Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Published on: July 14, 2012

Los Angeles Petty Theft News: Stolen Bike Found Via Twitter, But Not Everyone’s Happy About The Outcome

Petty theft in Los Angeles or elsewhere is an interesting animal, as far as crimes are concerned.

Understand that if you steal a valuable item worth less than $400, you can still face plenty of reprobation per California law. Indeed, if you are convicted of two counts of petty theft in Southern California, the second conviction can actually elevate the offense to a felony, and you could end up spending a whole year behind bars or worse!

So shoplifting and other types of petty theft can be punished quite egregiously.

Published on: July 12, 2012

Medical Identity Theft in Los Angeles Can Cost Victims $100,000+, Says New Study

by Michael Kraut

Medical identity theft bonks the U.S. economy to the tune of over $41 billion and costs victims over $20,000 on average, according to a provocative new study by the Ponemon Institute.

If you’ve been charged with Medicare fraud or identity theft in Southern California, you might find it educational to learn about what happens to victims of medical identity theft. Perhaps, for instance, you aided and abetted someone – that is, lent your healthcare information to a family member or sick friend – and now you face criminal charges. The study out of Michigan looked at 757 cases of medical identity theft. Here are some of the stats:

• 41% of victims lost their coverage and had to find new healthcare;

Published on: July 7, 2012

Big Spike in New Type of Los Angeles White Collar Crime?

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles white collar crimes are just getting more and more diverse. We spend a lot of time on this blog dissecting crimes like medical fraud, insurance fraud, and petty theft in Southern California. But today we’re going to shake things up a bit and explore some innovative terrain to help you put your crime — and your possible defensive options — in perspective.

We’re going to look at computer crimes in L.A.

And one of the “hot new trends” in the world of computer crime is something called “smishing.” This is a cousin to the email crime known as phishing, in which a criminal uses spam and other “email lures” to get users to give away personal information, financial passwords, etcetera. Whereas “phishing” takes place in the arena of email messaging; “smishing” takes place in the arena of text messaging – a.k.a. Short Message Service (SMS) messaging.

Published on: July 5, 2012

What Jerry Sandusky’s Conviction Means for Your Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Defense

by Michael Kraut

Last week, former Penn State icon Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of sexual abuse and sentenced to a million years behind bars (okay, not that many but a lot); if you’ve been hit with a charge of Los Angeles lewd conduct or a sex crime charge in Southern California, what might the result from Sandusky’s case mean about your chances for battling your charges and clearing your name?

In short: Nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing. We can draw certain broad lessons from what happened to Sandusky. But every Los Angeles lewd conduct charge is a different animal. The factors that can go into determining your possible outcome are dizzying, not only in their variety but also in their possible permutations – the way the factors can integrate.

Published on: July 2, 2012

After Your Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Charges Have Been Dealt With…

by Michael Kraut

Whether an undercover police officer busted you for lewd conduct in Los Angeles; or you’re facing more diverse Southern California sex crime charges, you have immediate, critical projects that you must address – and address quickly.

The longer you wait to “get your legal ducks in a row,” the more time prosecutors will have to build a case against you, and the harder it may be to compile compelling defensive evidence, such as witness statements, other evidence from the scene, medical reports, etc.

It’s a scary time for you – and perhaps also a trying time for your friends, relatives, employer, and other people who are “on your side.” It’s scary because legal missteps you make now can have disproportionate effects on your future – extra years behind bars, perhaps, a lifetime label as a “sex offender,” massive fines that can take you years to pay off, etc.

Published on: June 25, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Alert – The Government Spent $250 Million on Penis Pumps. Wow.

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been investigated arrested for a crime like Southern California Medicare fraud or Medi-Cal fraud, you likely feel under the gun. Prosecutors, “independent” observers and even friends and family members may judge you for damaging our social safety net.

Whether you committed a serious crime or not – or a series of crimes, including Southern California insurance fraud, Los Angeles identity theft, or other Los Angeles white collar crimes – you might find it helpful to put your situation in perspective.

Consider, for instance, a new report by the Heartland Institute, which found that the federal government spent over $250 million on penis pumps over the past 10 years!

Published on: June 20, 2012

Unraveling Your Own Los Angeles Medical Fraud Situation

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps you or your husband recently got arrested for medical fraud in Los Angeles or Southern California. If so, let’s address a large “elephant in the room” issue — something not often talked about. Namely this: how do otherwise caring and well intention doctors, chiropractors, dentists and other caregivers get “sucked into” perpetrating Southern California white collar crimes, like insurance fraud, credit card fraud, etc?

Now, most people out there assume that doctors or others who engage in fraudulent behavior started with a “master plan” of some sort. They have a cartoonish image of an “evil mastermind” criminal – a la Dr. Evil.

In the real world, however, fraud and other crimes often happen spontaneously, accidentally, unintentionally, etc! This isn’t to say that planning is not involved. Indeed, many people who get into the “Medicare fraud business” (if you will) spend a great deal of time strategizing and executing on their plans. Some of the systems used are extremely complicated, after all.

Published on: June 13, 2012

72 Year Prison Sentence for 50-Year-Old Guilty of Los Angeles Medicare Fraud?

by Michael Kraut

Last Friday, 50-year-old David James Garrison was found guilty of perpetrating a Los Angeles Medicare fraud scam that bilked the federal program out of almost $19 million.

As a result of his convictions — fraud, conspiracy, and other Los Angeles white collar criminal charges — Garrison could face more than seven decades behind bars and a fine of up to $2 million. If he ends up having to serve that entire prison sentence, he would have to become the 2nd oldest person in the history of the world to ever see freedom again.

Garrison worked as a physician’s assistant at various bogus medical clinics. He pilfered the identities of patients and used those IDs to create false prescriptions and to place orders for (Medicare funded) equipment. He also stole the identities of doctors to write these fake scripts.

Published on: June 11, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud News Alert: Scheme Out of Pennsylvania Has Seniors Livid

by Michael Kraut

If you or a loved one has been arrested for Los Angeles Medicare or Medical fraud, odds are that what you did (or allegedly did) pales in comparison to what four Pennsylvania men have been accused of doing. Last week, Ross Rabelow, Thomas Muldoon, Bruce Cherry, and Robert Lerner were hit with multiple criminal charges pursuant to accusations that they victimised 218 Pennsylvania seniors. Prosecutors allege that many of the victims lived alone and were very elderly – 83-years old was the average age. The Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section and Elder Abuse Unit called the scheme “Operation False Comfort,” and investigators painted a vivid and disturbing picture about what went on:

• Seniors were often encouraged to cancel actual insurance policies to purchase bogus long-term healthcare;

• More than two-thirds of all the checks written to American Comfort (one of the defendant’s companies) were used to pay salespeople and the owners, while only 3% of the company’s money was used to provide services;

Published on: June 9, 2012

Los Angeles Sex Crime News: Unusual Miami Police Tactics Net 57 Arrests in Two-Day Sting

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been accused of a sex crime in Los Angeles, like lewd conduct, you probably feel terrified and nervous about your potential punishments. It can be helpful to gain perspective on your arrest by looking beyond your situation — and beyond your city, even. At the very least, expanding your perspective should help you feel “less alone” and more capable of facing your Los Angeles lewd conduct charges.

To that end, consider that, two weeks ago, Miami police officers arrested 57 people in a two-day operation in Miami’s North District. The commander of “Operation Resilience” dubbed the operation “a different twist on the tried and true.”

That’s putting it mildly.