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OC woman sentenced for embezzlement
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/24 10:12
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| Orange County prosecutors say a law office manager has been sentenced to four years in state prison for embezzling more than $500,000 from her firm and spending the cash on a lavish lifestyle. The district attorney's office says 68-year-old Donna Joy Henderson pleaded guilty on Monday to one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement. Henderson joined Tustin law firm, Rinos & Martin, LLP, in 2000 and oversaw the firm's financial accounts. Prosecutors say that, between 2003 and 2009, Henderson wrote 122 company checks to herself, to cash, personal credit cards, relatives or fictitious businesses, then deposited them into personal bank accounts. She allegedly spent the money on timeshare properties, vacations, home improvements and room additions, jewelry, pampered pet day spa visits, and gambling.
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Not guilty plea entered for teen in NJ webcam case
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/21 16:38
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A former Rutgers student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's same-sex encounter pleaded not guilty Monday to 15 charges including bias intimidation, invasion of privacy and evidence tampering.
It was the first court appearance for 19-year-old Dharun Ravi, the main suspect in the crimes allegedly committed against Tyler Clementi, a fellow Rutgers freshman who killed himself days after the alleged spying. His death sparked a nationwide conversation about bullying against young gays.
Ravi, of Plainsboro, was silent throughout the court appearance, which lasted less than 10 minutes. Clementi's parents and brother sat in the back of the courtroom for the brief hearing.
Ravi wore a dark suit and appeared to bite his lower lip as a chorus of cameras clicked his photo.
Lawyer Steven Altman entered a not guilty plea for Ravi and waived having the indictment against him read in court.
Authorities say the case began in early August, when Ravi learned who he'd be rooming with in his first year at Rutgers. |
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4 ex-Auburn players indicted on felony charges
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/19 09:57
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Four former Auburn football players have been indicted on felony robbery and burglary charges by a Lee County grand jury.
Court documents posted online Wednesday show that Michael McNeil, Antonio Goodwin, Shaun Kitchens and Dakota Mosley were indicted on five counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of misdemeanor third-degree theft of property.
They are scheduled for arraignment on May 26 in Lee County Circuit Court.
Mosley also faces a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to hinder business.
The players were pulled over and arrested shortly after five occupants of a mobile home reported being robbed at gunpoint on March 11. |
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2 sports gear firm execs charged in fraud scheme
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/14 18:27
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Two former executives of a sports equipment company were charged Wednesday with fraud for allegedly swindling dozens of schools in northern New Jersey by forging fake bids from competitors, inflating invoices and courting school officials with gifts.
Mitchell Kurlander of Allentown, Pa., and father-in-law Alan Abeshaus of Highland Beach, Fla., made initial appearances in federal court in Newark on Wednesday afternoon. They each face a conspiracy count, and Kurlander faces multiple mail- and wire-fraud counts, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Bail was set at $500,000 for Kurlander and $250,000 for Abeshaus, both secured by property.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the two men used their company, Easton, Pa.- based Circle System Group, to defraud schools and youth sports programs over a 10-year period ending in 2007. The company, which was bought by Schutt Holdings in 2005, according to the indictment, primarily reconditioned football helmets and shoulder pads for resale.
According to the indictment, the scam worked in a number of ways. For instance, the company allegedly sent schools monthly statements that looked like invoices, leading many schools to pay the same invoice twice. Prosecutors allege the company reaped nearly $1 million in overpayments this way, and kept most of the money.
The company is alleged to have created fake price quotes from competitors that Circle would undercut in order to win contracts. The indictment also accuses it of inflating invoices, sometimes to reimburse the company for money it had donated to the schools' fundraising and charity efforts. |
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Ruling favors suspected Calif. gang members
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/11 13:04
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Authorities in California's Orange County violated the constitutional rights of dozens of suspected gang members when they enforced a gang injunction without giving them a chance to defend themselves in court, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank's ruling favors those who challenged a temporary gang injunction issued in February 2009, notifying suspected members of the Orange Varrio Cypress gang that they will be barred from associating in public, wearing gang clothing or being out late at night within a roughly 4-square-mile area of Orange.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California sued, arguing that when some 60 people challenged their inclusion in the temporary injunction prosecutors removed their names. Those people were nonetheless named in the permanent injunction.
Fairbank ruled that the action violated those people's rights to defend against allegations that they have gang affiliations. She ordered police and prosecutors not to enforce the injunction against them. |
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Court to reconsider case of Super Bowl threat
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/05/10 10:09
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A federal appeals court will reconsider the case of an Arizona man accused of planning a massacre at the 2008 Super Bowl before changing his mind. Kurt Havelock was convicted in 2008 of mailing threatening messages, but a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction last year. The panel's decision is now void, and the full 11-judge court will consider the conviction anew. Authorities alleged that Havelock bought an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition, and wanted to kill people at the 2008 Super Bowl in Glendale. The documents say Havelock was armed when he reached a parking lot near University of Phoenix Stadium but had a change of heart. Havelock called his parents, who persuaded him to turn himself in. |
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