TV Newsman, 2 Others Indicted in Scheme

RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Los Angeles television news anchor Larry Carroll and two other men have been indicted on seven criminal counts alleging that they solicited $2 million from an investor with the promise that it would quickly yield large profits at no risk.

The indictment was announced Monday after Carroll and the other two defendants, Michael A. Patterson of Los Angeles and Ronald B. Long of Scottsdale, appeared for arraignment in San Bernardino Superior Court.

The arraignment was continued to Wednesday. The defendants, who did not enter pleas, remained free without bail.

The indictment was returned last week by a San Bernardino County grand jury and unsealed Monday, said San Bernardino County Deputy Dist. Atty. Gordon Isen.

He refused to elaborate on the case, except to say that it was the culmination of a three-month undercover investigation involving the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and a search of Carroll’s home in Chatsworth.

According to the five-page indictment, the victim, identified by authorities as Terry Christensen of Newberry Springs, was told that a $2-million investment would yield a profit of 47% per week with no risk, and that other investments were available that would yield profits of 1,000% in a five-day period, also at no risk.

Carroll, an anchor for KCBS Channel 2, could not be reached for comment. A station spokesman said Carroll “has chosen to take some time off from his duties at the station in order to devote his full energies to responding to these charges.”