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Man pleads not guilty to ad threat
William Cardwell, 32, is charged with placing an ad seen as threatening Riverside County's D.A.
By Maeve Reston
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 7, 2007
A Perris man accused of threatening the Riverside County district attorney in a classified ad is innocent and not a gang member, his defense attorney said Thursday.
Chandler William Cardwell, a 32-year-old employee at the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper, was arrested Friday night after police identified him as the person who allegedly placed an Aug. 25 advertisement threatening Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco.
The ad listed a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" sale with proceeds to benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund." It also included Pacheco's home address and cellphone number and stated "Everything Goes."
Riverside police officials said they believed the ad was in response to Pacheco's announcement the previous day that he was seeking a permanent injunction against the East Side Riva street gang.
The injunction would bar gang members from congre- gating in certain areas, flashing gang signs or wearing gang clothing. Pacheco ran a full- page ad in the newspaper in large print Aug. 24 warning East Side Riva members of the injunction.
Cardwell's attorney, Richard R. Carnero, said outside court that his client's only tie to the East Side Riva gang was through his wife's brother, who was identified as an East Side Riva member in court documents seeking the injunction.
During his arraignment in Riverside on Thursday afternoon, Cardwell's eyes were red and he hid his face behind papers, his shoulders shaking visibly as he lowered his head to shield himself from cameras.
Cardwell entered not guilty pleas on all charges.
Deputy Atty. Gen. Michael Murphy said his office was still investigating how whoever placed the ad might have obtained Pacheco's personal information.
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