ENCINO : Owner of Dating Service Sentenced

The owner of an Encino dating service has been sentenced to 160 hours of community service and placed on three years probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery charges involving a disgruntled customer and a competitor in separate incidents.

Jeffrey Ullman, 41, entered his plea in Van Nuys Municipal Court and was sentenced Wednesday, two days before the case was set to go to trial.

Ullman’s attorney, Jonathan J. Kissel, said he had recommended that his client avoid a trial because it would have been “tried in the press” because of the “volatile nature of the public due to the King verdict.”

Kissel explained that a jury verdict was too unpredictable these days in cases involving the use of force.

Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Mark Burton said he was pleased with the sentence, even though Ullman faced a maximum of six months in County Jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted on both counts.

Ullman was also ordered to pay damages awarded in any civil action that may result, or he would face a jail sentence. Both victims said they plan to file civil suits against Ullman.

The first count involved Larry Hash, 35, of Diamond Bar, who picketed the Encino office of Great Expectations in July after being told his lifetime membership to the service was no longer valid there.

Hash claims that Ullman confronted him, slugged and choked him.

Ullman denied it.

The second count involved a professional matchmaker named Helena Amram of West Los Angeles.

Amram claimed Ullman slapped her in November at a women’s conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where they both had booths advertising their businesses.

Amram claims Ullman called her names and then slapped her simply because he saw her as competition. Kissel denied her account.