LOS ANGELES — The owner of Numero Uno, a chain of 11 grocery stores serving low-income sections of the city here, has been convicted of racketeering, bribery and other crimes following a trial in U.S. District Court here, according to published reports.
George Torres faces life imprisonment after a jury found him guilty of bribing members of a regional planning commission in return for their efforts to grant him permission to sell alcohol at one of his stores; using drug dealers to make threats or commit violence on his behalf; and paying employees, including many illegal immigrants, under the table, without withholding any taxes.
He was acquitted on charges of ordering the murder of a business associate.
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