Two Guilty of Selling Food Given to Needy

A pastor and a baker were convicted Monday in federal court in Los Angeles of selling $100,000 in surplus government food that was supposed to have gone to needy families.

Joe Andy Vigil, 58, of Lynwood, used his position as pastor with the Pacific Latin American Church to obtain the honey, butter and dry milk intended for distribution to the poor, Assistant U.S. Atty. Adam Schiff said.

Some of the food was properly handed out to the needy through the church, but at least $100,000 worth was unaccounted for in late 1984 and 1985, Schiff said.

Vigil gave that food to David Reynoso, owner of the Kream Krop Bakery in Inglewood, Schiff said.

There was no direct evidence that Vigil profited, Schiff said, but witnesses testified that he left Reynoso’s office with envelopes and that he drove a Cadillac and bought a $2,600 television while presumably living on Social Security.

After a two-week trial, jurors convicted Vigil of one count of conspiracy and six counts of selling, conveying and disposing of government food without authority. Reynoso, 65, of La Mirada, was convicted of conspiracy and six counts of receiving, retaining and concealing government food for his own gain, Schiff said. The men face up to 65 years in prison when they are sentenced May 31.