Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Last week, Moammar Gaddafi’s four-plus decade rein over Libya came to a screeching halt as rebels overtook Green Square in Tripoli.

If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence in Glendale, you probably weren’t paying much attention. You were probably focused more on the imminent crises in your life – potential jail time, license suspension, mandatory installation of interlock ignition device, and other problems that you could face if you are ultimately convicted of Glendale DUI.

Maybe you made a mistake, ignoring the news.

Maybe you should have been paying attention to Libya – and not just to have something to chat about with coworkers while you gather around the water cooler. You see, the rapid and surprising collapse of Gaddafi’s loyalist forces indirectly teaches us a powerful lesson about Glendale DUI defense.

Yes, it sounds like a stretch at first. But stay with this train of thought…

When you read analyses of the drama in Libya, there is a common refrain: “No one saw this coming.” NATO didn’t anticipate it, policymakers didn’t anticipate it, probably even the rebels themselves didn’t anticipate that they would be able to march into Tripoli in such short order. This kind of deer-caught-in-the-headlights reaction is typical during war. Events on the ground often come as a surprise, and war plans disintegrate often immediately after they go into effect.

Now, building a coherent defense against Glendale DUI – to get you unhooked from charges pursuant to California Vehicle Code Sections 23152(a) or 23152(b) – is not exactly like going to a war. But both war and DUI defense involve strategic thinking – and they also involve surprising setbacks and opportunities. Good generals – and good Glendale criminal defense attorneys, too –understand the power of strategic thinking as well as the power of renegotiating, reassessing, and reforming plans in the midst of battle.

For instance, in your case, new evidence might suddenly emerge that could potentially get your charges dropped or at least give prosecutors a much harder time. If you don’t have the strategic focus and flexibility available to take advantage of that development, you might miss out on a key opportunity to reduce your sentence.

Just as the Libyan rebels managed to take advantage of the surprising collapse of Gaddafi’s forces to turn the tide and take down Tripoli, your Glendale DUI defense attorney may potentially leverage surprising developments in your favor. These include sudden revelations of weaknesses in the prosecution’s case and other subtle factors that could transform your options and get you better results than you – or even your attorney – ever expected.

To that end, you want to work with an attorney who thinks like a general – who helps you not only construct the right strategic defense, but also continually reassesses your options in real time. Attorney Michael Kraut of Glendale’s Kraut Law Group (450 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 600, Glendale, California 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123) has a unique vantage on Glendale DUI defense law. Attorney Kraut served as a prosecutor for over 14 years. He put DUI defendants behind bars before switching over to become a criminal defense attorney. Since he has “played the game from both sides,” he can help you understand what your prosecutors are planning and counter-plan accordingly.

Continue reading " Your Glendale DUI Defense: How Might the Fall of Gaddafi's Regime Affect It? " »

Last Tuesday, a jury convicted Pastor Christopher Iruke in a multimillion dollar Los Angeles healthcare fraud case. Iruke, an employee, and Iruke’s wife were nailed on charges of healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud for devising and carrying out a scam that bilked Medicare for $14 million.

A story last week in the Los Angeles Times painted a vivid picture of Iruke’s last moments before his arrest. As federal authorities zeroed in on his fraud ring, the pastor of a South LA storefront church started to “shove pages upon pages of incriminating evidence into a shredder until the machine overheated. He then stuffed papers into the toilet and tried flushing his problems away…the documents linked him to bogus prescriptions for power wheelchairs for which he billed the government about $6,000 a piece, prosecutors alleged.”

Prosecutors said that the pastor collected about $6.6 million in reimbursements from the false claims (out of $14.2 million in claims filed) and that “the money funded a lavish lifestyle, including several luxury cars, international travel, and about $0.5 million remodeling on his Baldwin Hills home.”

So this story has touched nerves on many levels. First of all, no one likes to read about these blatant cases of South California Medicare fraud, Los Angeles insurance fraud, Burbank identity theft, and the like. Even if you participated in a scam, you recognize that these crimes corrode our social contract.

