Charges of extortion are taken very seriously in the state of California. At Okabe & Haushalter, our team is standing by to help when you need a skilled Los Angeles extortion lawyer by your side. We pledge to use our resources and legal expertise to help you get through this. Do not let your fate lie in the hands of an overworked public defender when the stakes are so large for an extortion conviction. Call us today so we can get to work immediately.
Extortion is known as a criminal offense which occurs when an individual unlawfully obtains money property or services from another individual’s entity or institution. The offense also occurs when an individual obtains something through coercion. It can be tried as a federal crime if it involves the use of a computer system, phone, by mail or in using any instrument of “interstate commerce.” In order for the crime of extortion to be charged to an individual, a message only has to be sent by the offender willingly and knowingly; the intended recipient does not have to receive the notice.
Depending on the severity of the charges, a conviction for an extortion charge in Los Angeles can include jail or prison time, fines, probation, parole and possibly restitution to the victim. If you have previous convictions on your record, you may be subject to harsher penalties as well. Generally, a conviction can cause an offender to spend up to 4 years in state prison. The attempt to commit extortion can also be penalized with up to a year in county jail.
In order for prosecutors to be able to obtain a conviction of extortion in Los Angeles, they need to be able to prove one of the following fact patterns beyond a reasonable doubt.
In our definition and elements of extortion above, we said that extortion could be committed when there is some sort of force or threat of force applied to somebody else in an effort to gain money or property of value. The types of threats in these cases include the following:
It is important to point out that a threat in these cases does necessarily need to be a threat of an illegal act. In many cases, extortion occurs based on threats to do something that is technically legal. For example, if you threaten somebody by telling them that you will turn them in to the police, no crime has necessarily been committed. However, if you tell somebody that you will turn them in to the police unless they give you money or some other valuable property, then the crime of Los Angeles extortion has been committed.
There may be various types of defenses that an attorney could use in an extortion charge case. At Okabe & Haushalter, we know that no two extortion cases in Los Angeles are exactly alike. Our goal will be to prove that the elements of extortion have not been met in your case and that the prosecutor cannot prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. If that is the case, we will argue that the charges should be dropped.
If you or someone you know has been accused of extortion, it is of the utmost importance to your future, freedom and reputation to speak with an aggressive Los Angeles criminal defense attorney immediately. With your future relying on your ability to quickly procure legal representation, there is no time to waste.
The legal team at Okabe & Haushalter has spent the last years working to protect the rights of our clients and help them avoid an extortion conviction altogether. If you are seeking sound legal counsel, look no further. For more information on the services that our firm provides, do not wait another minute longer to call our office today. We have helped dozens in the Los Angeles and South Bay communities, and we may be able to help you as well!
Contact a Los Angeles white collar crime lawyer from Okabe & Haushalter for exceptional legal representation when charged with extortion.
