Free Republic

<p>To woo a new supermarket to South Los Angeles, city leaders offered up roughly two acres of city land for a single dollar - and proposed to sweeten the deal with $750,000 in federal funds to spruce up the site.</p>

LOS ANGELES -- Supporters say George Torres is a hardworking and generous immigrant entrepreneur who built a grocery-store chain serving some of the region's toughest neighborhoods. Government prosecutors allege Mr. Torres is a criminal who over the past 20 years has used murder, theft and intimidation to build his business empire. Those two views of the 52-year-old Mexican national who grew up in Los Angeles will clash during a federal-court trial scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Prosecutors accuse Mr. Torres of heading a racketeering scheme since the 1980s, using money and force to battle rivals and expand his business enterprises....

The owner of the Los Angeles-based Numero Uno supermarket chain, his brother and two associates alleged to be part of a racketeering conspiracy have been taken into custody during a two-day operation that also resulted in the seizure of approximately $1.25 million in cash and more than 60 vehicles. The supermarket owner, George Torres, was arrested yesterday at his Arcadia residence without incident. George Torres, 50, was in United States District Court this afternoon, making his first court appearance, at which time he was ordered held without bond pending another court appearance next Wednesday. George Torres is accused in an...

Grocery King George Torres Fingered in Murders Racketeering charges against Numero Uno markets founder include bribing two former L.A. planning commissioners By JEFFREY ANDERSON Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 7:30 pmFEDERAL PROSECUTORS on Wednesday afternoon arraigned George Torres, one of South Los Angeles’ largest property owners and the owner of the Numero Uno supermarket chain, on murder charges. Also arraigned on a variety of racketeering charges, such as extortion and bribery, were several codefendants, including Torres’ brother Manuel, son Steven and former Los Angeles city planning commissioners Steve Carmona and George Luk. The federal indictment was unsealed in federal court...

CINCINNATI - Hispanic leaders are demanding a public apology from a radio station that put up billboards showing a Mexican flag, a donkey, and a mustachioed man in a sombrero with the headline "The Big Juan." The Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA complained that the advertising by WLW-AM stereotyped Hispanics. The community leaders said at a news conference Tuesday that they plan to meet with station executives to talk about sensitivity training and creating a multicultural community advisory board. WLW, which calls itself "The Big One," is the Cincinnati area's radio ratings leader. The Hispanic Chamber and the League of United...

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