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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.
April 30, 2008
Phony Lawyer Pleads Guilty; Sent to Prison for Six Years
LOS ANGELES – A man who stole the identity of an Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer and illegally practiced law was sentenced today to six years in state prison after pleading guilty to felony theft charges.
Deputy District Attorney Thomas R. Wenke of the Consumer Protection Division said Rigoberto Vazquez, 40, was sentenced to by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Horwitz after pleading guilty to six counts of grand theft and one count of identity theft. Horwitz also ordered the defendant to pay $35,900 in restitution to his victims.
Vazquez originally was charged in a felony complaint for arrest warrant in December 2006. He was spotted in Baja California last year. Authorities said he was involved in real estate dealings in the Rosarito area and still acting as a lawyer.
The defendant was arrested at the border in October 2007 when he was crossing into the United States to conduct business. He initially was held by federal authorities for crossing into the United States illegally. He was returned to Los Angeles in February of this year.
District Attorney Senior Investigator Melissa Daly, who handed the case, said Vazquez assumed the identity of Robert Vasquez, a major in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. Although licensed to practice in California, Major Vasquez never has done so.
After stealing Major Vasquez’s identity, defendant Vazquez represented “clients” and made court appearance in Los Angeles, Downey, Pomona, Torrance and Santa Ana between March 2005 and November 2006.
Wenke said it was the second time Vazquez stole Major Vasquez’s identity and practices law. He was convicted of grand theft, false personation and identity theft in 1999 and sentenced to two years in state prison.
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