Lee Sevilla update

The article that Steve Lopez wrote about Lee Sevilla, the 71-year-old woman who lives in her car in Playa del Rey, has resulted in an outpouring of love and caring that has succeeded in melting this cold, callous and cynical heart of mine. She's going to be OK.

However, the article also stirred up some old business in Sevilla's life, business that was the direct reason why she was out on the streets in the first place. Apparently Ms. Sevilla ran afoul of the IRS, and was latched onto by a Javert-like overzealous prosecutor. The unpaid tax bill was $12,674, but due to a law in Illinois that this prosecutor was itching to try, she became liable for a much larger bill. Most of the charges against her were thrown out, but she was convicted on a sum of $34.91. This was originally vacated, but the conviction was reinstated and the tax bill began ticking upward again. A warrant was issued for her arrest...a big surprise considering she thought she had been cleared. In 1990 she was arrested in LA for the Illinois bench warrant, and had a heart attack in jail.

Long story short, this legal mess was finally cleared up, and there is no more warrant against her. And now she has a new problem...how to sift through the three mail trays laden with contributions, offers of housing, art commission requests, etc. etc.

Here's the Rest Of The Story (tm) on the LATimes site. Yes, soul sucking registration required. Use Bugmenot if you are not inclined to allow the Times to swallow your soul.