Red Cross Chapter Chief Resigns Amid Complaints

The chief executive of the San Gabriel Valley American Red Cross chapter has resigned after months of controversy, the charity’s board said Friday.

Angie Turner had come under fire in recent months from volunteers and some staff who complained about mismanagement at the chapter, located in Pasadena. Problems surfaced last year after Turner signed off on hiring a con artist as the chapter’s chief development officer, despite a background check that showed a criminal conviction and numerous aliases.

The con artist, Fred Brito, remained on staff for a month after the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on his exploits. He was fired only after an official conducting an Internet search found the piece.

The official who uncovered the deceit was then fired for leaking the episode to the media, according to an internal memo.

Turner’s troubles increased recently when the Pasadena Star-News and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported on her 1985 felony conviction in connection with a heroin ring.

Turner was sentenced to three years in prison when she pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in connection with a ring that smuggled narcotics from Nepal to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the papers reported. All but three months of the term were suspended and she served her time in the Linn County, Iowa, jail.

It was her second run-in with the law in Iowa, the papers reported. She was arrested in 1979 on a charge of possession of heroin with intent to distribute, but that charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and eventually dismissed for lack of evidence.

Michael Zoeller, chairman of the Red Cross chapter’s board, said he didn’t view the felony as an issue because she had disclosed it.

“This was a situation where the employee had disclosed her past background and we felt it was a 20-year-old incident, and there’s never been any indication of a recurrence, and she’s had a 20-year record of noteworthy performance,” Zoeller said. The Red Cross chapter came under additional criticism last month after reports that the Pasadena City Council’s $100,000 donation to help Hurricane Katrina victims seeking refuge in the Pasadena area, had instead been directed to regular chapter operations including salaries.

Zoeller said the chapter is investigating the matter, and that he doesn’t believe the donation has been spent. He declined to say whether the board had requested Turner’s resignation or to disclose her salary.

“She’s been under tremendous pressure as CEO for the past five months,” Zoeller said in a telephone interview. “She felt it was just at a point where she couldn’t continue with the effects on her mental health and felt it was best to step aside and allow the organization to go forward.”

Turner could not be reached for comment.