Friday, July 22, 2011
Page 3
Valencia Attorney Due in Court On Grand Theft Charges
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A Valencia attorney is due in court Tuesday to set a date for his preliminary hearing on charges of grand theft, perjury and forgery.
Leslie Scott McAfee, 59, is accused of stealing a vast specialty gun collection, along with cash, a coin collection, jewelry and art from the estate of William Sherinyan, a friend who died of cancer in March 2010.
He was arrested Tuesday by Los Angeles police at his Sylmar home, and entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office said. McAfee was being held on $2.2 million bail.
Prosecutors allege McAfee unsuccessfully tried to be appointed the estate’s executor and took an estimated $300,000 worth of valuables from it, giving rise to four counts of grand theft, and 35 counts of grand theft of a firearm.
McAfee also faces six counts or perjury, stemming from allegations that the claimed to be the executor of Sherinyan’s estate when he re-registered several guns once belonging to the decedent, in his name. An allegation that McAfee signed the decedent’s name on a check two days after the man passed away is the basis of the forgery count.
The case, PA070963, is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Karen Rizzo.
If convicted, McAfee faces up to 37 years in state prison.
McAfee has no public record of discipline with the State Bar, which he joined in 1988 after graduating from CSU Northridge and LaVerne Law School.
A MetNews call to McAfee’s office was not returned.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company