CALIFORNIA—On July 20, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that former Los Angeles attorney Sergio Valdovinos Ramirez, 36, of Manhattan Beach, pleaded guilty to one felony count of possessing insufficient funds and three felony counts of grand theft by embezzlement after he took more than $300,000 from clients.
Ramirez pleaded guilty to a special allegation that he committed a crime resulting in more than $100,000 in losses. As part of his plea agreement, he must pay $310,000 in restitution and $50,000 before sentencing.
He began practicing law in 2017. Between 2019 and 2023, Ramirez received settlement funds intended for five of his clients, Salvador Mora, Robert Torres, Jolynn Vega, Osvaldo Buenrostro Hernandez, and Lisa Mendez, but did not give them the money. He wrote checks to his clients, but he did not have enough money in his bank account to cover them because he used the money he was paid by his clients for gambling-related services.
Ramirez’s disbarment was recommended by the State Bar Court of California on June 28, 2024, after it determined that he committed 19 ethical violations and lied to his clients, claiming that his actions were due to being treated for terminal cancer at City of Hope by a doctor named Stephen Chang, who does not exist. The California State Supreme Court approved the disbarment on September 18, 2024.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 21 in Department 123 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles. He will serve a two-year sentence in a California state prison.
