Los Angeles Warrants

Published on: April 20, 2012

Alert Parents: Is Los Angeles Petty Theft a “Gateway Crime”?

If you are a parent of a teenager or young man or woman who was recently arrested on charges of Los Angeles petty theft crime, you are probably sad, depressed, and anxious about your child’s future.

What caring parent wouldn’t be?

The state of California considers both petty theft and shoplifting to be serious crimes. Individuals convicted on two separate occasions for petty theft can be actually slapped with a felony charge and compelled to spend over a year behind bars!

Published on: April 18, 2012

Will You Ever Practice Again After Your Los Angeles Medical Fraud Charges?

by Michael Kraut

The Obama Administration is “on the hunt” for doctors, chiropractors, dentists, and other providers who violate Los Angeles Medicare fraud laws.

If you or someone you care about recently got swept up into that dragnet – or if you have come under investigation – you are obviously panicked about your potential punishments:

• The lifestyle changes that you inevitably will have to make;

Published on: April 9, 2012

Petty Thefts in Los Angeles: Thefts of Tide Detergent Linked to Drug Habits

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve recently been arrested for the crime of petty theft in Los Angeles – i.e. stealing money or property worth $400 or less — you can be hit with a misdemeanor charge and forced to spend half a year of your life behind bars – as well as to pay serious court fines and restitution, attend counseling and probation, perform community service, and so on.

Petty theft and shoplifting, in other words, can lead to not so petty consequences!

That being side, some would-be thieves will not be deterred. A nationwide string of Tide laundry detergent thefts has storeowners miffed and law enforcement agents baffled. No one really knows why laundry detergent has become such a hot black market commodity. But some people who’ve investigated believe that the thefts may be linked to drug trafficking. In California, 55-year-old Roland Ledesma got hit with a $1 million bail after he stole nine bottles of laundry detergent and crashed his car near the scene. Ledesma reportedly had multiple priors, and police apparently had reason to believe that he was under the influence of methamphetamines or alcohol during the theft/car crash.

Published on: April 6, 2012

Lewd Conduct in Los Angeles – Understanding 647(a) Charges and How to Defend Yourself

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been arrested for lewd conduct in Los Angeles – either for engaging in an alleged act or soliciting someone else to engage in sexual conduct, you are probably pretty scared, confused, and fearful about the charges. There are two basic laws that cover lewd conduct: California Penal Code Section 314 and California Penal Code Section 647(a). Let’s take a look at these two laws.

314

This section of the CA Penal Code says that if someone knowingly exposes themselves in public to offend or annoy other people, he or she can be hit with a misdemeanor charge and face up to a full year behind bars.

Published on: April 4, 2012

Los Angeles Petty Theft – Not So Petty Consequences

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles petty theft is a crime in which someone takes money or property that’s worth $400 or less. Both shoplifting and petty theft are charged according to California Penal Code Section 484 PC.

If you’re convicted of this misdemeanor, life can quickly become quite unpleasant. Depending on what you stole, you could face huge fines, forced restitution to the person you stole from, half a year in jail, community service, probation, counseling, and more. But that’s not the beginning of your woes – or even close. In fact, if you have a prior conviction for Los Angeles petty theft, prosecutors can leverage another law, Penal Code Section 666, to elevate misdemeanor theft into a felony. In other words, say you get convicted of petty theft for shoplifting some shoes. Then, years later, you commit a second petty theft — swiping lottery tickets, let’s say. The prosecutor can try to hit you with a felony charge the second time around. If he or she succeeds, not only will you face the same penalties we discussed above (just writ larger), but you could also face up to three full years behind bars!

And it’s not just a second theft arrest that you need to worry about. If you ever get arrested again for other crimes – even crimes having nothing to do with theft, fraud, larceny, etc. – you may face stiffer penalties thanks to your criminal history.

Published on: April 2, 2012

What is Los Angeles Healthcare Fraud, Anyway, and What Should You Do If You Are Accused?

by Michael Kraut

With the Obama administration cracking down hard, nationwide, on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, analysts expect that many more doctors, chiropractors, and other caregivers in Los Angeles will be arrested and charged with Southern California healthcare fraud. If you or a family member has come under investigation for fraud, you need to act decisively, legally, and quickly to protect your rights and minimize the potential damage to your career, assets, and freedom.

