SANTA ANA : Former Race Promoter Goodwin and Ex-Wife Convicted of Lying for Loans

A federal jury on Wednesday convicted the former business partner of slain racing promoter Mickey Thompson of charges that he and his then-wife made false statements to three banks while trying to borrow nearly $400,000.

Michael F. Goodwin and ex-wife Diane Seidel were each convicted on 13 of 15 counts of conspiracy and making false statements to the banks beginning in 1986.

Goodwin has been the only person publicly named as a suspect in the 1988 slayings of Thompson and his wife, Trudy, in front of the couple’s home in the San Gabriel Valley city of Bradbury. Goodwin has denied any involvement in the killings.

The partnership between Goodwin and Thompson dissolved into a bitter feud that ended when Thompson obtained a state court judgment of about $500,000 against Goodwin and his Stadium Motorsports Corp. That judgment pushed Goodwin into personal bankruptcy, according to the prosecutor in the fraud case.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Elana Shavit Artson said the criminal charges arose from a $500,000 line of credit that Goodwin and Seidel obtained from Southern California Bank in April, 1986, to promote motorcycle events.

The couple did not repay the loan, Artson said, and subsequently applied for loans totaling $350,000 from three other banks by submitting several financial statements that failed to disclose the outstanding bank loan.

The two face a maximum of 29 years each in federal prison when they are sentenced Feb. 26.