NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Man Sentenced in Money Order Theft
A 29-year-old North Hollywood man was sentenced to 30 days on a Caltrans work crew for trying to cash $1,200 in money orders stolen during the Los Angeles riots, the city attorney’s office said Thursday.
Shabtay Bittay was sentenced after he pleaded no contest to trying to pass worthless and illegal money orders, said Mike Qualls, spokesman for the city attorney. Bittay, a North Hollywood laborer, was also placed on two years probation, he said.
Bittay was arrested June 9 at a Bank of America in Hollywood where he tried to cash TravelersExpress money orders he claimed he received as payment for a gold bracelet he sold to a friend.
But authorities said the money orders Bittay tried to pass were stolen from a liquor store during the riots.
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