Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Published on: February 8, 2013

It’s Not That Your Los Angeles Petty Theft Arrest, Itself, Is the Problem, Necessarily…

You were recently arrested for a petty theft crime in Los Angeles. Maybe you stole a bottle of laundry detergent or shoplifted a designer shirt on Melrose. Or maybe you just know someone who stands accused of such a crime.

In either case, you’re conflicted. You know you’re in trouble. You want your legal problems to go away ASAP. On the other hand, you didn’t kill anyone or commit a more serious Southern California white-collar crime or violent crime. So, hopefully, you’ll be able to dispatch with this frustrating chapter in your life and move on.

To get clarity about what this arrest means for you, you need to start asking yourself some tough questions.

Published on: February 4, 2013

Your Los Angeles Sex Crime Case Is Complex. But Everyone’s Already Painted You as the “Bad Guy” (Or “Bad Girl”)

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles sex crime defendants often find themselves isolated, even from close family and friends, because of the salacious nature of the allegations.

Whether you stand accused of sending an untoward, sexually-provocative email to a high school student; or whether the police arrested you for soliciting an undercover officer at a bathroom, you’re genuinely scared for your future. Plus, you’re facing a real empathy deficit in your life right now.

It’s not that people close to you have abandoned you, necessarily. But sex crimes in Los Angeles (or anywhere) really touch a nerve with many people, and for good reason.

Published on: January 28, 2013

Disgusting Los Angeles Medicare Fraud News — in More Ways than One!

by Michael Kraut

As a doctor, chiropractor, dentist, or other health provider who has come under investigation for Los Angeles Medicare Fraud, you may be embarrassed by what you did… or by what authorities allege that you did.

But you also likely resent being classified as a criminal. For instance, you probably don’t want to be thought of in the same company as 55-year-old Richard Alan Behnan, a Michigan area podiatrist recently sentenced to 55 months behind bars.

Behnan recently pled guilty in U.S. District Court to masterminding and executing a $1.6 million scam to fraudulently bill Blue Cross Blue Shield and Medicare.

Published on: January 21, 2013

What Los Angeles Petty Theft Defendants Can Learn from Woman Who Wants to Eat Only Starbucks Food for an Entire Year

by Michael Kraut

As someone who was recently arrested for petty theft in Los Angeles, you want to avoid serious penalties, such as prison time, a criminal record, massive fees, and humiliation.

Whether you’re a starving UCLA student who helped himself to “free” convenience store food or a hardened recividist offender, you have some potent choices to make about your future.

• Will you retain a high caliber Los Angeles criminal defense attorney to represent your interests and structure an effective defense?

Published on: January 18, 2013

No Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Trial for Actor Fred Willard

by Michael Kraut

According to the Los Angeles Times, actor Fred Willard (whose credits include Anchorman, Best in Show, and This is Spinal Tap) will not go to trial for his Los Angeles lewd conduct charges.

If you recall from our reporting from last July, the 72-year-old Willard got arrested at the Tiki Theater on Santa Monica Boulevard, after police officers allegedly observed him “engaging in the lewd act.” Willard’s arrest reminded many in the media of the career-destroying lewd conduct arrest of Paul Reubens in a Florida movie theater over a decade earlier.

The LAPD unit that busted Willard and others aimed to crack down on sex crimes in and around Hollywood. The comedic actor recently completed a diversionary program that will keep him out of jail and finish this chapter in his life. He appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon after the arrest. He told Fallon that the arrest was “very embarrassing … it’s embarrassing as hell, but let me say this, nothing happened. I did nothing wrong.” Willard said that he didn’t realize the Tiki Theater was an adult theater. He told Fallon “I see this one, it had such a Polynesian exotic look to it. I said maybe there’s hula dancers in here. Maybe there’s Mai Tais. I went in and I realized I was the only one awake and sober and conscious.”

