VENTURA : Felony Charges Filed Against Attorney
Ventura County prosecutors said Monday that they have filed felony charges against a Ventura lawyer, accusing him of practicing without a license and stealing a client’s money.
On Friday, district attorney’s investigators arrested Kenneth G. Makature, who continued practicing after his license was suspended Aug. 10 because he failed to pay his annual dues to the California Bar Assn., according to an affidavit filed in court on Monday.
Prosecutors also filed a charge of grand theft against Makature, who practices civil and criminal law, alleging that he tore up a client’s workers’ compensation check worth about $700 that had disappeared earlier from the client’s mailbox.
According to the affidavit, Makature has conducted business in Superior Court, continued to work on one case and written a letter regarding a plea offer in another case--all since his suspension.
Lawyers’ state bar association dues are about $485 a year, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin DeNoce said.
If convicted of theft and three counts of practicing law without a license, Makature faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison, DeNoce said.
The arrest came Friday, after Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren ordered Makature’s Market Street office searched, DeNoce said. He added that the search was undertaken by a specially appointed lawyer to prevent county prosecutors from improperly obtaining information that would violate the right to privacy of Makature’s clients.
Makature was held briefly at Ventura County Jail before posting $5,000 bail on Friday, authorities said.
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