Punishment

Published on: October 5, 2012

Wracked with Despair After Getting Hit with a Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Charge?

If you’ve been recently arrested for a sex crime or for lewd conduct in Los Angeles charges; odds are, you’re feeling pretty low.

Whether you “did it” or not — or you’re possibly guilty of certain aspects of the charges –- you may experience tremendous isolation, overwhelm, and even guilt as the severity of your situation becomes more clear. Unfortunately, the stresses of being charged with lewd conduct can take their toll.

Consider a recent tragedy out of Northern California, where a 28-year-old 6th grade teacher, James Izumizaki, killed himself shortly after being charged with having a relationship with a 14-year-old student. The Albany Middle School teacher was arrested on September 27th at his house and released after he made $100,000 bail. Izumizaki coached basketball, volleyball, and student government programs; he apparently was well liked by many students. Officers with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department said that his body was found in his car on Via Alamitos in San Lorenzo. He left a note which indicated that he had committed suicide.

Published on: September 27, 2012

No More Los Angeles Petty Theft Charges for Lindsay Lohan: Prosecutors Drop Case against Actress

by Michael Kraut

Did Lindsay Lohan perpetrate theft in Los Angeles and add yet again to her litany of brushes with the law?

We’ll never know, since the Los Angeles Police Department has now closed a case against her, after prosecutors abandoned the idea of filing charges. News reports noted that detectives at the LAPD wanted to chat with Lohan about an event that occurred on August 18th, in which a credit card, cash, and some sunglasses were swiped from a home in the Hollywood Hills.

One of the victims, millionaire Sam Magid, apparently had a long-term relationship with Lohan. Prosecutors encountered trouble because eyewitnesses refused to cooperate, and the victims also did not want to go through the hassle of prosecuting, for whatever reason. Out of possibilities, the LAPD basically gave up: good news for Lohan, whose acting career has taken a backseat to her tabloid exploits – most famously her 2007 Los Angeles DUI and probation violations, which this blog and other media sources covered at length.

Published on: September 25, 2012

Los Angeles Lewd Conduct News: ICE Chief of Staff Resigns: Allegedly Told Halloween Costumed Subordinate “You’re a Sexy [Expletive Deleted]!”

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been arrested for a Los Angeles lewd conduct charge, understand that you are not the only one who’s ever had to face public humiliation, frustration, and the need for damage control.

Consider, for instance, the very public case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chief of Staff, Suzanne Barr, who resigned her position last week, after being dogged by accusations by her subordinates that she engaged in multiple instances of lewd behavior.

The accusations against Barr first arose in an ICE employee’s lawsuit against Janet Napolitano, the Director of the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit said that Barr allowed a frat house like environment to develop at ICE. For instance, they said that, while discussing Halloween costume plans, she told one subordinate “you’re a sexy [expletive deleted]” while “looking at his crotch” and then she enquired “how long is it, anyway?”

Published on: September 20, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Conviction Nets L.A. Physician’s Assistant 6 Years in Jail

by Michael Kraut

50-year-old David James Garrison was sentenced to 72 months behind bars last week for his involvement in a Los Angeles Medicare scam that bilked the federal government out of nearly $19 million. On top of his lengthy jail term, Garrison was ordered by a U.S. District Judge to pay nearly $25,000 in restitution to several defendants.

The charges concerned Garrison’s involvement in a Los Angeles Medicare fraud scam that ran from early 2007 through the fall of 2008. Garrison and other co-conspirators, including Edward Aslanyan, operated a sophisticated shell game. The scam had many “threads.” One of the biggest money makers involved a scheme to recruit Medicare beneficiaries to write and collect prescriptions for power wheelchairs. Garrison and his conspirators resold these ill begotten wheelchairs to wholesalers at an enormous markup. For instance, they might have paid $900 for a wheelchair and billed Medicare for $5,000 for it. Garrison was also involved in writing illegal prescriptions and ordering fraudulent diagnostic tests for at least six different L.A. doctors.

A federal jury convicted Garrison in June on six counts of Los Angeles healthcare fraud, one count of aggregated identity theft, and one count of conspiracy to commit medical fraud in Southern California.

Published on: September 10, 2012

Big, Garish Los Angeles Medicare Fraud News: Ting Huan Tai Allegedly Defrauded Benefits Programs of $30 million to Buy Lamborghini (Among Other Things)

by Michael Kraut

If you have come under investigation for a serious Los Angeles Medicare fraud or Medi-Cal fraud crime, be thankful your situation is probably not as bad as 34-year-old Ting Huan Tai’s.

