Sentence Insults Redman Victims

Marshall Redman may no longer live in a Beverly Hills mansion, but his sentence last week to a year of house arrest was nonetheless offensive--particularly to the hundreds of families he ripped off in a High Desert land scheme. The 69-year-old former developer pleaded no contest to grand theft and filing false documents and was sentenced to a year in jail. But a probation report concluded that Redman--who swindled millions of dollars from mostly working class Latinos--was eligible for what is euphemistically called “alternative confinement.”

Translation: Redman will spend the next year at home wearing an electronic monitoring device while dozens of the families who bought land in his Hi Vista development live in shacks without electricity or running water. Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich accurately described Redman’s sentence as a “slap on the ankle.”

Worse, though, is the fact that many of Redman’s victims have yet to collect on claims against his estate. Two years after The Times disclosed the extent of Redman’s fraud, banks and a court-appointed receiver are trying to sort out the developer’s finances. An earlier receiver charged with disbursing Redman’s estate instead misspent $1 million and then fled to Australia. About half the money was recovered from the company that bonded the receiver, but delays continue to keep victims from the money they deserve.

From the beginning, the victims of this case have been forgotten and neglected by the government watchdogs set up to protect them. Despite more than 100 inquiries and complaints to six government agencies, authorities took 13 years to file a lawsuit against Redman to halt his scam. Zoning officials in Los Angeles and Kern counties simply cited Redman for building and subdivision violations. State regulators revoked Redman’s real estate license in 1973 but did little more. Kern County officials were prepared to prosecute in 1981, and didn’t. The Los Angeles County Consumer Affairs Department took three years to turn the case over to prosecutors.

After The Times series in 1996, the county approved a package of reforms designed to prevent a repeat of Redman’s swindle and emergency arrangements were made to hook some properties up to local utilities. All were good steps--even if they came more than a decade too late. Despite all the well-intentioned actions and prolific hand-wringing of public officials, the fact remains that Marshall Redman largely got away with his scam. While Redman spends time at home, many of his victims remain only slightly better off than they were before--reading by candlelight and washing their hair in rain barrels.