Son of Winchell’s Owner Enters No-Contest Plea
Richard Allen Winchell, son of the doughnut chain founder, pleaded no contest Monday to two felony charges of violating state business laws in establishing a wholesale muffin bakery.
Winchell, 48, entered his pleas for failing to register with the state attorney general’s office a seller-assisted marketing plan, and for failing to include mandatory contract provisions in written agreements to sell the marketing plan.
Prosecutors alleged that Winchell, a Hollywood resident, sold interests in a wholesale muffin bakery, but that investors never received the help he promised to set them up in business.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathryn Showers said that Winchell, son of Vern Winchell, who founded Winchell’s Donuts, was expected to be sentenced Aug. 16 to three years’ probation and ordered to pay about $37,500 in restitution to investors.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
