An Arcadia man, David Frederick Thornton, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of impersonating a federal officer. Charges included his defrauding donors to his Thornton Kidney Research Foundation.
Arcadia resident David Frederick Thornton, charged with wire and mail fraud and embezzling money from the Thornton Kidney Research Foundation, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
David Wei Lin, father of slain teens William Lin and Anthony Lin, testifies emotionally at brother-in-law Deyun Shi's murder trial. Anthony and William were beaten to death by a bolt cutter in their Arcadia home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue in Arcadia. Deyun Shi is the uncle of the two boys and stands trial for their murders and for injuring his wife Amy Lin with a maul.
George Torres, of Arcadia, was convicted of 55 felony counts, including racketeering, "honest services" mail fraud, and wire fraud, conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants and tax charges. The jury also found that Torres solicited the 1994 murder of a gang member who demanded a "tax" from a Numero Uno Market. George Torres owned eleven Numero Uno grocery stores in some of the region's poorest neighborhoods.
Girl Scout Amy Nunn, 15, is the youngest recipient of the Gold Award, the highest achievement of the Sierra Madre Girl Scout Council. She collected almost $6000 at a canned food drive at Santa Anita Church for the Arcadia Welfare and Thrift Shop.
Two men, including 22 year old Arcadian Jimmy Palma, were convicted of five counts of first-degree murder for shooting three adults and two children last year in El Monte.
Amy Nelson and Kathleen Ashenfelter, both 16,toured the Soviet Union for 3 weeks with the People to People Friendship Caravan, a program which takes 1600 American youths to 50 Soviet cities. It is the largest student educational program in the history of the US and USSR.
John Sandbrook, Amy Dilbeck, Susan Webb and Derek Moses are all survivors of childhood cancer. They will ride on the Arcadia Tournament of roses float on Jan. 1.
Arcadia woman Ruixue "Serena" Shi, 37, pleaded guilty to soliciting $22.8 million in funds for a condominium and hotel project scheme. The crime is one federal count of wire fraud, which has a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. See also Arcadia Weekly, p. 3, 7, October 28, 2021.
A federal investigation of a San Gabriel Valley-based Asian crime syndicate led to the arrests of 18 suspected Red Door gang members in several San Gabriel Valley cities, including Arcadia. The effort was dubbed "Operation Paint it Black." Authorities seized seven guns, 12,500 ecstasy pills, 2,230 marijuana plants and a Lamborghini. The 18 were indicted on drug trafficking and international marriage fraud charges.
Twenty-five year old Matthew Fay Echauri of Arcadia, has been found guilty of brutally stabbing his 18-year-old girlfriend in Temple City two years ago. He was found guilty of four felony counts: one count of attempted murder, one count of mayhem, two counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime with force and violence. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 12.
Arcadia Tournament of Roses Association Royal Court for the January 1, 1980 parade are: MarrLin Greathouse, Tina Borgatta, Amy Pfau, Judi Bithell, and Laurie Churchman.
Arcadia's float in the January 1, 1980 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. It was titled WHITE CHRISTMAS. Riding on the float were: MarrLin Greathouse, queen; and princesses Judi Bithell, Laurie Churchman, Tina Borgatta, and Amy Pfau.
A U.S. District judge overturned convictions for bribery, mail, wire and tax fraud and harboring illegal immigrants, against George Torres, 52, of Arcadia, the former owner of Numero Uno supermarket chain. The judge threw out the more serious convictions for racketeering, conspiracy and solicitation of murder, back in June. Torres has been set free after 2 years in custody.
Details have been released on the deaths of Alan Cheung of Monterey Park and Edward Chin of Arcadia. Their charred bodies were found in the desert, west of the Barstow (15) Freeway on October 26, 2003.