Individuals convicted of Southern California healthcare billing fraud can be slapped with charges pursuant to Insurance Code Section 1871.4, Penal Code Section 550, Penal Code Section 118(for perjury), and Labor Code Section 3700 (if you’re an employer who committed healthcare fraud). Depending on the nature and extent of the alleged misconduct, you could lose your license to practice, face jail time and massive fines, and see the destruction of your professional reputation and your ability to earn in the future. Given what’s at stake, you probably want to know what might constitute this crime. Here are two examples:

1. Creating false medical records and billing insurance carriers or Medicaid or MediCal for services that you never rendered (or that you described in a very overinflated way).

Published on: March 26, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud: Coming to Terms with What You Have Done

by Michael Kraut

As someone who has recently been arrested for Los Angeles Medicare fraud (or insurance fraud, identity theft or another Southern California White Collar Crime), your life is in chaos right now. The arrest has terrified you, caused difficulties in your relationships, and perhaps even thrown your health out of whack. At some point within the next few weeks or months or years, you are going have to look in the mirror and try to come to terms with how you got into this position – being a Los Angeles white collar criminal defendant – and where you want to go from here with your life and your profession.

Looking objectively in the mirror is not easy for anyone in any circumstances. Introspection is a difficult skill, and it is a skill that we are generally not taught in school or elsewhere. Looking in the mirror objectively when we have committed something that society deems “wrong” or “awful” is even harder, especially if you have being living in a kind of self created delusion.

Also, most people simply don’t have empathy for defendants. They assume that the world is split into we versus them. “We” are the “good guys” who abide by the law and have a moral code. “Them” are the criminals who flout our society’s laws and have no moral code. As a defendant, you probably take a certain amount of umbrage to this stereotype – you have a strong moral code, despite the charges against you. Likely, you’ve justified your actions in some way. For instance, if you are a physician or a dentist who committed Medicare fraud, maybe you just got fed up with the crazy Medicaid reimbursement system – all the red tape and hassle. So you decided that “you were going to get yours” since the system had taken so much from you. Thus, you went down the not-so primrose path.

Published on: March 12, 2012

Glendale DUI Lessons from the Tribulations of Oral Roberts University’s President, Richard Roberts

by Michael Kraut

Getting arrested for Glendale DUI often feels like getting a giant Scarlet Letter “A” tattooed across your chest. (In case you missed that reference, it comes from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, in which a young adulteress in Puritan times is compelled to wear a letter “A” to brand her as a bad person and invite ostracism from her community.)

It’s easy to believe your own “bad press” after a Glendale DUI arrest or conviction.

But the reality is that far more people are far more vulnerable to DUI arrests than the general public recognizes. Take the case of 63 year old Oral Roberts University President, Richard Roberts. On January 24th, he got stopped for speeding and DUI in Oklahoma. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper report said that Roberts tested at a BAC level of 0.10% (the legal limit for Glendale DUI is 0.08%) and failed to “execute the instructions” for roadside field sobriety tests. If you personally had to take Glendale DUI field sobriety tests, you know how difficult and scary these tests can be. You can fail FSTs even while stone cold sober!

Mr. Roberts also now must contend with charges of hypocrisy. His school compels every student to take a pledge to the effect of “I will not drink alcohol beverages of any kind.” And the punishments for DUI in Oklahoma surely mirror the punishments for DUI in Glendale – which can include prison time, license suspension, mandatory alcohol education classes, probation, fees, fines, and myriad indirect consequences, such as loss of respect and insurance rate spikes and logistical problems in your life.

Coming to terms with what you’re up against, legally and morally, is no small challenge. Whether you’re convinced you are “totally innocent” — or you believe that the charges are over inflated — or you accept that you did something wrong and you’re panicked about what’s going to come next — you need intelligent guidance to help you make strategic decisions.

A Los Angeles DUI attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you solve your problems. After all, your issues may extend far beyond the threat of a Glendale DUI conviction. Perhaps you have a recurring problem with alcohol or drugs or prescription medications, and you need help before you get stopped for another DUI in Glendale. Or maybe the DUI is just the tip of a larger iceberg. You need clarity, certainty, and appropriate guidance.

