Recently at the Central Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles, my client was charged in Count 1 with a violation of Welfare and Institutions Code section 10980(c)(2) (Acquiring Aid by Misrepresentation) and four counts of violating Penal Code section 118 (Perjury by False Application for Aid), all felonies. These charged offenses exposed my client to jail time and negative immigration consequences.
In 2001, our client was arraigned in this matter and failed to appear for her preliminary hearing. After her failure to appear, a bench warrant was issued. When our client hired our office, over seventeen years had passed since the alleged incident and the bench warrant status of her case was prohibiting her from seeking immigration relief.
At the first appearance on the case, we were able to have the court recall the bench warrant. Investigation into the discovery revealed that our client had fraudulently acquired nearly $6,000 from the Department of Public Social Services (“DPSS”). A conviction under the charged offenses would be considered crimes of moral turpitude and expose our client to dire immigration consequences.
Given the age of the case and our client’s clean record since the alleged offenses, we were able to negotiate with the district attorney assigned to the case to dismiss the charges in the interests of justice if our client paid back the money owed to DPSS.
Our client paid back the full restitution and all charges against our client were dismissed! This is a great immigration friendly resolution for our client!
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