Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Page 4
Long Beach Lawyer Gets Misdemeanor Probation in Embezzlement Case
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A Long Beach attorney who pled guilty last summer to embezzling over $26,000 from the Black Women Lawyer’s Association of Los Angeles was placed on one year’s probation yesterday.
LaJetta Wright, 42, was granted probation by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David M. Horwitz after Deputy District Attorney Sean Hassett said she had performed 246 hours of community service, paid a $3,000 fine, and made restitution.
Wright admitting misusing the money during her term as treasurer for the organization in 2004. Horwitz yesterday reduced the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor.
State Bar records show that Wright was placed on involuntary inactive status in 2007 after the money was discovered missing and disciplinary charges were filed, that she was reinstated a year later, and that she was placed on interim suspension last month as a result of the conviction. The last action, however, could be affected by the judge’s decision to reduce the level of the offense.
She attended California State University, Dominguez Hills and the University of West Los Angeles Law School before being admitted to practice in 2000. Wright served as recording secretary for the BWLA’s Los Angeles chapter prior to becoming the organization’s treasurer.
Wright, her attorney, and BWLA officials have previously declined comment on the case, other than to note that restitution was paid before charges were filed.
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