Tai allegedly ran a massive scam out of his New York City apartment (designed by the architect Frank Gehry). Federal prosecutors say that Tai stole the identify of a doctor and then used that identity to procure millions and millions of dollars of Medicare and Medi-Cal funds by billing for radiological services that no one ever provided to patients. Tai worked with this doctor before nabbing his identity.

Authorities seized Tai’s blue Lamborghini, among other possessions, and his parents had to put up their Great Neck home and other assets to pay his $2 million bond. So far there hasn’t been a grand jury indictment; rumor are swirling that the defendant is maneuvering to get a plea deal. If convicted of all the charges against him, Tai could face a decade behind bars.

Published on: September 4, 2012

Lewd Conduct in Los Angeles News – Priest Says “Not Guilty” to Accusations that He Exposed Himself at a National Park

by Michael Kraut

Accusations of lewd conduct in Los Angeles can ruin a defendant’s life, even if that defendant manages to get the charges dismissed.

If you recall our blog post earlier in summer about the nearly two dozen men busted for lewd conduct in Manhattan Beach at a beachside bathroom, you may remember the desperately frustrated comments made by the men and their supporters. Why the desperation? Because just having your picture published under the headline “arrested for lewd conduct” can have massive implications for your career, your relationships, and your self-esteem for years to come, since “stuff” on the internet tends to live forever.

Consider these concepts as we talk about the recent arrest of 58-year-old Rev. Feliciano Torres Mofan, who was busted for lewd conduct in an undercover sting operation at China Camp State Park. The Northern California priest just pled not guilty to the misdemeanor lewd conduct charges. Park rangers nabbed in during a sting they launched in response to a proliferation of web posts about sexual liaisons at the park. Rev. Mofan is a retired priest-in-residence at a local church, but he does not teach in any of the parish’s schools.

Published on: August 28, 2012

Dealing with Your Wickedly Embarrassing Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Charges – On The Beach, in a Public Bathroom, Wherever…

by Michael Kraut

Whether you were hit with Los Angeles lewd conduct charges for engaging in explicit sexual behavior in a bathroom (like the men charged earlier this summer at Manhattan Beach) or you were arrested for a sex crime on a public beach in Venice or Santa Monica, you’re probably pretty scared and confused about what’s going to happen to you.

Recognize that you are not alone in your struggles, and you are probably not the first to be arrested for your type of crime. Truth be told, you may find it difficult to find support even from normally empathetic coworkers, advisors, and family members. But understand that, in all likelihood, your type of crime has “happened before.”

Consider, for instance, two recent arrests on opposite sides of the country that parallel each other.

Published on: August 24, 2012

Federal Investigators Targeting Tax Fraud and Identify Theft in Los Angeles and Beyond

by Michael Kraut

Have you committed tax fraud or identify theft in Los Angeles?

If so, the federal government may be heading your way – if they aren’t there already.

The Feds are outraged at a recent rash of tax fraud cases that, quite frankly, do boggle the mind. According to Sun Sentinel report, several homes in Florida filed hundreds of tax returns each. For instance, a home near Lake Okeechobee filed 741 tax returns, which netted over $1 million in refunds. An Orlando postbox apparently received nearly $1.1 million based on over 700 fraudulent returns filed. Another home in Tampa sent out 515 fraudulent returns and raked in nearly $2 million from the federal government.

Published on: August 19, 2012

Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Analysis: How and when should academics be punished?

by Michael Kraut

A provocative article by author Jon Wiener in the August 7 issue of The Nation magazine raises intriguing questions about Los Angeles Medicare fraud. Specifically, Wiener asks whether academics who indirectly create/perpetuate medical fraud in Southern California and elsewhere should be punished. And if so, how?

Wiener’s editorial concerns recent GlaxoSmithKline healthcare fraud charges. The giant drug maker pled guilty on July 3rd and agreed to pay out approximately $3 billion in connection with promoting antidepressant pharmaceuticals for uses that had not been approved. At the center of the case was a medical journal article that seemed to give Paxil a pass. The article essentially said Paxil was safe and effective for helping children with depression.

The authors who contributed to the article included Dr. David Feinberg, the head of UCLA’s hospital. But a Department of Justice investigation found out that the pharmaceutical company had paid for that journal article – which critics said “dangerously misrepresented dangers and [hid] information indicating that the drug promoted suicidal behavior among teenagers.”

Published on: August 14, 2012

Defendants of Medicare Fraud in Los Angeles Beware: What Happened to Irina Shelikhova Can Happen to You!

by Michael Kraut

If you’ve been charged with the crime of Medicare and Medical fraud in Los Angeles, here is what not to do:

Do not ignore your charges and flee the country!

This advice should be obvious enough, but 49-year-old Irina Shelikhova, who’s suspected in a giant $70 million Medicare fraud scam in New York City, chose to ignore this common sense.