A fugitive sex offender is hiding in plain sight as an LA biopharma executive
Richard Graydon spent years cultivating an enviable lifestyle.
Worked at a biotech pharma company in Los Angeles. He owned a 56-foot yacht he named Silver Lining, and authorities said he was known as a master yachtsman and world traveler.
But the US Marshals Service and federal prosecutors say it’s all built on false identities.
Graydon’s real name, authorities said, was Ronald L. Fischer, and he was a fugitive from Rhode Island who used more than a dozen aliases to evade capture for more than 20 years.
Ronald Fischer was arrested after his boat ran aground off the coast of New Jersey.
(Rhode Island State Police)
Last week, a crew teamed up with the US Coast Guard to track down Fischer on his boat and take him into custody off the coast of New Jersey.
“You can run, but you can’t hide from justice,” First Assistant US Atty. Charles C. Calenda of the District of Rhode Island said in a statement. “Ronald Fischer is about to return to Rhode Island to face the consequences he has sought to escape for more than 20 years.”
“This arrest shows that time does not remove accountability,” said Wing Chau, US Marshal for the District of Rhode Island, in a statement. “For more than two decades, Ronald Fischer believed he had successfully escaped justice. The men and women of the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force, along with our partners, are committed to making sure that day finally comes.”
Fischer, who was accused of raping a woman aboard the Lion King in 2003, fled during his rape trial in May 2005. He was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in absentia.
A warrant was issued for his arrest that month for failure to appear, sexual assault and fleeing to avoid prosecution, according to federal authorities.
Cheryl Gingrich told WRAL News that she is focused on healing from the trauma she suffered while authorities were looking for Fischer.
“I started accepting it because of a great doctor and a great therapist,” he told a North Carolina news station. “But it never left the back of my mind.”
Gingrich said the last time he saw Fischer was in court.
“He’s sitting comfortably at the desk with his lawyer in a relaxed position, just staring at me with a dirty look on his face,” he told WRAL News. “And now I will be able to do the same to him.”
Fischer had long been on Rhode Island’s Most Wanted Fugitives list, including his photo and various aliases he was known to use. He was described as a former anesthesiologist, “master boat photographer” and “world traveler.”
Citing law enforcement sources, NBC4 reported that Fisher, under the name Richard Graydon, worked as an executive at Immix Biopharma, a biotech pharmaceutical company in West Los Angeles.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, just four days after Fischer’s arrest, Immix Biopharma disclosed that it terminated Richard Graydon’s employment on July 17 “for reasons unrelated to his duties at the company.”
A spokesperson for the company did not respond to a request for comment. But news of his abduction raised questions about the company’s hiring practices.
A law firm representing the company’s investors it was announced on Tuesday to launch an investigation into whether Immix Biopharma or members of its leadership team violated federal securities laws.
“Media sources have revealed that an executive working at Immix under the name ‘Richard Graydon’ is suspected to be Ronald Fischer, a top fugitive wanted in Rhode Island who was operating under an identity,” wrote the Portnoy Law Firm in a news release.
