California Criminal Attorney Blog

Two Tesoro High School students are being charged with upwards of 69 felony counts of unauthorized computer access, burglary, fraud, identity theft, conspiracy and altering public records. Omar Khan, 18 of Coto de Caza is set to be arraigned on June 19, 2008 in Newport Beach and Tanvir Singh, 18 of Ladera Ranch will be arraigned on July 8, 2008 in Newport Beach.

The students, both seniors are alleged to have committed a series of crimes in an effort to cheat on tests, change their grades all to bolster their GPA’s. Omar Khan, with savvy computer knowledge is alleged to have broken into Tesoro High School late at night and on weekends and installing a spyware computer program to gain access to teachers passwords. Once he had access, he was able to change grades from F’s to A’s. Tanvir Singh, is alleged to have conspired with Khan to break into the school and steal a test but were thwarted by a custodian.

Certainly, we can’t have people gaining unauthorized access to computers but come on, 69 felony counts and a possible 38 years in prison, that’s ridiculous! Back in the day, before computers, this kind of stuff was handled “in-house” and not in the media. The kids should be punished, but let the punishment fit the crime.

These kids, have serious talent and I am sure they have a bright future with the FBI or CIA. Perhaps they can even start their own computer forensic hacking business, educating companies on how to keep their computer systems safe from other computer hackers. Or, they can teach computer science classes if they can get a degree from felony friendly colleges. I say, good luck guys, once you pay for your crime, use your skills for a bright future you still have.

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Hitomi Tsuyuki, 54 of Orange County’s exclusive Coto de Caza was arrested at his daughter’s graduation ceremony in Costa Mesa accused of stealing $2.8 million from clients. Orange County prosecutors have charged Tsuyuki with 200 counts of grand theft, elder fraud and false security documents.
If he is convicted of all counts, Hitomi Tsuyuki can face 163 years in prison, however, not a likely result. In the meantime, Tsuyuki is being held in custody on $3 million dollar bail and the prosecutors have attached a petition to have the source of the bail funds traced to ensure he doesn’t use client monies to post bail.

Prosecutors allege, Tsuyuki stole the $2.8 million over a period of ten years starting in 1997. Prosecutors further allege Mr. Tsuyuki encouraged his clients to purchase bonds and when they deposited the money, Tsuyuki spent the money and created false documents to provide to his clients to make it appear they had purchased bonds.

As of this posting, Mr. Tsuyuki is still in custody at Orange County Jail and his arraignment was continued to July 9, 2008 at his attorney’s request.

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Brian Keith Patch of Westminster, California was charged with a violation of Penal Code Section 288, Lewd Act on a Minor. The allegation stems from an incident where prosecutors allege Mr. Patch had sexual contact with a 15-year-old female.

Orange County Deputy District Attorney Nicole Nicholson said “we have incriminating statements from the defendant.’ Prosecutors allege Patch had sexual intercourse with the 15-year-old on April 11, 2008.

Patch is the winner of 5 X games and set records for longest air in 2001.
Mr. Patch told the Orange County Register that the alleged victim called him for a place to stay and he told her he was out of town. When he arrived home, she was waiting outside his house. He let the girl sleep over and the next day her father came to pick her up. Weeks later, Patch said police asked him about sexual relations with the teen after she told her parents she was pregnant. This pregnancy, however, was a ruse by law enforcement to try and get Patch to admit sexual contact.

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Henry Nicholas III, co-founder of Irvine, California’s Broadcom Corporation was formally charged with distributing illegal narcotics, distributing narcotics to prostitutes and spiking the drinks with ecstasy of executives in the technology field. Mr. Nicholas along with his attorneys appeared in federal court in Santa Ana, California to plead not guilty to all charges.

Nicholas, of Newport Beach, California was also charged in federal court with securities fraud. The securities fraud allegation stems from the alleged backdating of stock options for employees. William Ruehle, Broadcom’s former CFO was also named in the federal indictment. Broadcom’s Co-founder Henry Samueli was not named in the indictment, however, there was a loose reference to him by way of initials used in the indictment as a “unindicted co-conspirator.”

In the drug indictment, Nicholas is being accused of using and distributing ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine. In an attempt to cover up his criminal conduct, the indictment alleges Nicholas used “threats of physical violence and death and payments of money to conceal his unlawful conduct.” The indictment also alleges Nicholas used his properties in Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Newport Coast and Las Vegas for "the purpose of distributing and using controlled substances."

