Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Published on: August 1, 2013

What’s the Highest Long Beach DUI BAC Level Ever Recorded?

As your blood alcohol concentration goes up, your likelihood of DUI in Long Beach increases.

But what are the record BAC levels?

If you’ve had any alcohol education, you’re probably familiar with the general classifications. If your BAC is over 0.08%, you’re considered DUI under Long Beach law, and you can be charged and convicted of a misdemeanor. As a result, you can lose your license for a year; lose your freedom temporarily; and pay significant court costs and fines.

As your BAC level goes up, your risk increases, and your ability to drive (or do any task) degrades. If you’re substantially over the limit – BAC of 0.25%, for instance – prosecutors can hit you with extra charges, even if it’s only your first time.

Above a BAC of 0.30%, you have to worry not just about punishments but also about your health. The human body can only take so much alcohol before the system starts to shut down and acute alcohol poisoning wreaks havoc. A BAC of 0.50% can often lead to death or brain damage.

But there have been people who have had BACs way above that number. Some have even lived to tell the tale.

For instance, according to list compiled by Coed.com (not exactly Reuters, but this isn’t a scholarly journal article), a Bulgarian man went to the hospital after getting into a serious car accident. Physicians noticed a smell incredibly like alcohol. They gave him a breathalyzer, which recorded an astonishing 0.914% BAC.

Meanwhile, in France, another man got into a serious crash in Bourg-en-Bresse and tested to have a BAC of 0.976%. That’s over 10 times the Long Beach DUI limit! Amazingly, all he lost was his license and €150 – at a BAC level where most people would have lost their lives.

The all-time “prize” goes to a man from Wroclaw, Poland, who crashed his car after “beer bonging” pure grain alcohol. Actually, the car he drove wasn’t his – he stole it from his work. Investigators tested and found that his BAC was an astonishing 1.48%. More than 1/100th of the man’s blood was pure alcohol! He did survive the crash initially, but he ultimately succumbed to injuries that he sustained. Perhaps all that alcohol weakened his immune system.

Two other BAC levels above 1% have been recorded in Poland. A man was found half naked on the streets while temperatures were below 10 degrees Celsius. He had a BAC of 1.024%, but he somehow survived everything! Another man in Skierniewice, Poland survived a DUI accident, despite having a BAC of 1.02%.

For assistance with your Long Beach DUI case, connect with the team here at the Kraut Law Group Criminal & DUI Lawyers, Inc. today for serious, thoughtful and experienced insight with your case.

Published on: July 31, 2013

Los Angeles Healthcare Fraud Scheme Was Big, But Strike Force Took Him Down

by Michael Kraut

The annals of Los Angeles healthcare fraud are filled with astonishing tales. As an expose in Los Angeles Weekly recently described in vivid detail, con artists, tricksters and “good doctors turned to bad” have engaged in diverse shenanigans to pilfer funds from the federal government’s coffers.

But few schemes hold a candle to an operation developed by Dr. Jacques Roy, a physician who operated a “boiler room” in Dallas, Texas that prosecutors say amounted to a $375 million scam.

According to Assistant Attorney General, Lanny Breuer, the 54-year-old Dr. Roy and his coconspirators, for years, ran a well oiled fraudulent enterprise in the Dallas area. They made their millions by recruiting thousands of patients for unnecessary services and then billing Medicare for those services.

Published on: July 29, 2013

Yet Another Guilty Verdict in a Major Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Case (This Time, for $1.5 Million)

by Michael Kraut

A federal jury just convicted 49-year-old Godwin Onyeabor and two confederates of scheming to defraud Medicare in Los Angeles to the tune of $1.5 million.

Onyeabor, who had been working for a San Bernardino company, Fendih Medical Supply Inc., paid kickbacks to another doctor and healthcare professional to write fake prescriptions for power wheelchairs and other medical equipment.

Onyeabor’s scheme lasted from 2007 to 2012; he billed Medicare for fraudulent claims totaling $1.5 million. Medicare paid out almost $1 million of that money.

Published on: July 22, 2013

Big Break in Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Case as LAPD Nabs “Red Car Flasher”

by Michael Kraut

After two years “on the lam” — and dozens of Los Angeles lewd conduct complaints — the Los Angeles Police Department has finally apprehended the notorious “Red Car Flasher.”

