Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Maybe you concocted a sophisticated Los Angeles Medicare fraud scheme that raided the Federal Government’s coffers to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars. Or maybe you're being investigated for failing to meet a Byzantine health care requirement.

Before taking action, read this list of five “don’ts,” so you can avoid making further mistakes that could imperil your case and lead to unnecessarily long jail sentences, the stripping of your professional license, humiliation, massive fines, and worse.

5 “Don’ts”

1. Don’t lie.

Do NOT lie to authorities, investigators, your family, your Southern California white-collar crime lawyer, and, most importantly, yourself.

This isn’t to say that you need to “spill your guts” to investigators probing your business. You want to be strategic about how and when you disclose facts. But it IS very important that you completely disclose what you did – or what you think you did – to your attorney, who will keep that information in confidence.

Likewise, you need to be totally upfront with yourself about what you did and why you did it. It is difficult to introspect. But it’s an important part of the healing process – important not just for legal reasons but also for spiritual reasons. When you understand your underlying motivations, you can take actions to avoid getting in trouble in the future.

2. Don’t wait to get assistance.

Los Angeles healthcare fraud defendants often wait far too long to begin to come to grips with their situations. This is dangerous. If you wait too long, you may fail to collect potentially exonerating evidence. Besides, those days and weeks of “not knowing” can lead to unnecessary stress, anxiety, and depression.

3. Don’t look “outside” to assign blame.

Sure, you can blame “the system” for setting your business up to fail. Yes, you can blame an incompetent or a sleazy partner or associate for getting you involved in mischief. Of course, you can rail against the circumstances of your upbringing for “putting you in this position.” But the less responsibility you take for your actions, the more difficult it will be for you to change and effectively fight the charges.

Even if you face unfair – perhaps totally unwarranted – charges, take responsibility to the extent that you can, and you will feel more empowered.

4. Don’t beat yourself up.

Avoid judging or “hating on” yourself. What happened, happened. That’s reality. But it doesn’t mean that you are a “bad” person. You just made decisions that failed to meet your needs and the needs of others. The degree that you blame yourself or others is the degree to which you remain trapped in negative, unproductive mental models. Get rid of the shame, the blame, and the projections. Instead, focus on the true facts – the objective facts – of your current case and how you want your situation to be in 3 months, 6 months, a year from now, etc.

5. Don’t give up hope.

You know the expressions – “it’s always darkest before the dawn,” “the Chinese word for danger also means opportunity,” etc. But there is truth in these aphorisms!

Keep hope alive.

Your Los Angeles Medicare fraud charges are not the end of the world. You can turn your life around. Begin right now by connecting with the experienced, ethical team at the Kraut Law Group. Attorney Michael Kraut is a former prosecutor who has tremendous experience representing Southern California white collar crime defendants. He can help you develop and execute a smart and sound defense.

If you’ve recently been investigated or arrested for lewd conduct in Los Angeles, you're likely feeling terrified, overwhelmed, and isolated.

In this fraught state, odds are high that you will make one of the following 4 errors that could make your situation much more painful, legally complicated, and generally annoying. Read this article to “inoculate” yourself from these mistakes.

Mistake #1. Taking no action.

Some people charged with sex crimes in Los Angeles spring into action. The legal trouble serves as a major wake up call for them. Others, unfortunately, get overwhelmed by the stress and pressure. They metaphorically “hide in their holes,” in the hope that the legal storm will blow over. Remember the famous lyrics from the band Rush’s song “Freewill” -- "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

Mistake #2. Focusing on what’s wrong, instead of what could be right.

Let’s not be naïve. There are a lot of things in your life that are “wrong” right now.

Odds are, in fact, that your Los Angeles sex crime charge is just the tip of a larger unfortunate iceberg. Perhaps you're also facing trouble at work (not even related to the sex crime charge), problems in key relationships, money problems, etc. So there is probably a lot wrong.

But don't overlook the potential for what could be right!

For instance, if you take effective steps, not only might you beat back the criminal charges, but you could also get into therapy, recalibrate your life and career goals, and mend fences with important people. Focus on what you can do, not just on what’s bad in your life now.

Mistake #3. Blaming yourself/the victim/other people.

When things get tight and tough, it’s easy to mete out blame and shame.

But these emotions and judgments serve no one’s needs. They just draw attention to what’s missing and what hurts inside of you. Don’t shove those feelings under the rug; instead, examine their root causes. Why might you be feeling shame? Why might you be blaming someone else or some institution? Think out loud on paper, if that helps you. Try to “drill down” to get the root of what’s really the matter.

