PROSECUTORS GET FBI KUDOS FOR OBTAINING CONVICTION.Byline: Greg Gittrich Daily News Staff WriterIn rare letters of commendation, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh thanked two Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County prosecutors Tuesday for convicting Alex Yepes, who masterminded bank robberies in Canyon Country and Northridge. Deputy District Attorneys DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. The Act of Congress of March 3, 1815, 2 Story L. U. S. 1530, authorizes and directs the district attorneys of the United States to appoint by warrant, an attorney as their substitute or deputy in all cases when necessary to sue or prosecute for the United Stephen L. Cooley of Toluca Lake and Susan Chasworth of Calabasas received the letters from Wylie B. Cox, special agent in charge of Los Angeles, during a ceremony at FBI headquarters. ``The citizens of Los Angeles have been and continue to benefit from your hard work, and my associates, and I share their gratitude,'' Freeh wrote. Following a failed attempt by federal prosecutors to convict Yepes, Cooley and Chasworth filed state charges and successfully tried him in November. The charges stemmed from the 1993 robberies of a Trans World Trans World is an economic simulation game for the Commodore 64 published by Starbyte Software in 1990. The player takes control of a new trucking company and competes against up to either three other human or computer players to make the most money. Bank in Canyon Country and Coast Federal Bank in Northridge committed by Yepes, 30, and his cohorts. Cooley, former head of the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. branch of the District Attorney's Office and now head of the Welfare Fraud Division, filed state charges against Yepes and two of his accomplices, Brett and Chad Pelch, the sons of a Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . sergeant. Cooley assigned Chasworth to prosecute the case. In 1997, the state prosecution led to guilty verdicts and life sentences for the Pelch brothers. But the jury remained deadlocked 11-1 in favor of a guilty verdicts on all major counts against Yepes. After a three-month retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) , Chasworth convinced jurors that Yepes' alibis were bogus. Judge Charles Peven sentenced Yepes to two life sentences and 35 years, which he is serving consecutively. In the two letters of commendation, Freeh praised Chasworth's ``withering questioning'' of Yepes. Freeh thanked Cooley for maintaining a ``hands-on'' style of supervision. |
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