BURBANK MAN GETS ONE-YEAR TERM IN KATRINA DONATION SCAM.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer GLENDALE - A 44-year-old Burbank maintenance worker was sentenced Monday to one year in federal prison for posing as an American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. volunteer and collecting up to $2,000 in donations meant for Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. victims.
Tino Lee, who is free on $30,000 bond, is expected to surrender March 6 to begin his one-year term, followed by two years' probation. Prosecutors said he was not a flight risk because he lives in the area and has no felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. record. Earlier, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of impersonating a Red Cross worker to solicit funds on behalf of the agency. His was the first federal case stemming from a Hurricane Katrina-related fundraising
Lee and accomplices Gina Liz Nicholas, 22, of Glendale and an unidentified 14-year-old girl from Pico Rivera Pico Rivera (pē`kō rĭvĕr`ə), city (1990 pop. 59,177), Los Angeles co., SW Calif., SE of Los Angeles on the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers; inc. 1958 with the union of Pico and Rivera into one community. were arrested Sept. 15 as they sat at a table outside a Best Buy store in Burbank with a collection box. They had fliers that read, ``Help Now. American Red Cross Relief For Hurricane Katrina'' and had collected as much as $2,000 over about a week, police said. ``The judge's sentence should send a message to potential fraudsters that scamming in the name of a charity will not be tolerated,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellyn Lindsay said. ``This case goes to show that people should be very careful about the organizations to which they donate their hard-earned money.'' Robert Welbourn, Lee's attorney, said he was surprised by Judge George H. King's decision. The plea agreement called for a sentence ranging from probation to six months in prison, he said. ``We had an understanding among the prosecution, myself and my client. ... We'd probably get probation for my client, no jail time,'' Welbourn said, adding that Lee returned $850 to the Red Cross after his arrest. ``I think it was beyond what was necessary under the circumstances CIRCUMSTANCES, evidence. The particulars which accompany a fact. 2. The facts proved are either possible or impossible, ordinary and probable, or extraordinary and improbable, recent or ancient; they may have happened near us, or afar off; they are public or .'' Nicholas, who pleaded guilty to the same charge, is expected to be sentenced in the next couple of weeks. The teenager is being tried separately as a juvenile. Police called the trio acquaintances, even though they gave conflicting stories about how they were connected. Jason Kandel, (818) 546-3306 jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com |
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