History Repeats Itself? Okabe & Haushalter Hired to Defend Client Charged in Bribery Scandal, Penalties Reduced

LOS ANGELES, March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of recent rampant media coverage of large-scale, multi-million-dollar college bribery allegations, the parallels between the current scandal and a past high-profile bribery case are surfacing.

The defense attorneys at Okabe & Haushalter, a renowned California criminal defense firm, were hired to defend a client involved in the largest high-profile bribery scandal in United States history in 2015. The client—whose name has been withheld—was a council member of Moreno Valley, a city located in southern California's Riverside County, and stood accused of accepting more than 2 million dollars in bribes from an undercover agent working on behalf of the FBI.

The defendant was alleged to have accepted these bribes in exchange for promises of exerting influence in order to sway fellow council members' votes in matters related to zoning and development within the city. Similarly, the current school bribery scandal's defendants are alleged to have bribed prestigious college administrators in exchange for guaranteed admissions for specific individuals.

In the 2015 bribery scandal case, charges included both federal- and state-level offenses, such as bribery, theft and fraud. Okabe & Haushalter defended the case and negotiated on behalf of the city council member accused of the charges. Once courtroom proceedings were concluded, Okabe & Haushalter had successfully negotiated the reduction of criminal penalties, which originally added up to decades in Federal Prison, to substantially below guidelines on the Federal Case.  

Okabe & Haushalter's attorneys have defended their past clients against a number of criminal charges over the years, including cases where multiple criminal charges were reduced to a single charge and lengthy prison sentences reduced to minimal jail time. Their staunch defense tactics and criminal defense expertise have enabled them to advocate for clients involved in multi-million-dollar bribery scandals and other high-profile cases, including cases involving celebrities charged with criminal offenses in California.

About Okabe & Haushalter
Okabe & Haushalter specialize in criminal defense cases and have offices located throughout southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area to serve clients throughout the state. You can read more about the firms Los Angeles Bribery Defense here.

SOURCE Okabe & Haushalter