Often, what we think is the matter is just a superficial symptom of a deeper emotional injury.

Mistake #4. Lying to yourself and others.

When you lie to yourself and to people who can help you (such as a qualified Los Angeles lewd conduct attorney), you set yourself up for a fall.

Protect your integrity. Hold on to it. Cherish it.

The old saying “the truth will set you free” sounds gimmicky, but it’s ultimately correct. When you're straightforward with your attorney -- fully disclosing -- he or she can build the most compelling and accurate possible case for you.

For help with your charges, look to the team here at the Kraut Law Group. Mr. Kraut is a highly respected, intuitive and knowledgeable L.A. criminal defense lawyer with a track record for success and great relationships in the local legal community.

Many Los Angeles Medicare and Medicaid fraud cases end in disaster for all stakeholders. For a tragic “rags to riches to rags” story, take a look at the disaster that befell the Scooter Store.

If you’ve ever watched daytime TV, you’ve no doubt seen commercials for the Scooter Store. The vendor of power wheelchairs (based in New Braunfels, Texas) sold its products to consumers by pummeling the airwaves with advertisements. But a blockbuster CBS News investigative piece about the company led to a federal government investigation and ultimately an FBI raid. Doctors and salespeople alleged that the company followed a diabolical playbook. Salespeople would contact doctors' offices and badger physicians to prescribe power wheelchairs and scooters to patients, even if patients did not need the products. They then relied on Medicare and Medicaid errors and bureaucratic snafus to approve the bad claims.

After the FBI raid, the company furloughed every employee and then laid off 1,000 workers.

How much damage was done?

One estimate suggests that the Scooter Store overbilled Medicaid and Medicare by up to $87.7 million. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services alone may have lost $50 million. The city of New Braunfels also wants $2.6 million from the Scooter Store – to pay back development money that the city lent the company to convert an old grocery store into its HQ. The company has said that it will pay back nearly $20 million; it filed for bankruptcy in the wake of all the legal turmoil.

Lessons for your Los Angeles Medicare fraud case

As we’ve mentioned numerous times on this blog, the government under the Obama Administration is taking Southern California white-collar crime – particularly healthcare fraud – extremely seriously.

Arrests and investigations have spiked over the past five years. The government has tremendous incentive – financial and political – to “crack down” on fraudulent schemes. It’s a particularly hostile environment for defendants. That means that you need to be extremely thorough and smart about how you prepare your defense and reconcile with the charges against you.

Recognize that you are now at a crossroads with respect to your life, your business, and your charges.

A strategically directed defense, developed and executed by a respected Southern California Medicare fraud lawyer, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, can help you take effective next steps. However, if you don’t take your situation seriously -- e.g. if you fail to retain a creditable, responsible attorney -- you may be at risk of a longer than necessary jail sentence, the loss of your license to practice medicine, massive fines, and epic confusion and humiliation. Let Michael Kraut, a Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor, help you plan your defense.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock (and if so, lucky you), you've been bombarded by breaking news in the Jodi Arais trial. The verdict is in: the woman who killed her boyfriend in 2008 after a day of sex -- shooting him in the face, stabbing him 27 times, and finally slitting his throat from ear to ear -- was found guilty by an Arizona jury of first degree murder.

It's a case that's fascinated tabloid-obsessed housewives and hardened Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys alike. And Ms. Arias now faces life behind bars... and possibly even the death penalty.

A Wild Affair

According to an NBC news report, "The Arias case has been the most watched murder trial this year, as 17 weeks focused around the soft-spoken defendant told of kinky sex and horrific violence."

So what happened?

Well, let's go back to the beginning. You don't have to delve far into the story to get into some super kinky details. Here's how CNN describes the start of Arias' relationship with her one-day murder victim, Travis Alexander:

"Arias was living in Yreka, California, when she met Alexander at a business convention in Las Vegas in September 2006. That November, he baptized Arias into the Mormon faith, a ceremony Arias said was followed by anal sex."

Wow. That distinctly does NOT sound like something that the Church elders in Salt Lake City would condone.

In any event.

The couple dated for nearly a year, but Alexander broke things off in the summer of 2007 and started dating other people. Arias stalked him, allegedly, peering into his window.

Despite their on again, off again relationship, Alexander invited Arias back to Arizona to have sex. (Per a USA Today report, at one point, the jury had to listen to "an hour-long audio tape in which Arias and Alexander talked about their travels, their many trysts and then indulged in loud and lurid phone sex. Alexander said he wanted to zip-tie her to a tree and commit a deviant sex act on her."

