Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Published on: May 8, 2013

The Jodi Arias’ Saga: Los Angeles Crime Story of the Century?

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

Published on: May 8, 2013

Three Years in Prison for $3 Million Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Case

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: May 6, 2013

Los Angeles Petty Theft News: Elderly Woman’s Theft Trial Costs Nearly 30 Times the Value of the Object She Stole

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: May 1, 2013

Update on Disturbing Lewd Conduct Case. Idaho Woman Performed Sex Acts on 15-Year-Old Boy…

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: April 25, 2013

Convicted of Los Angeles Medicare Fraud, 37-year-old Tigran Aklyan May Face 10 Years Behind Bars…

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: April 21, 2013

Oh Man, That’s Not Good: Really Sad Los Angeles Lewd Conduct News

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: April 17, 2013

Not So Petty Theft in Southern California Riles up San Bernardino Residents: Skateboarder Snatches Girl Scout Cookie Money

by Michael Kraut

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.”

Published on: April 15, 2013

The Deeper (And Far Less Petty) Roots of Your Los Angles Petty Theft Charge

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: April 10, 2013

After Your Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Arrest: Are You on the Flywheel or the “Doom Loop”?

by Michael Kraut

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.

Published on: April 8, 2013

Disturbing Los Angeles Lewd Conduct News: Did CA Doctor Really Try to Meet Up with a 13 Year Old for Sex?

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles sex crime news can be extremely disconcerting, whether you’re a parent of young children, a concerned citizen, or even a “fellow” Los Angeles lewd conduct defendant.

As we’ve emphasized before on this blog, the spectrum of sex crime defendants is vast. Just because a police officer arrested you at a bathroom for having consensual sexual relations doesn’t mean you’re anywhere “at the same level” as some other sex offenders.

In that context, let’s consider the sad story of 53-year-old hand surgeon, Dr. Raymond Severt, a doctor from Santa Rosa who faces felony charges for texting a local girl sexually explicit messages. According to allegations, he text messaged a 13-year-old girl from nearby Novato and arranged a meeting with her. To his surprise, he wound up meeting up with local police instead, who arrested him and charged him with attempted lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. He also faces a battery of misdemeanors, including attempt to contact a minor with the intent of committing a sexual offense and attempting to annoy or molest a child under age 18.