Published on: January 14, 2013

Nick Stahl Arrested On Hollywood Lewd Conduct Charges

by Michael Kraut

Nick Stahl, has been arrested for lewd conduct in Hollywood, according to news sources.

The 33-year-old actor, who starred in Terminator 3 and in the HBO series Carnivàle, got booked on the misdemeanor after undercover police found him “watching a movie” in an adult movie shop on Hollywood Boulevard. Stahl made headlines last year, after he went missing from his estranged wife multiple times and went in and out of rehab.

According to LAist, the actor allegedly had been “touching himself” before getting booked for lewd conduct. He emerged from police custody a few hours after the incident and told a TMZ cameraman that the whole thing was a “misunderstanding.” Stahl was actually arrested by one of the same police officers who caught actor Fred Willard at the Tiki Theater in November. As we reported in a recent post on Willard’s arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department has assembled a special crack team designed to find and arrest men for lewd conduct in Hollywood.

Published on: January 8, 2013

After You’ve Been Arrested/Investigated for Medicare Fraud in Los Angeles: Like Waking from a Dream

by Michael Kraut

Getting charged with Los Angeles Medicare fraud can change your life — and not in a good way (but not necessarily in a totally bad way, either!)

Defendants often go through a period of epiphany or powerful reflection after being accused. This can be disconcerting. If you’ve recently been arrested — or if you know or care about someone who has been charged — you probably recognize symptoms, such as:

• Sudden dismay and regret regarding years of actions;

Published on: January 3, 2013

Getting Beyond Your Holiday Los Angeles Petty Theft Charges

by Michael Kraut

Perhaps you and your frat buddies at UCLA got arrested for petty theft in Los Angeles after a crazy off-campus Christmas party. Or maybe the cops caught you stealing small items from a mall to “re-gift” to friends and family members.

In any case, you now face a misdemeanor charge — as well as other criminal counts, if you mixed up your petty theft with assault, robbery, or misbehavior towards a police officer.

It’s a New Year. You’d like a fresh start. You’d love to refocus on how to move your life forward in a positive direction — to make good on your 2013 resolutions.

Published on: January 1, 2013

$11 Million Guilty Verdict in Major Los Angeles Medicare Fraud Case

by Michael Kraut

Last Monday, Charles Agbu, a 58-year pastor based in Carson, pled guilty to an $11 million Los Angeles Medicare fraud scam.

The Department of Justice accused Agbu of masterminding the reimbursement fraud. Agbu faces the specter of a 20-year prison sentence on top of a fine of $500,000. He will be sentenced in May.

Agbu’s company, Bonfee Inc., marketed itself as a medical equipment supply business. In reality, Bonfee paid people to offer beneficiaries power wheelchairs in exchange for their Medicare information. Once Agbu and his crew had this info, they billed Medicare for the wheelchairs but never delivered them to clients. Bonfee and Agbu also falsified prescriptions and other documents to bill Medicare illegally. Agbu paid his co-conspirators, including Dr. Juan Tomas Van Putten, hundreds of dollars for batch orders of these fake prescriptions.

Published on: December 26, 2012

Los Angeles Lewd Conduct Charges Lead to Spate of Lawsuits against L.A. Unified

by Michael Kraut

Most Los Angeles lewd conduct charges, fortunately, are relatively “small scale.” They might involve one person committing an alleged sex crime against another or a few people.

However, there are times when certain crimes lead to a kind of “mass harm” and draw the attention of both community and the media. One of those cases involved some insane allegations against 61-year-old Mark Berndt, a former teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, who faces 23 counts of Los Angeles lewd conduct. He’s currently being held in jail on a bail of $23 million.

The allegations against Berndt are almost too hard to believe. Here is a direct quote from Reuters about what he faces: “He has been accused of spoon feeding his semen to blindfolded children as part of what he allegedly called a tasting game. He is also accused of putting cockroaches on children’s faces and feeding them semen tainted cookies at the school.”