In June 2008, things came to a head when Arias -- possibly overwhelmed by alleged psychological and emotional abuse and/or some other serious mental problems -- murdered her boyfriend in spectacularly gruesome fashion.

Arias claimed she lashed out in self-defense -- that Alexander had imminently threatened her life.

The jury didn't believe it.

Arias' trial, itself, has been full of oddities as well with crowds and 24 hour news coverage that rivaled high profile celebrity trials of yore (think O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, etc)

Again, per USA Today: "[during] her taped interrogation by police... [Arias] stood on her head when left alone." During the trial itself, "someone's cellphone sounded with the hee-haw of a braying jackass as its ring tone. That same day, a spectator in the gallery vomited loudly and copiously in front of her seat and again as she ran toward the hallway."

The 32 year old also earned money by selling drawings she made in jail.

The big question now is: will the jury give Arias the death penalty or not?

For that, the nation will have to wait, for now.

If someone you know needs help defending against a Los Angeles criminal charge, such as a sex crime charge (hopefully not something as awful as stabbing your ex-boyfriend 27 times and slitting his throat from ear to ear and also shooting him), please get in touch with Attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group. Mr. Kraut is a highly respected Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor, who has the experience and track record to help you build a very strong case.

Connect with a Los Angeles defense lawyer now to understand your rights and options.

A 50-year-old Calabasas man, Dr. Pezhman Ebrahimzadeh, was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars for falsely billing Medicare for over $3 million.

As penance for perpetrating healthcare fraud in Los Angeles, Dr. Ebrahimzadeh has been ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution, for his part in billing Medicare for medical services that he never performed. In many cases, these services involved patients who were no longer alive. Ebrahimzadeh – also known as Pez Abrahams – owns a cosmetic clinic called the Winnetka Medical Group, which provides liposuction and radiofrequency laser treatments.

Federal prosecutors say he collected information from beneficiaries to bill Medicare for never-performed procedures. He also collected information from 25 Medicare patients who were dead when they supposedly “got treated,” and then he changed medical records to conceal the Los Angeles Medicare fraud. He claimed he performed a bunch of pricey procedures, including radiotherapy catheter placement, bone tumor ablation, and revascularization, even though he lacked the equipment to do these procedures.

The 50-year-old doctor pled guilty in January to charges, but then he got into more legal hot water. He failed to report his arrest to pre-trial authorities, which he needed to do, per his bond conditions. Since then, California authorities arrested him again for sexually assaulting a patient who had been undergoing an exam at his clinic.

Abrahams’ serial legal troubles illustrate a relatively common phenomenon: when a person gets arrested for healthcare fraud in Southern California (or wherever), the bad news generally doesn’t all "come out" at once. It happens in stages. The timing of the revelation of these different pieces of bad news can influence legal strategy and even sentencing. That’s why it’s important to “come clean” with your Los Angeles criminal defense attorney early on in the process, so he or she can enjoy a 360 degree understanding of what you did (or allegedly did) and what investigators and prosecutors might find or argue.

You can’t necessarily control your legal destiny, but you can hedge against the worse consequences by being forthcoming with your attorney and by being compassion with yourself and other stakeholders.

The investigation and/or arrest is not the end of the world. It may not even spell the end of your practice. But you need to act effectively and ethically to fix what’s gone wrong and demonstrate responsibility and good citizenship. Connect with the Kraut Law Group for help understanding your options and building your defense. Attorney Kraut is a Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor, and he and his team are standing by to give you astute guidance.

The courts have financial incentive to avoid dealing with trivial Los Angeles petty theft cases.

Here's a bold illustration why.

Up in Monterey, 75-year-old Lilia Estoesta just got convicted of a single petty theft charge for stealing $60 worth of jewelry. The cost of the trial – just for the translator! – exceeded $2,000.

Estoesta pled guilty to pilfering jewelry from a JC Penny Store at a Salinas mall, prior to Christmas. She said that she wanted presents for her grandkids for the holidays.

Estoesta is a Filipino woman who speaks a language called Ilocano – so the court had to hire a special translator, plus reimburse that translator for lodging and mileage. All told, just the translator’s fees tallied at $2,018. Estoesta’s attorney argued that the court would not have had to spend that money (and waste time) had they agreed to come to a plea agreement. After all, the woman had no criminal record.

