Local News in Brief : Gypsies to Be Tried on Burglary Charges
Twenty Polish Gypsies accused of burglarizing the homes of elderly people throughout Southern California last winter have been ordered to stand trial on burglary, conspiracy and receiving stolen property charges.
After a 17-week preliminary hearing, Pasadena Municipal Judge Judson W. Morris Jr. ordered that the defendants be arraigned in Pasadena Superior Court on Sept. 23.
The hearing, one of the most expensive in county history, costing $11,000 a day, required a modified courtroom in Alhambra Municipal Court to accommodate 74 defendants, attorneys, interpreters and courtroom personnel.
Morris dismissed burglary charges against some of the defendants, but all were held to answer on the remaining allegations. Prosecutors alleged that millions of dollars in goods were taken from the ring’s victims.
“The most important thing was to show that the conspiracy existed among all 20, and that’s exactly what the judge found,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael J. Grosbard.
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