24-year-old Luis Bucio-Cedeno faces 19 criminal counts, including child annoying, sexual battery, lewd conduct in Los Angeles, and indecent exposure. Bucio-Cedeno allegedly victimized 11 people, and he is on a no-bail hold.

According to a lieutenant for the LAPD, Paul Vernon, “after two years, dozens of sightings, several composite sketches, we got our break in February … Putting the case together was truly a team effort among detectives and police officers across three San Fernando Valley police divisions.”

Published on: July 17, 2013

Chop Shop on Hunt for More Los Angeles Theft Suspects

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives are looking for additional suspects in a chop shop bust that’s already netted two individuals accused of auto theft in Los Angeles.

According to a CBS LA report, the Sheriff’s Taskforce for Regional Auto Theft Prevention (TRAP) located a stolen car at Miramonte Boulevard’s 6700 Block in South L.A., which led them to eight different stolen vehicles.

Police nabbed two brothers, 20-year-old Danny Garcia and 19-year-old Juan Mercado, on an array of charges, including operating a chop shop, buying a vehicle to resell, and using fraudulent identification. Both young men are being held in jail on $50,000 bonds.

Published on: July 15, 2013

Journaling to Understand Your Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Charges

by Michael Kraut

Ever since Federal investigators got on your case (and potentially even charged you) for healthcare fraud in Los Angeles, news commentators and observers have been calling you things like “mastermind” and “criminal conspirator.” You certainly don’t think of yourself in those terms. In fact, you’re feeling pretty scared, bewildered, and out of control right now – anything but the master of your mind.

This lack of clarity and sense of dis-ease can cause problems for your defense. To the degree that you are unclear about what you did, what charges you face, and what you can do to respond is the degree that you’ll feel out of control.

There are two main tools that you can use to regain a coherent perspective.

Published on: July 8, 2013

Your Trajectory After Your Los Angeles Petty Theft Charge: Up Or Down?

by Michael Kraut

Maybe you stole some costume jewelry and brooches from a Venice Beach bodega. Or perhaps your Los Angeles petty theft charge came packaged with additional charges, like grand theft, robbery, assault, etc.

In any case, you want to avoid serious punishment and “put the crime behind you.” But you’re also “not that concerned,” on some level, since your crime is relatively minor.

But you should be concerned!

Published on: July 5, 2013

Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Irony Alert! Sex Assault Chief for Air Force Busted on Charges of Sexual Battery

by Michael Kraut

After being arrested on sex crime charges in Southern California, you’re probably not that interested in ironic new stories.

But one whopper in the news — that just went viral — should get your attention. It concerns 41-year-old Lieutenant Colonel, Jeffrey Krusinski, the head of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention Response Program. Authorities just arrested him on… wait for it… charges of sexual battery!

Krusinski’s (now famous) mug shot — picturing him with cuts on his face — almost instantly circulated around the internet. Officials say that Krusinski allegedly drunkenly groped a woman in a parking lot in Arlington, Virginia. Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the Air Force, detailed the events to the Los Angeles Times:

Published on: July 3, 2013

Healthcare Fraud in Los Angeles: Why Did You Do It? (No, Really, Why Did You Do It?)

by Michael Kraut

Why did you commit healthcare fraud in Southern California?

Now that you’ve been investigated (or, perhaps, arrested), your life path certainly doesn’t seem fully rational. After all, you now face massive jail time, thousands (or millions) of dollars in forced restitution, public humiliation, the loss of your medical, dental, or chiropractic license (or other professional credentials), and problems with your relationships and self-esteem.

So… why did you do it?

Published on: July 1, 2013

Los Angeles Petty Theft? 18-year-old Who Pilfered Mango Could Be Hit with a Felony!

by Michael Kraut

If you stole a mango, Lipton Ice Tea drink, and a pack of candy — a total of $3.67 worth of goods — do you think prosecutors would hit you with a misdemeanor Los Angeles petty theft charge … or a felony?

The answer is not so obvious!

If walked out of the grocery store or convenience store with your “five finger discount,” then got caught, and then calmly admitted what you did — you’d probably get tagged with just a misdemeanor. That’s still a big charge. But you won’t wind up behind bars for over a year for it.