We also expect clergy members to adhere to a higher moral standard. So when we read about pastors allegedly bilking Medicare out of millions of dollars to furnish their homes, buy fancy cars, and travel abroad, we get righteously riled up.

This kind of ire can be a double-edged sword. Especially if you’ve been falsely accused of a crime like Medicare fraud – or even if you did commit a crime – the fallout can be difficult to manage. People who once trusted you may now scorn you. You might even have trouble relating to friends and family members. The path to redemption (so to speak) may be complicated. But an experienced Los Angeles Medicare fraud defense attorney will help you figure out what to do. Connect with former prosecutor and Harvard Law School-educated lawyer Michael Kraut to get a free, systematic, and strategic evaluation of the possibilities for your defense.

Hopefully we won’t be reading about Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus going through the gauntlet of the Pasadena DUI process any time soon.

We need at least some of our young fresh-faced celebrities to stay sober and clean and act as responsible role models. But young celebs like Cyrus and Bieber are already setting something of a bad example. According to a recent article on CNN.com – “nation of adults who write like children” – Cyrus, Bieber, and other young celebrities have atrocious handwriting. The article quoted Justin King, a paparazzi who sells celebrity autographs: “with stars ages 30 and above, they generally have a much more full, legible signature. When you deal with these new people like Elle Fanning, you are lucky if you get an E and F and a heart for a signature.”

How does this all relate to the Pasadena DUI process?

It does, actually.

Because defendants recently arrested for violating California Vehicle Code Section 23152(a) or 231521(b) – driving under the influence in Pasadena (or elsewhere in Southern California) -- must deal with a certain amount of bureaucracy, or risk of losing their licenses or encountering other legal trouble down the line.

If your handwriting is terrible – like Bieber’s and Cyrus’s, for instance – and you submit illegible forms, several things might happen. You might be asked to fill out the forms again. Or, quite possibly, the documents can be misinterpreted, leading to all sorts of unpleasant bureaucratic complications.

Given that your future is on the line – not just your potential freedom, but also your driver’s license, future insurance rates, employability, etc., it behooves you to connect with an experienced Pasadena criminal defense attorney who can explain your options.

Pasadena’s Kraut Law Group (790 East Colorado Boulevard, 9th floor, Pasadena, California 91101 Phone: (626) 345-1899) provides the help, support, and resources you need (minus the handwriting instruction) to manage your Pasadena DUI charge with aplomb. Attorney Kraut is a widely respected figure in the Pasadena DUI community. Please read more about his background, credentials, history as a former city prosecutor (Senior Deputy District Attorney), and critical information about the relevant law (“Pasadena DUI 101”) on his site, or connect with him now for a free consultation.

Continue reading " Making the Pasadena DUI Process Way Too Complicated? Maybe it’s Your Bad Handwriting… like Justin Bieber’s? " »

Newsflash: the Southern California Medicare fraud crackdown is real.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, FBI, and other organizations are taking dead aim at fraud rings. They want to punish schemers and sending a warning to would-be white collar criminals in Los Angeles: consequences can be dire.

The latest shot across the bow comes out of Detroit. Last week, 26 people were indicted in US District Court. Allegedly, they bilked Medicare and Medicaid out of over $58 million in a fraudulent prescription scheme. The alleged mastermind, Babubhai “Bob” Patel, allegedly purchased a number of local Detroit pharmacies and then “set them up with store owners to conceal his stake in the enterprise.” Using this structure, Patel and his fellow coconspirators wrote bogus prescriptions and collected kickbacks. Patients were recruited to bribe individuals “to bill their insurance for medications and services that were either never provided or unnecessary.”