Fortunately, Michael Kraut of the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers (121 W Lexington Dr, Glendale, CA 91203 Phone: (818) 507-9123) can help. As a former city prosecutor – he spent 14 years putting Glendale DUI defendants and other defendants behind bars – Mr. Kraut is known for his toughness, deep understanding of the prosecutorial approach in Los Angeles, and expertise in both theory and practice. Connect with this Harvard Law School educated Glendale DUI attorney today to get much needed help and guidance.

Published on: February 13, 2012

Not a Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Verdict of $21 million, But It Easily Could Have Been…

by Michael Kraut

Last week, a man pleaded guilty to a $21 million fraud plot that reads like something out of the annals of Los Angeles Medicare fraud files. And the story did take place in “LA”—but Louisiana, LA, not Los Angeles, LA.

Still, the story is pregnant with lessons for people (and family members of people) who have been recently arrested and charged with crimes like Southern California insurance fraud, Los Angeles credit card fraud, and all other types of Los Angeles white-collar crime.

The accusations are, sadly, typical and mundane. According to the Associated Press, Rodney Taylor, a 45-year-old Louisiana man, recruited state companies to bill Medicare fraudulently for certain pieces of medical equipment. This scam, which persisted from 2004 to 2009, ultimately led to $21 million in fraudulent claims, according to prosecutors.

Published on: February 6, 2012

Taran Noah Smith, Home Improvement Star, Hit with Burbank DUI Charge

by Michael Kraut

Home Improvement star Taran Noah Smith’s driving record may need improvement; the 27-year old actor was stopped last Tuesday for driving under the influence in Burbank.

According to news reports, police pulled Smith over near Third Street and Burbank Boulevard early Tuesday morning. The Burbank Leader reports that Smith’s car had been parked, but the vehicle was still running. Police smelled marijuana around the vicinity and found what they believed to drugs in Smith’s 1998 Honda Accord. After being arrested for driving under the influence in Burbank, Smith was booked into a Glendale jail and held on a bail of $10,000. His court date is set for March 1.

Smith is probably best known for his role as the youngest child on Tim Allen’s Home Improvement, which ran from 1991 to 1997. He got his start as a child actor young – at age seven.

Smith’s Burbank DUI arrest highlights several important factors:

• Being a celebrity does not immunize you from getting arrested for marijuana or alcohol-related Burbank DUI. The law is the law, no matter what your station in life or level of celebrity;
• You can still be arrested for Burbank DUI, even if your vehicle is not actively being driven on the road. Consider Smith’s situation – his vehicle was stopped when the police found him (although the motor was running);
• Early mornings and weekend nights are particularly dangerous times for drivers, since the average car is more likely to be driven by someone who is Burbank DUI. This is just pure statistics. People party and/or drink on the weekends and evenings. So if you want to avoid drivers who might be under the influence in Burbank or elsewhere in Southern California, avoid driving during these dangerous times – late at night, Friday and Saturday nights, and national holidays.

How might the arrest redound for Smith’s career? Likely, that question is low on his list of priorities. In fact, a Burbank DUI charge – even a relatively minor one that does not involve injuries or damage – can lead to a cavalcade of penalties, such as not insignificant jail time, California license suspension, mandatory alcohol education classes, forced installation of an IID device in your vehicle (which means you cannot drive unless you blow a sober breath into a machine), annoying court costs and fines, and so forth.

And let’s not forget the indirect costs of Burbank DUI! These can include huge insurance-related problems (which in and of themselves can cost you thousands of dollars over several years) and damage to your professional and personal reputation.

As an experienced Los Angeles DUI lawyer will tell you, it’s no fun to face these charges.

The silver lining (if there is one) is that you do not have to fight this battle on your own. Help and resources abound, if you’re willing to do research, accept strategic guidance, and take responsibility for what’s happened to you. A Los Angeles DUI attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you make significant progress towards restoring your reputation, blunting the charges against you, and developing a strategic battle plan not just to move beyond this one event but also to get the help and support you need to get your life back on track.

Attorney Kraut is a vastly experienced, highly reputable and compassionate Burbank DUI criminal offense attorney (2600 West Olive Avenue, 5th Floor, Burbank, California 91505 Phone: (818) 563-9810). He also has unique experience, in that he has played for “both sides” – prosecutor and defense attorney. He can leverage his first-hand experience as a prosecutor to help you understand what prosecutors will be planning.