A local district attorney, James Perry, counter-argued that “Justice requires equal protection of the law and mandates that we treat similarly situated defendants equally.” Perry said that court would have let Estoesta off with community service without probation, if she agreed to a guilty plea on a misdemeanor. But her defense wanted to plea the charges down to a ticket, and a settlement could not be arranged prior to the trial.

Perry defended the court’s actions: “The Constitution does not take costs into consideration.”

The Superior Court Judge, Alert Maldonato, imposed no punishment on the 75-year-old, but Estoesta needs to pay all court-mandated fees.

The big takeaway here – if you or someone you care about faces a Southern California petty theft charge – is that the court system is pretty bureaucratic. That can be both good and bad news for your case. You need to understand the system and play within its rules and constraints.

If you've never been charged before, you probably don’t know what those rules are. Thus, you could easily make mistakes that could drag your situation out or lead to needless additional punishments and stress, particularly if your L.A. petty theft charge is connected with other crimes, like grand theft, robbery, hit and run, etc. The Los Angeles theft defense team at the Kraut Law Group is ready and able to help you prepare your defense and make smart, sensible choices going forward.

Our Los Angeles lewd conduct blog recently reported on the tragic but compelling story of 34-year-old Courtney Sue Reschke, who was arrested back in December 2012 for performing sexual acts with a 15-year-old boy.

The Idaho woman just pled guilty to six counts of lewd conduct – she was originally charged with 11 felony lewd conduct counts as well as misdemeanor charges for offering alcohol to underage minors.

Per court documents, Reschke offered a bunch of high school students alcohol and then engaged in sexual conduct with them. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped five felony counts, but the remaining six counts each carries a life in prison sentence as a max charge.

She is due to be sentenced on June 20th.

Reschke admitted that she had been drinking heavily, and all six charges involve accusations that she had sex with a 15-year-old boy. The judge ordered Reschke to get substance abuse, mental health counseling, and psychosexual counseling. She also entered what are known as "Alford pleas" to the charges that she gave alcohol to minors. These are very similar to guilty pleas, except they technically allow defendants to claim innocence – while at the same time acknowledging that enough evidence exists to lead to guilty verdicts.

Is six life sentences behind bars (the maximal penalty she faces) a bit overboard?

After all, Reschke didn't kill anyone or commit massive theft or engage in intentionally malicious behavior, such as trapping or beating the young man.

But the law does take lewd conduct charges in Los Angeles (and elsewhere) very seriously.

Even if the sex act was ostensibly consensual, a conviction can hang around your neck for years, if not decades. Once you're convicted of a sex crime in Los Angeles, for instance, you may find it very difficult to get employment, find a place to live, rehabilitate your professional reputation, and repair damaged relationships.

That’s why it’s so important for lewd conduct offenders to get effective assistance as early as possible. Turn to ex-prosecutor (and former senior Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles) Michael Kraut and his team at the Kraut Law Group to plan out your next steps.

Mr. Kraut can help you build a judicious, appropriate strategy and restore your confidence and self-esteem in the wake of everything that's happened to you recently.

Thirty-seven-year-old Tigran Aklyan recently pled guilty to Los Angeles Medicare fraud charges, say officials.

Aklyan, the ex-owner of a San Gabriel medical equipment company, admitted that he conspired to defraud Medicare. He faces a maximum fine of $250,000 on top of a decade behind bars.

Aklyan owned Las Tunas Medical Equipment Inc., a company that sold medical equipment and power wheelchairs. From fall 2007 through spring 2009, Aklyan submitted false claims to Medicare for equipment and unneeded wheelchairs. He submitted over $910,000 in false claims and recouped over $650,000 from Medicare.

According to court documents, Aklyan admitted:

• That he submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare;
• That he paid other clinic owners to give him prescriptions and documentation, so that he could write-off the power wheelchairs;
• That he falsely certified that the claims were medically necessary;
• That he paid for prescriptions, even though he knew it was illegal.

Aklyan is just the latest target of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, a special group set up in March 2007 to target Medicare fraud in Los Angeles and beyond. So far, the Strike Force’s dragnet has dragged in nearly 1,500 defendants, who’ve allegedly collectively overbilled Medicare to the tune of $4.8+ billion.

Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Healthcare Fraud Prevention Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) collaborate in the ongoing quest to clamp down on fraud and punish those who perpetrate it.

What should you do if you just got charged with Southern California Medicare fraud?

