The Challenge
A Registered Nurse was charged with five felony counts. The charges were obtaining prescription medications by fraud (Health and Safety Code 11173), burglary (Penal Code 459, for entering a pharmacy to commit the fraud), and identity theft (Penal Code 530.5). A felony conviction for diverting medication would almost certainly have cost her nursing license. Her husband, a Captain in the Armed Forces, held a security clearance. A spouse’s felony conviction is a reportable factor in clearance reviews and could have ended his career as well. Two careers depended on one case.
Our Strategy
We addressed the underlying problem first. The client entered treatment early, and we documented every step. We then negotiated with the prosecution and laid out the consequences a felony would have for both careers and for the household. All five felony counts were dismissed. The case resolved with a single misdemeanor plea, probation, and continued drug treatment. She kept her nursing license. Her husband kept his clearance and his career.
The Result
FELONIES DISMISSED – PROFESSIONAL LICENSES PRESERVED
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.
