after Army Corps of Engineers studies in the 1980s discovered that current flood controls failed to meet federal guidelines. Until the project is finished, nearly all home owners in a 65-square-mile flood hazard zone must buy federal flood insurance. Knight Suffers Setback in Bid for Early Release Imprisoned rap entrepreneur Marion "Suge" Knight suffered a setback in his attempt to gain an early release from custody. The state Court of Appeal issued an order reversing itself and vacating a previous ruling that set the stage for a new hearing for Knight, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1996 for a probation violation.

The order came one day after attorneys for Knight filed a motion to obtain immediate release on bail pending a new sentencing hearing. The appellate court issued its latest order Friday in response to a Sept. 8 petition filed by the state attorney general's office. The state said the three-judge panel made its earlier ruling based on factual error regarding sentencing procedures. The appellate court granted the attorney general's office a rehearing to examine the matter, although no date has been scheduled.

Two years ago, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czu-leger said that under the terms of a plea bargain negotiated between Knight and prosecutors, he had no choice but to send Knight to prison for nine years for violating his probation. Knight, who has been serving his sentence in the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, appealed the ruling. In August, the appellate court overturned the lower court ruling, vacated Knight's nine-year sentence and ordered a new sentencing hearing. In September, the attorney general argued that the trial court's sentencing of Knight was proper, based on a reading of transcripts of the hearing at which the original plea bargain was issued.

Officials Expand Probe of Paramount Clinic Expanding a probe into a possible Medi-Cal fraud scheme in 41 fc Ml Hh 0jt SB Sfk 0 the area. shot to death Monday night in a home in the 5400 block of Norwich Avenue, police said. Authorities said the deaths appeared to grow out of a festering family feud, and said they were questioning the dead woman's mother and stepfather. Firefighters sent to the home about 7:45 p.m. in response to calls from residents who heard shots found the daughter, who they said appeared to be 18, on a sofa in the living room and the father, thought to be in his 40s, slumped over a coffee table, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Van Nuys Suspect in Beauty Salon Robberies Pleads Innocent A man accused of robbing 30 beauty salons during a six-month crime rampage in which he allegedly shot and sexually assaulted a series of women, pleaded innocent at his arraignment Monday in Van Nuys Municipal Court. Walter Antonio Cortez, 26, will face a preliminary hearing Oct. 27, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said. Described by detectives as a transient from Van Nuys, North Hills and May wood, Cortez faces 35 felony charges in a string of armed robberies dating to March 18. The charges include murder, attempted murder, 11 counts of robbery, nine counts of false imprisonment, four counts of attempted rape, three counts of sexual battery, one count of sodomy and five counts of witness intimidation.

Cortez's attorney, Dan Kuper-berg, a public defender in the Van Nuys office, declined to comment on the case. Cortez has been linked to about 30 armed robberies at hair and nail salons, five of which involved sexual assaults in the San Fernando Valley, said police. Cortez was arrested Sept. 15. During a robbery at a party store just west of downtown Los Angeles, Cortez shot the pregnant owner three times and fled, police alleged.

Although not struck by gunfire, the fetus later died due to complications from the mother's wounds, police said. In another incident near downtown, Cortez allegedly shot and wounded a person for looking at him, police charged. West Los Angeles Homeowners Group to Hold Annual Meeting Members of the West of West- -0. Jfc jgt jjMSt -SPP -St The work Union Bank said infusion of Community Los Angeles Medical Center for Gays, Lesbians Opens A medical center designed to serve gay and lesbian patients celebrated its opening Monday, and officials said they expect it to serve about 1,500 patients in its first year. Lambda Medical Group physicians will provide primary and preventive health care at offices in Wilshire Boulevard's Miracle Mile district, said Lorri L.

Jean, executive director of the Hollywood-based L.A. Gay Lesbian Center, which runs the new medical offices. The center has offered HIV AIDS and gynecological care for years, Jean said, but began studying the idea of creating a primary care facility two years ago. "A lot of studies show that gay men who are HIV-negative and lesbians do not seek general preventive care as often as the straight population," Jean said, adding that she believes the new medical group is the first of its kind in the country. Lambda Medical Group, which also serves heterosexual patients, is staffed by physicians affiliated with the Department of Family Medicine at the USC School of Medicine.

