Man killed in three-car accident A Lawndale...

Man killed in three-car accident

A Lawndale man was killed in a three-car collision near the Beach

Boulevard exit on the San Diego Freeway early Saturday.

The Orange County coroner’s division identified the man, who died

at the scene of traumatic injuries, as Fidel Guefia, 51..

The crash occurred at about 4:30 a.m. while Guefia was driving

south in a 1998 Ford, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Investigators believed his car spun out of control just south of

Beach Boulevard.

“We don’t know why the vehicle lost control,” Highway Patrol

Officer Garry Goldenberg said.

Investigators believed Guefia’s Ford stopped in the middle of a

lane and was struck by a 1997 Toyota driven by a Westminster man. The

force of the crash knocked the Ford into the center divider.

The Ford then rolled backward into traffic, where it was hit again

on the driver’s side by a 2000 Mitsubishi driven by a Fremont man,

the Highway Patrol said. After the crash, authorities shut down four

lanes on the southbound side of the freeway for more than three

hours.

The Westminster man was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center with

minor injuries, and the Fremont man wasn’t hurt, authorities said.

Con man is sentenced in charity scam case

Huntington Beach resident Timothy James Lyons was sentenced to 15

years in federal prison for using a fake church to con more than $7

million from people who thought they were giving to charities.

Another defendant in the case, Gabriel Bernardo Sanchez, also of

Huntington Beach, is scheduled to be sentenced March 8.

Sanchez could be sentenced to a similar term, Assistant U.S. Atty.

Ellyn Lindsay said.

Lyons was sentenced for setting up a fake church in Costa Mesa,

the First Church of Life, in 1993. Between 1993 and 2001, Lyons and

Sanchez used the church to solicit donations they claimed would

benefit children, veterans, and AIDS research. The two were found

guilty of fraud on Nov. 3.

Two others, Roger Nolan Lane and Steven Lawrence de la Torre,

pleaded guilty on Oct. 10. They were both sentenced to 46 months in

federal prison and ordered to pay $10,000 fines on Jan. 26.

In addition to causing financial loss, Lindsay said the men could

have hurt the community by making people afraid to donate to

legitimate groups.

“It deters people from giving to charity,” she said.