Los Angeles

Couple fined for posing as immigration lawyers

A couple posing as immigration lawyers specializing in asylum cases were ordered to pay a $1.85 million fine after a judge ruled they had defrauded hundreds of Chinese immigrants, the California State Attorney General’s office said.

Walter Wenko, 59, and Miao Huang, 48, of Monterey Park, falsely advertised themselves as attorneys for Asian Pacific Legal Services in Chinese newspapers and phone books from 1998 to 2001. They promised to help obtain work permits and green cards and to affect the immigration of family members in as little as a year.

The couple unlawfully prepared documents such as letters to the Immigration and Naturalization Service requesting asylum and hired attorneys when court appearances were required. When they were closed down, their firm had 350 clients, said Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general. The immigration of all 350 may be in jeopardy.

Washington, D.C.

Study: Blacks more prone to cataracts

Blacks are almost twice as likely as whites to develop cataracts, according to a new study.

Released in today’s issue of Ophthalmology, the study also found that a certain form of the disease, cortical cataracts, developed three times as often among blacks.

The study nails down what some researchers had already suspected. “There have been no data on eye diseases in people of African descent,” said Dr. M. Cristina Leske, an epidemiologist at the University Medical Center at Stony Brook, N.Y., and the study’s lead author.

Researchers don’t know why blacks have higher cataract rates, but Leske says the difference probably stems from their relatively high rates of diabetes, hypertension and obesity, all of which boost cataract risk.

Washington, D.C.

Midsize sedans do poorly in bumper tests

Six midsize sedans fared poorly in bumper crash tests conducted by the insurance industry, with each averaging more than $500 in repairs after crashes at 5 mph.

The 2004 Mitsubishi Galant fared best, averaging $525 in repairs in each of four tests, according to results released Sunday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The 2004 Chevrolet Malibu and the 2004 Acura TSX earned the group’s lowest rating, averaging more than $950 in damage in each of the four tests.

New models of the Suzuki Verona, the Nissan Maxima and the Acura TL earned the agency’s second-worst rating. They averaged between $613 and $731 in each of the four tests.

Virginia

Driver charged with hit and run

A Lorton motorist was charged Sunday with manslaughter after he hit a man with his vehicle on Interstate 95 near the Fairfax County Parkway and dragged his body 8 1/2 miles before notifying authorities, Fairfax County police said.

Early Sunday morning, Josuel Galdino, 25, hit Fitsum Gebreegziabher, 27, of Woodbridge, along Interstate 95 after Gebreegziabher, who had been driving southbound, apparently stopped and got out of his Toyota Camry after getting a flat tire, according to a police account.

Galdino struck the rear of the Toyota, apparently pinning Gebreegziabher beneath the front-end suspension of his Mitsubishi Montero, said police, who would not speculate on what time the incident occurred.

Galdino then drove 8 1/2 to nine miles, to his home in Lorton, before realizing what had happened, police spokesman Sophia Grinnan said.

Aside from manslaughter, Galdino was charged with driving while intoxicated.