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California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced a 74-count felony indictment against a former Santa Maria-Bonita School District official and three executives from TurnKey, a Temecula-based company, for misappropriating $3.6 million in public money for schools. 
 
Turnkey misappropriated money that was supposed to go to construction costs of sixteen Santa Barbara County schools. From 2000 and 2002, TurnKey entered $62 million in construction contracts with the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, promising to complete several school projects. Records show instead of using these funds to pay for the projects, executives purchased expensive automobiles, artwork and gave themselves cash bonuses.
 
In early 2003, TurnKey fell behind in payments to subcontractors who were hired to build the schools. To cover their debt, Turnkey submitted false invoices to the school district. Cynthia Lynn Clark, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools knew about the false invoices yet didn’t report it to the school board of file any criminal charges.  .   
 
A Santa Barbara grand jury returned the indictment on March 14, 2008 against former company executives Harold Leo Clark III, 46, Michael Patrick Bannan, 43, David Irwin, 39, and Cynthia Lynn Clark, 54, on 74 counts of Misappropriation of Public Monies, Embezzlement of Public Funds, Diversion of Construction Funds, and Grand Theft of over $3.6 million between June 2004 and September 2004.

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California Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr. announced the arrest of an Orange County travel agent for selling more than $160,000 in “bogus travel packages.” These travel packages were aimed at senior citizens who wanted to travel to Cuba for cultural and religious purposes.

Ralph Adam Rendon, of Santa Ana was arrested on 78 felony counts, including fraud, embezzlement, grand theft, misappropriation of consumer funds and trust account violations. Mr. Rendon is alleged to have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting travelers. Currently, Mr. Rendon is out of custody having posted $170,000 bail.

The travel packages were designed to attract Greek Orthodox and Jewish Americans with members of their faith in Cuba. Mr. Rendon’s travel agency, “USA to Cuba” was advertised in religious magazines targeting religious travelers. When interested travels contacted Mr. Rendon’s travel agency he directed them to send $1,000 to “USA/AAE Scholarship Foundation.” After the travels deposited the $1,000 he asked them to deposit an additional $2,850 and then cancelled the trips saying the U.S. Treasury Department had blocked travel to Cuba, which was not true.

Orange County, California law enforcement investigators determined that Rendon sold fake trips to at least 30 elderly travelers from New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Utah. When travels attempted to get refunds, Mr. Rendon ignored all calls and demands.

Records show Mr. Rendon used the money to pay his rent, lease a new Mercedes, and hire an attorney. Brown charged Rendon with 78 felony counts, including grand theft, embezzlement, mishandling consumer funds and trust account violations. Mr. Rendon is being charged in Orange County Superior Court and is scheduled to be arraigned in May, 2008 in Santa Ana.

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Mater Dei offensive line coach Reed Diehl was arrested by FBI agents on suspicion of stealing $2.5 million dollars out of an investor. Diehl, of Coto de Caza, an exclusive Orange County neighborhood and father of three posted $75,000.00 bail and is now out of custody.

Authorities believe Diehl engaged in financial schemes taking millions of dollars from his victims. The former Tennessee Titan football player is accused of scamming a man identified in court documents as Ron V., a Chicago developer out of millions with the promise to build condo projects in Cabo San Lucas. Instead, authorities allege Diehl used the money to pay off other outstanding debts.

Diehl, owns ARA Capital, an investment banking firm in Irvine, California and is also accused by federal authorities of promising his clients investment opportunities where he indicated the return on investment would be 5% a month…..60% a year which is unheard of in today’s financial climate. It is unclear at this time how many potential Orange County fraud or theft may exist or how many victims may be involved.

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The Fullerton City Council rejected a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries making it one a few Orange County, California cities to do so. This ban means the city of Fullerton is currently looking into ways to manage medical marijuana dispensaries in a safe and lawful manner.

While most city council members do not agree with the idea of placing medical marijuana dispensaries around town, they do acknowledge the voters support of such dispensaries when they adopted Proposition 215 in 1997. At issue with most Orange County cities who have addressed this issue is the current state of Federal Law which prohibits the use of any medical marijuana dispensaries anywhere in the U.S. As of now, Fullerton is the only city in Orange County willing to consider housing medical marijuana machines in their city with Huntington Beach and Anaheim recently reversing earlier approvals.

