Ex-Chamber Chief Pleads Innocent

Melvin Greenstein, a pawn shop owner and former president of the Lawndale Chamber of Commerce, has pleaded innocent to a felony charge of receiving stolen property. A preliminary hearing will be held May 12 in Culver City Municipal Court.

Greenstein, 53, declined to comment on the case when contacted Thursday. He is free on $5,000 bail.

Greenstein is charged with buying at his pawn shop a $10,000 diamond bracelet and a $300 Cartier watch that authorities said were stolen Feb. 16 at the Marina Beach Hotel in Marina del Rey. Lisa Ann Adamo, 26, has been charged with the burglary, according to Sheriff’s Detective David Cowen.

Sheriff’s deputies found the stolen watch and bracelet during searches of Greenstein’s pawn shop and his West Los Angeles home, Cowen said. He declined to disclose the nature of evidence linking Greenstein to Adamo.

In March, about a week before his arrest, Greenstein resigned as chamber president. Mayor Sarann Kruse said he left because of frustration over chamber problems. The chamber suffered a serious blow last summer when the City Council voted to withhold $70,000 the chamber expected to use for community and business-development activities. This represented nearly 65% of the chamber’s $110,000 annual budget, according to chamber officials.

Jerry Enis, the chamber’s paid director, also resigned in March. He became director of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce.