TRIAL ORDERED ON CHECK CHARGES.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Staff Writer VENTURA - A Canoga Park businessman was ordered to stand trial Monday on charges that he intentionally defrauded a Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. City Councilman and a developer by passing $22,500 in bad checks. James Erhardt, 32, owes Chatsworth developer Stan Weiss $20,000 and Simi Valley Councilman Steve Sojka $2,500 from bad checks he gave to lease property and advertise a Halloween haunted house A haunted house is defined as building that is believed to be a center for supernatural occurrences or paranormal phenomena.[1] A haunted house may contain ghosts, poltergeists, or even malevolent entities. in Simi Valley last fall, prosecutors said. Weiss, who leased the property at Madera Road and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Avenue, testified during Monday's preliminary hearing that his numerous attempts to collect the money ultimately resulted in a threat against him. ``(Erhardt) said, `I'm coming to get you,' '' said Weiss, holding a piece of paper on which he said he jotted down the remark made by phone. ``Then he hung up.'' Weiss said he knew the call came from Erhardt because he recognized the voice, even though Erhardt did not identify himself. Defense attorney Anthony Brokklier refused to comment after the hearing. In addition to three felony counts of writing checks in excess of $200 with non-sufficient funds  It has been suggested that Unavailable funds fee be merged into this article or section. to cover them, prosecutor Chrystina
Jenson said Erhardt could face a charge for the threat against Weiss.
``I just heard about the threat today,'' Jenson said. ``We'll see what we do with that.'' Erhardt remains free on $10,000 bail after his May 24 arrest by Simi Valley police. Erhardt, who faces four years and four months in prison if convicted on the existing charges, was ordered by Judge Herbert Curtis not to contact Weiss or Sojka, the only witnesses during the two-hour hearing. Sojka, whose Money Mailer (1) An e-mail program. See e-mail program. (2) A message sent by an e-mail program. (3) A person or organization sending e-mail. company designs, prints and mails business fliers, testified that Erhardt wrote a bad check for $2,500 to pay for mailings that went out to 150,000 homes in the vicinity of the haunted house. Erhardt also operated a Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. lot on the same property. In a pending civil suit against Weiss, Erhardt claims that other businesspeople were allowed to come on the property and operate their own Christmas tree lot using his equipment and fixtures. Erhardt also has filed a $5 million racketeering Traditionally, obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by Organized Crime . A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity. suit against the city, claiming that officials drove him to near-bankruptcy by imposing unfair regulations on his Christmas tree business and a fruit stand he operated, then extorted $7,000 from him. His attorney in those cases, Fred Rucker, did not return phone calls seeking comment. |
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