The Challenge
An office manager was accused of embezzling about $55,000 from her employer, charged as grand theft and embezzlement under Penal Code 487 and 503. The investigation then turned up her past. Years earlier, she had been convicted in a $3 million real estate fraud and had served a 10-year prison sentence. A prior prison term for fraud changes how a new theft case is treated. Prosecutors rarely offer probation to a repeat offender, and the realistic outcome was a return to state prison.
Our Strategy
We did not try to minimize the record. We addressed it directly and built the case for why this client, at this point in her life, did not need to go back to prison. We presented mitigating evidence to the prosecution, including restitution, the years since her release, and her circumstances. We negotiated a resolution that kept her in the community. The case ended with probation and house arrest. She did not return to state prison.
The Result
PROBATION AND HOUSE ARREST — PRISON AVOIDED
Your Case Belongs at the Southwest Justice Center.
Your Defense Belongs Here.
If you were arrested in Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Winchester, or French Valley, your future will likely be decided at the Southwest Justice Center (SWJC) on Auld Road. In these courtrooms, local knowledge is the ultimate advantage. Since 1999, Nic Cocis has been a weekly fixture in the SWJC, appearing before the same judges and negotiating with the same Riverside County prosecutors for over 25 years. We don’t just know the law — we know the specific nuances, procedural quirks, and judicial tendencies of the Southwest District. Whether you are facing a felony or a misdemeanor, you need a firm that treats the Southwest Justice Center as its home turf.
