By GREG RISLING Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/25/2009 01:28:06 AM PDT


LOS ANGELES—George Torres has lived the Mexican immigrant's dream.
Through hard work and hustle over the past four decades, the Tijuana-born Torres came to Los Angeles with his family, worked on his father's produce route and eventually built Numero Uno, a small empire of 11 grocery stores that serves some of Southern California's grittier neighborhoods.

Once praised for providing affordable groceries to low-income families, Torres now will stand trial starting Wednesday on charges that he ran a criminal enterprise using bribes, intimidation and murder to expand his business.

Jury selection in the trial against Torres and his brother Manuel Torres was Tuesday, with U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson telling prospective jurors to "expect this trial to be hotly contested and interesting." Opening statements were scheduled for Wednesday morning.

George Torres has pleaded not guilty to more than 50 counts, including racketeering, mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the federal government. Manuel Torres has pleaded not guilty to three counts, including racketeering and conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens. If convicted of all counts, they could each face life in prison. The government also is seeking the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars.

Prosecutors portray George Torres, 52, as a ruthless and sinister ringleader who used his influence to target those who crossed him over a 20-year period. Among the more serious allegations against


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him:
— After a Numero Uno security guard was killed with his own gun by a gang member in April 1993, Torres told an employee, Ignacio Meza, to retaliate. A month later, prosecutors believe Meza killed a member of the gang in a drive-by shooting using a gun provided by George Torres. Two others were wounded in the shooting.

— In 1994, George Torres ordered a hit on a member of the Mexican Mafia who demanded the gang be paid money for running the store in its territory. Soon after, Meza killed the suspected gangster at a barber shop, according to court documents.

— When George Torres learned that Meza allegedly stole $500,000 from one of his stores in March 1998, he and his brother allegedly talked about plans to kill Meza. Prosecutors said George Torres asked an accomplice to kill Meza, who disappeared about six months later and has never been found. He's been declared legally dead.

E-mail messages left for George Torres' attorney Steven Madison and Manuel Torres' lawyer Victor Sherman were not immediately returned. However, in court documents defense attorneys argue the allegations are without merit.

Legal experts said that for jurors to find George Torres guilty of the racketeering, prosecutors must show he coordinated the crimes and furthered the operation's goal. Court documents reveal some of the evidence against him will come from former employees and wiretapped phone conversations.

The government will "have to show he had control and helped cause these actions," said Rebecca Lonergan, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at the University of Southern California. "It's always a challenge to put on cases that took place over a long period of time."

George Torres is also accused of bribing former Los Angeles city officials Steve Carmona and George Luk with the hopes of getting a liquor license for one of his markets. In return, Carmona received Lakers tickets worth $1,100 and a GMC pickup truck registered to George Torres' son, prosecutors said.

Carmona and Luk have pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy and mail and wire fraud. They will stand trial later this year.

Investigators said George Torres also ran his business in the shade.

He often paid employees in cash, so he didn't have to report the income on his taxes and staffed his stores with illegal immigrants who lived in housing provided by him, court documents said. Those arriving illegally to the U.S. would be allowed to live rent-free in some of the houses in exchange for being "on-call" to do work at one of his stores, prosecutors said.

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