Although the scheme apparently started back in January 2006, in just the past 2.5 years alone, the Patel-owned pharmacies dispensed a massive amount of medication to patients – who may or may not have abused the drugs. The alleged totals boggle the mind:

• 0.25 million doses of Oxycodone
• 6 million doses of narcotics
• 4.6 million doses of Hydrocodone
• 1.5 million of Vicodin
• 1.5 million doses of Alprazolam (Xanax)
• 61,000 pints of codeine cough syrup

Many patients and recruiters allegedly were paid with narcotics for participating in the Medicare fraud scam. All told, 31 Michigan pharmacies were involved. The 34 count indictment garnered lots of local media coverage in Michigan. But it's not just a local issue. The crackdown should also serve as a warning to people who even flirt with the idea of committing Southern California credit card fraud, Los Angeles identity theft, or any other white collar crime.

Here is the reality: government-entitlement programs are starving for cash. Our collective fiscal panic has motivated the government to take harsh actions against would be wrongdoers. So whether you're a physician who accidentally got caught up in unsavory business without your full and conscious knowledge; or whether you purposefully got involved in gray or black market scheme, you need smart, compassionate guidance now.

Depending on the nature of your crime, the extent of the damages, the frustration you caused, your level of recalcitrance and willingness to pay back damages that you caused, you can face a veritable rainbow of punishments, such as jail time, loss of your license and reputation, fines and court costs, and more.

A Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, such as Michael Kraut of the Kraut Law Group, can help you understand a more resourceful, strategic way to respond to what’s happened to you. Mr. Kraut is a former prosecutor (Harvard Law School educated) who’s dealt with extremely complex Southern California white collar crimes from both sides. He has the intuition, knowledge, wherewithal, and relationships to help you build the legal defense that you need to protect your rights, possibly salvage your practice, and move beyond the frustrating and possibly embarrassing charges.

The most tragic Beverly Hill DUI arrests, at least from a narrative point of view, are ironic.

In other words, there is an inherent dissonance. When a young and healthy celebrity – someone who has everything going for him or her – crashes a car and winds up behind bars, you can't help pay attention to the dissonance between the image of this "perfect person" and the dire straits he or she is now in.

Not all stories about Burbank DUI, Pasadena DUI, DUI in Glendale, and DUI in Los Angeles have this element of irony in them. But a story last week out of Hailey, Idaho definitely had that element -- tragically so. 29-year old Olympic silver medalist, Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, got arrested the Friday before last for DUI and speeding… and then things took a terrible turn.

The three time Olympian apparently had “caused a disturbance” somewhere in Sun Valley, Idaho before getting behind the wheel and driving off at a fast clip. A local police chief, Jeff Gunter, said: “when he went through Hailey, we estimated he was going 80 miles per hour, and they didn’t get him stopped until Belleview.” In addition to being hit with a misdemeanor DUI charge, Peterson also faced a charge of “fictitious display of license plates.” The Olympian had gotten in the trouble in the past. During the 2006 Winter Games, he got into a bar fight that got him sent home from the Olympics.

He was also a very decorated Olympic athlete – in addition to his Olympic silver medal, he helped win a national championship and seven victories at the World Cup.

In any event, few expected the minor arrest to end in tragedy. But it did. Just days after the arrest, and only "seventeen months after reaching the pinnacle of his career by winning a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics… Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide." (USA Today article published 7/26)

Devastating news, and a sad illustration of how DUIs can cause terrible and unexpected stresses in the lives of everyone involved.
If you have a Beverly Hills DUI case, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney can help you understand what might have gone wrong, how to respond to your charges effectively and efficiently, and how to move beyond the arrest and charges to get a grip on your life again. Michael Kraut, of Beverly Hill’s Kraut Law Group (9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 450 Beverly Hills, California 90210 (310) 550-6935), is an experienced, highly reputable, compassionate former prosecutor who is devoted to helping defendants build better cases and rebuild their lives. Connect with him today to get a consultation.

Continue reading " Beverly Hills DUI Crushed Dreams: Olympic Silver Medalist “Speedy,” Tagged for Speeding in Ohio, Commits Suicide " »