I’m always amazed by the things attorneys say about their clients. The LA Times reports that a man who worked for 10 years in LA County’s welfare office has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for filing about 200 tax returns — and pocketing refunds — in the names of indigent people he met on the job. From the story (emphasis is mine)
Dinh’s attorney, Neha Mehta of the federal public defender’s office, had argued for a sentence of one year in prison followed by home confinement for six months. She said her client was an otherwise law-abiding person who stole the money to support a gambling problem that had developed because of marital problems. She said Dinh lost his job as a result of his conviction.
Yes, judge, other than using his job to commit crimes, and other than the 200 identities he stole, and other than the nearly three-quarters of a million he pocketed, he’s just like you and me and he’s a swell guy.