The City of Los Angeles, currently has several of these medical marijuana dispensaries already in place and the likelihood is most other major cities in Southern California will follow suit. The number of medical marijuana prescriptions or licenses has increased significantly over the last ten years and with the public’s nonchalant attitude over the use of marijuana, these dispensaries will here to stay.

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Patients using marijuana to alleviate suffering from chronic pain and other ailments will soon be able to purchase their medical marijuana from vending machines 24 hours a day in Los Angeles County. Vincent Mehdizedeh, an inventor and owner of two of the three current vending machines says these machines will provide convenient access, lower prices, safety and anonymity.

The medical marijuana machine requires a fingerprint to identify patients along with a pre-paid card before a green envelope with pot falls down the slot of the machine. Currently, doses are only dispensed once a week per user with each purchase yielding 1/8th or 2/8th of an once with a cost of $40.00

Don’t get too excited, you still need a medical marijuana card to be able to purchase marijuana and the Federal Government is doing all they can to shut down these machines. The DEA along with other federal agencies have been actively shutting down marijuana dispensaries in Los Angels County, Orange County and any county within California that allows these machines in their community. They have been charging operators with felony charges for distribution any time they locate a dispensary.

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Starting this year several new laws will go into effect including increasing a drivers license suspension for first-time DUI offenders with a BAC over .20, increased penalties for street racing or speed contests and requiring the DMV to report DUI convictions for 10 years, instead of the current seven years.

AB 1850 –Makes it an infraction to allow a person to ride in the trunk of a car. Drivers will be subject to a fine and have a negligent operator point attached to his/her license.
AB 2190 --Increases the penalties for reckless driving or engaging in a speed contest. Injuries to others will result in hefty fines and custody time ranging from 30 days to six months.
SB 1613-- As of July 1, 2008, prohibits drivers from operating vehicles while using a hand-held cell phones or text messaging devices. First time offense carries a $20 fine and a $50 fine for each subsequent offense.
SB 1756 --Increases the mandatory suspension of driver licenses from 6 months to 10 months for first DUI offenses for drivers with a BAC of .20 or above.
SB 1586 --Allows public access, including insurance companies, to DUI convictions that occurred in the past 10 years; currently only law-enforcement and courts were able to access this information.
AB 2169 --Extends for 5 years the “Safe at Home Law.” This program creates an alternative driver license address for victims of domestic violence and stalking. The law also allows DMV to continue “suppressing” victims’ license and vehicle registration records.

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Starting July 1, 2008 it will be illegal for motorists to use cell phones while driving.
California Vehicle Code Sections 23123 and 23124 prohibits operating a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone and in cases of drivers under the age of 18, from operating a wireless telephone, including pagers and text messaging devices.

Don’t panic just yet, there are a few exceptions. A driver may use a wireless device if attempting to contact law enforcement, health care providers, fire department etc. Keep in mind these are for emergency related needs to emergency professionals. It does not apply to commercial truck or tractor drivers, bus drivers, tow truck drivers, farm vehicles etc. as long as a two-way radio is being used and such radio does not require the radio to be close to the drivers ear. And finally, it does not apply to motorists who are on private property.

Clearly we have all witnessed drivers who slow down traffic, run red lights or swerve within lanes while chatting away on a cell phone for what likely is a meaningless conversation. Now we have people who talk and text on cell phones as well. There is no doubt using cell phones while driving is dangerous and these recent changes while perhaps inconvenient, is life saving.

If you happen to be cited for driving while using a cell phone you could face a penalty of $20.00 (plus administrative fees) for a first time offense or $50.00 (plus administrative fees) for a second and subsequent offense.

Keep in mind these very important points about this new legislation.

1.If you are using a cell phone while driving, an officer can make a traffic stop and this may provide probable cause to arrest you, if you are under the influence. In other words, the officer does not need to see bad driving in order to stop a vehicle if the driver is using a cell phone. Once contact is made with the driver, if the officer smells alcohol he CAN conduct a DUI investigation and CAN charge you with driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated.
2.You may not use a speaker phone feature and hold the cell phone in your hand while driving and you cannot use a push-to-talk feature like those found on Nextel phones.
3.You can always pull over to the side of the road to make your phone call but do so in a well light and safe place.

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