The New York criminal lawyers and former Manhattan prosecutors at Saland Law PC are pleased to announce that one of our clients pleaded guilty to a violation of Disorderly Conduct after being charged with two felonies of Grand Larceny in the the Third Degree (NY PL 155.35) and Identity Theft in the First Degree (NY PL 190.80) as well as three misdemeanor counts of Forgery in the Third Degree (NY PL 170.05). If convicted, not only would our client have a felony record, but he would have faced up to two and one third to seven years in prison.
It was alleged that our client had perpetrated “credit card fraud” after he randomly received a pre-approved credit card application in his mailbox addressed to another person. Upon completing the application, our client allegedly opened a secondary credit card account under his name. Upon doing so, prosecutors claimed that our client purchased a Honda Accord and filled out a loan application for that vehicle in the amount of $25,000. Using the credit card he allegedly obtained fraudulently, our client charged $7,000 as payment to Honda. As a result of these alleged actions and upon recognition by the creditor bank that there were issues with the use of the credit card, detectives from the New York City Police Department arrested our client. Shortly thereafter, prosecutors charged our client with these felonies in Manhattan.
The charges our client faced stemmed directly from his alleged conduct. Although additional charges could have been brought, the prosecution’s apparent theories were that our client committed Identity Theft when he signed for and opened an account with another individual’s name and account information. The Grand Larceny charge was a result of the use of a credit card and the “theft” of the vehicle. In total, the value of the losses were in excess of $3,000 but not more than $50,000. Lastly, the Forgery counts were tied to his alleged actions of filling out certain paperwork including loan and credit card applications falsely with the intent to defraud.
Unfortunately for our client, the evidence against him was powerful. In fact, our client was in possession of the Honda. Fortunately, however, the New York criminal lawyers at Saland Law PC took the appropriate steps not to challenge the evidence head on, but to mitigate our client’s conduct. In doing so, we impressed upon prosecutors that our client not only came from nominal means to graduate from a top college, but he used this arrest to get his life back on track. With ongoing proof of his graduate studies, documentation as to other issues and treatment our client was dealing with, full restitution and other steps taken by our criminal lawyers including a “Queen for a Day,” our client was offered a non-criminal disposition. This non criminal violation will afford our client the opportunity to grow from a lapse in judgment and still have a productive life upon his graduation from graduate school.
While this disposition was hard fought and represents one of many successful criminal case results we have achieved for our clients throughout New York, it was also a unique one. As much as any attorney may wish that he or she can guarantee a particular result for a client because of past results, this is not the case. What is more important is that our client recognized the legal predicament he faced. Upon doing so, he and our attorneys formulated a plan to best defend him against the allegations. Our diligence and efforts certainly paid off tremendously. Obviously, all of the details of this defense are not set forth here, but our defense ultimately was the best one for our client.
For a wealth of information on the crimes of Grand Larceny, Identity Theft and Forgery, please follow the highlighted links. There you will not only find practical analysis of the criminal statutes, but associated legal decisions and commentary on cases in the news. For additional information on New York theft and larceny crimes, please visit the NewYorkTheftAndLarcenyLawyers.Com website as well as the NewYorkTheftAndLarcenyLawyersBlog.Com.
Founded by two former Manhattan prosecutors who served under Robert Morgenthau, the New York criminal lawyers at Saland Law PC represent the accused throughout the New York City region.