The group accepts most major insurance plans, as well as Medi-Cal and Medicare, officials said. Its offices are located at 5757 Wilshire Blvd. Information: (323) 860-7311. Los Angeles County IBM Donates Computers to Nonprofit Groups More than 50 new personal and laptop computers were donated Monday to 17 Los Angeles nonprofit organizations, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles announced. "When it comes to giving our community access to technology and information, every computer counts," said Pat Harris, chief officer for the Urban League, one of the groups that received equipment.

Tod Rosin, a United Way spokesman, said the computers, donated by IBM, are valued at $100,000 and include IBM 300GL models with Pentium 200 MHz chips and Thinkpad 380D laptop computers. wood Homeowners Assn. will hold their annual meeting Thursday, and plan to discuss several issues of neighborhood concern with invited elected officials. Traffic problems, developments at the newly sold Westside Pavilion shopping mall and a proposed day laborer site will be discussed at the meeting, said Terri Tippit of the association, which includes about 1,000 households. Guest speakers confirmed to attend the meeting are City Council-women Ruth Galanter and Cindy Miscikowski, county Supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Zev Yaroslavsky, and Los Angeles Police Officers Terry Schauer and Kim Kempton.

The West of Westwood group encompasses residents from Pico to National boulevards, from Sepul-veda Boulevard to Kelton Avenue, and from Overland to Patricia avenues, and on both sides of the Westside Pavilion, Tippit said. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Palms Recreation Center, 2950 Overland Ave. Westwood Construction Begins on Complex for Homeless Construction has begun on an apartment complex for homeless families who are seeking permanent housing and full-time employment, replacing the cluster of trailers that has formed the Westwood Transitional Village since 1989. The expanded facility at 1401 S.

Sepulveda Blvd. will feature 41 apartments and a child-care facility, said Beverly Ventriss, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army, which runs the program. The six-building Transitional Village has been funded by the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission, the California Equity Fund, and private funds raised by the Salvation Army. It should be completed by October 1999. In the meantime, Ventriss said, the program is operating from the nearby Veterans Affairs building.

When the Salvation Army opened the Westwood Transitional Village nine years ago, it leased two acres from the federal government for $1 per year, and received 15 residential trailers from the city of Los Angeles. In 1996, the site was permanently given to the Salvation Army, which agreed to serve homeless families there through 2026, Ventriss said. More than 600 people have gone through the program, she said, with 95 finding work and independent housing. Families typically stay in the village for six months to a year. jm ggtL s0 0ft t0 News File Among local nonprofit agencies that received the computers were Casa La Puente in West Covina, Families Caring for Families in Lancaster, Jewish Family Children's Service of Long Beach and Mothers of East Los Angeles.

Since 1991, IBM has provided $35 million in new computer equipment to thousands of- charities, Rosin said. Pomona Infant Dies After Swallowing Balloon An 8-month-old baby died Sunday after swallowing a balloon, police said. Responding to a call from the child's parents, police and Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics arrived Sunday night at the family home on the 1000 block of Cambrin Road. The child, identified by Los Angeles County coroner's officials as Jonathan Gutierrez, was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, where he died at 10:05 p.m. Pomona Police Sgt.

Elias Valdez said a balloon was removed from the child's throat. Scott Carrier of the coroner's office said Monday that the body had yet to be examined to determine the exact cause of death. Pomona 18-Year-Old Man Dies After Stabbing An 18-year-old Pomona man died Monday after being stabbed, police said. Pomona police found Victor Hernandez lying on the ground in front of a house on the 500 block of West 11th Street shortly before midnight Sunday. Hernandez had been stabbed numerous times in the upper body, said Police Sgt.

Elias Valdez. Hernandez was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, where he died early Monday. Police do not have a motive for the stabbing, and have not identified a suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call the detective bureau at (909) 620-2177. Sherman Oaks Man, Woman Found Shot to Death in Home father and daughter were found Jj, 4NI 4f! i 4Ht 0l 40ft 4b 9 JSK jhWi1 Ji-Wt 4gn 4ff mt Jfa 4t jf -SMS.