The experienced, adept Los Angeles white collar defense team here at the Kraut Law Group can help you figure out what you're up against and develop an appropriate response to your charges. Mr. Kraut is an ex-prosecutor, and he's won renowned in the Los Angeles defense community for his intelligence, resourcefulness, and deep understanding of the law in practice.

This blog is devoted to Los Angeles lewd conduct news. But, for whatever reason, we’ve been reporting on multiple stories out of Idaho, of all places.

The most recent (and extremely sad/depressing) case comes out of Idaho Falls, where a 57-year-old man, Viggo Robert Madsen, recently got arrested on charges two counts of lascivious and lewd conduct.

Investigators say that, over the past seven months, Madsen engaged in relationships with two 14-year-old girls.

Meanwhile, up in Nampa, Idaho another older man 82-year-old Paul Cotner, has been charged with a lewd conduct with a minor. According to a local sergeant for the Nampa Police Department’s Crimes Against People unit, the 82-year-old knew both of his victims and committed the acts back in the summer of 2008. Cotner was taken to a local jail in Canyon County before his arraignment.

Yikes. C'mon, Idaho. Get it together.

If you or someone close to you has been hit with a similar type of charge, such as a sex crime or lewd conduct in Los Angeles charge, you may resent the association with Madsen. Perhaps, for instance, you were caught engaging in lewd action at theater on Hollywood (a la comedic actor Fred Willard). Or maybe undercover police busted you for fornicating in the public bathroom at a beach. While you admit that what you did was inappropriate -- and perhaps even illegal -- you want people to understand the difference between the charges you face and the newsy, disturbing “sex crime cases” like Madsen's or Cotner's.

You’re also achingly aware that -- if prosecutors succeed in your case and attach the “sex offender” label to your name -- you will have a very, very difficult road to hoe, not just over the next few months or years but possibly for the rest of your life.

When you register as a sex offender, potential neighbors and employers can find out. Even if you manage to explain that there's a “more to your charges than meets the eye (or ear),” most people are not up for an in depth discussion of the nuances of Los Angeles sex crime law.

In their mind: a convicted sex offender is a convicted sex offender, and that’s that. People don’t have much patience for nuance.

You obviously want to make things right and make reparations to the person that you hurt, if possible.

The team here at the Kraut Law Group can help you understand your charges and build a substantial and legally taught defense. Attorney Kraut is no softy -- he actually served as a prosecutor for much of his career and worked as a Senior Deputy District Attorney for the City of Los Angeles. Attorney Kraut understands the Los Angeles defense criminal system thoroughly, and he maintains great relationships with judges, prosecutors, and investigators. He can help you figure out a precise, effective plan to meet your charges in a compassionate and assertive way. Connect with him and his team now to get the insight you need.

If you tried to design a Los Angeles petty theft crime that would make you look like a classic “bad guy,” you'd have a hard time beating this guy.

According to NBC Los Angeles, a skateboarder recently stole over $400 worth of cookie money from a local Girl Scout troop that had been stationed outside a grocery store in San Bernardino County. Deputies later stopped and arrested 20-year-old Colin Sawyer, after they saw footage of the theft on NBC4 news.

Girl Scout troop 1303 had been selling cookies outside of a Stater Brothers store in Phelan all day. They were folding up for the day, when the thief snatched their money and took off. A young Girl Scout, who gave her name as Victoria, ran after him. But she fell and got scraped up. She told reporters “My sister put the money on the table, and as fast as he can, he took the money and ran off… my first instinct was to run after him.”

A local restaurant gave Girl Scout Troop 1303 20% of their profits to make up for the lost cookie revenue. Since Sawyer allegedly stole over $460 worth of cash, he will likely face a more serious Los Angeles theft charge – not a petty theft charge.

Even if he had “only” taken $100 worth of cash from the Girl Scouts, he'd still be in legal hot water. Even a minor misdemeanor theft conviction can complicate your life. Not only will you have to pay restitution, serve community service, and so forth – and in some cases jail time! – but prosecutors can really bring the hammer down on you if/when you get arrested again.

For instance, if you collect two misdemeanor theft charges separated by a few years, prosecutors can elevate your second charge to a felony and get you thrown in jail for over a year.

Convicted felons lose important rights (such as voting rights), and they may suffer thousands of dollars worth of indirect costs and inconveniences over a lifetime -- e.g. increased difficulty getting loans, renting a place to live, et cetera.

