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NEWS .............. 4 Pendergast CFO chosen for national academy
SPORTS ........ 13 DEHS going strong with new wrestling coach
9 DAYS ......... 16 Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar
LETTERS ..........................9 BUSINESS..................... 12 SPORTS ..........................13 FEATURES .....................17 YOUTH ...........................20 OBITUARIES .................23 CLASSIFIEDS................23 NORTH
The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
August 29, 2018
Attorney helps feds nab Avondale con man By Paul Maryniak
When he lived in Avondale and then Ahwatukee, Raheem Oliver knew how to play the angles. He played them so well that he made an estimated $640,000 in three years off the backs of elderly people – including a 96-year-old man known for his work as a World War II Marine cinematographer whom he fleeced out of $98,000 through an elaborate magazine subscription racket. But Oliver made a crucial mistake two years ago that put him in a federal courtroom in Virginia last Friday before a judge who handed him a 14-year prison sentence. Oliver rented a house from Ahwatukee attorney Mark Pyper. Had it not been for Pyper’s curiosity, Oliver might well have continued what U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger called “his broad and calculated magazine fraud scam.” Even Pyper himself was conned, though not through the magazine scam. Back in 2016, Oliver offered to rent Pyper’s 7,500-square-foot house in Ahwatukee’s Equestrian Estates neighborhood. So, the attorney did a background check and learned Oliver had spent time in prison. Oliver had served six years for his conviction on armed robbery and kidnapping stemming from a violent heist of a jewelry store in Gilbert in 2003. He blindfolded the female clerk and bound her in duct tape
Ahwatukee attorney Mark Pyper holds a copy of the check he received from con man and career criminal Raheem Oliver when he was a tenant in a home Pyper owned. The third-party check piqued his curiosity and he called the man who wrote it – ultimately triggering an investigation that unraveled the scheme. (West Valley View photo by Kimberly Carrillo)
before making off with what police said at the time was a “considerable” amount of jewelry. When he brought his prison record to Oliver’s attention, Pyper recalled, Oliver “represented that he was a ‘changed man’
with a successful business and that he even coached underprivileged teens in a competitive basketball league.” Acting on religious beliefs that once in-
Swindler...continued on page 2
Suspects arrested in Buckeye narcotics bust By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski A three-month investigation by the Maricopa County Drug Suppression Task Force (MCDSTF) yielded 15 pounds of methamphetamine, 519 fentanyl pills, marijuana, cocaine and vehicles. The investigation, which started in May, led to the arrest of three men on August 17.
Abraham Oliveros-Suarez, 22, Armando Oliveros-Suarez, 25, and Rodrigo Valdez, 22, were taken into custody in connection with the sale and possession of the drugs. The suspects met undercover detectives at a location in Buckeye to conduct the drug transaction. Once the suspects met
with detectives, they were taken into custody without incident. Detectives also found a high-caliber handgun inside the vehicles the suspects arrived in. The investigation led detectives
Bust...continued on page 3