To protect yourself against both the short-term and long-term consequences of your Los Angeles petty theft charge, get in touch with attorney Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group. Mr. Kraut is an extremely experienced, Harvard Law School educated ex-prosecutor. He and his team can help you develop an effective, comprehensive plan for managing your charges.

Maybe you’ve personally been hit with a misdemeanor Los Angeles petty theft charge. Or maybe you're the parent or friend of someone who recently got arrested for shoplifting or stealing small amounts of jewelry.

In either case, you might be extremely tempted to treat this situation as a “one-time event” -- a cautionary tale that you can look back on, in 20 or 30 years, and laugh about with your friends at the Country Club. After all, it’s not like you committed grand theft in Los Angeles or hurt someone while driving under the influence of alcohol or engineered a complex Southern California Medicare or MediCal scheme.

You made one mistake -- perhaps motivated by peer pressure or just by a strange impulse -- and you want to fight the charges and put this ugly event behind you.

That fighting spirit is good. And the Los Angeles petty theft team here at the Kraut Law Group can adeptly and thoroughly equip you to deal with your legal situation.

But give some serious thought to probing to find the root cause of your arrest.

Why bother doing that? Why bother getting all introspective?

Here's why. You're likely familiar with the axiom “where there's smoke, there's fire.” An analogous axiom applies to criminal defense. When people commit minor offenses, these offenses often serve as “gateway offenses” to larger types of trouble.

This suggests that what drives people to commit crimes is often deeply rooted, psychological, and not necessarily easy to find or manage.

For instance, maybe you stole some designer shirts from a store on Melrose because you were “bored.” In fact, however, you might have been feeling rejected by your peers or upset over some loss of control or autonomy in your own life. Unless and until you fix those more fundamental problems -- e.g. learn how to deal with your peers in a more constructive way or restore your sense of control on autonomy -- you might be tempted to do more bad “stuff” that goes far beyond committing minor crimes. This bad behavior could include just being self-destructive or engaging in a lot of negative “self-talk.”

Step one is to find and work with an experienced Southern California petty theft lawyer to find a strategic and tactical solution to your charges.

Step two is also important -- this step involves really getting clear on what deeper “stuff” might have motivated you to do what you did and then wrangling with that, as appropriate.

Ever since authorities began investigating you for Medicare fraud in Southern California, you’ve been overwhelmed, uncertain, and scared for your reputation and your family’s future.

Life, it seems, has taken an unexpected and decidedly unwelcome turn.

Given your hectic state of affairs, you might be laboring under some false assumptions about the trajectory of your life and welfare. In other words, all the legal chaos may bias you into believing that things are “getting worse” or “will get worse” for you.

But that might not be the case.

We'll get back to that idea in a second -- as counterintuitive as it sounds. But let’s pause for a second and consider some relevant business philosophy. In his books, Good to Great and Built to Last, business management guru Jim Collins discusses two key concepts called “the doom loop” and “the flywheel” to describe how businesses and people change their behavior over time.

The idea is this: whenever you make a change in life, it’s kind of like you're pushing a very heavy flywheel around in a circle. At first, you’re working really hard, but you’re showing only minimal results. After a while, though, if you push in the same direction long enough, the flywheel begins to turn faster and faster. The momentum starts to help you instead of hinder you.

The doom loop, on the other hand, describes the reverse process -- a fitful and random application of force that winds up exhausting you but leading to zero momentum over the longer term.

So how does this all tie back to your Los Angeles Medicare fraud case?

Here's how it ties back. Looking back on the last few months or years of your life, you can see that you’ve probably made certain decisions -- some of which may have gone against your own moral and ethical beliefs or against the law itself. Now, the government is piecing together a case that could lead to the destruction of your medical reputation, jail time, fines, and other horrendous consequences.

In the sober light of day, you might fear that you’ve been on pushing the “doom loop” this entire time -- i.e., going in a wrong or fitful direction with respect to your life.

But that may not be totally true.

You may have already started to move your life in the right direction. Perhaps you have “come clean” with a spouse or former business partner about what you’ve been doing. Perhaps you've already begun to compile your defense and think about how you can atone for your wrongdoings.

In fact, even the act of reaching out to talk to an experienced Los Angeles Medicare fraud defense attorney, like Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, can be seen as act of pushing the flywheel -- i.e., leaving behind the doom loop and moving forward towards a brighter future.

Be compassionate with yourself. Give yourself credit for what you have done -- since the arrest or investigation -- to make sense of what’s happened to you. And seriously consider connecting with attorney Kraut or another experienced and highly competent Los Angeles white collar crime defense lawyer to build your case.