Probation

Stephen Leece, son of Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece, is on three years informal probation and must participate in a domestic violence program after being convicted of violence against his girlfriend. Leece, 28, pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor corporal injury to his girlfriend following his arrest June 3 on suspicion he had beat her and her 9-year-old son during an argument at the girlfriend’s home. Prosecutors dropped child abuse and vandalism charges against Leece “in the interest of justice,” said Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

A Newport Beach man faces additional time in federal prison for his persistence in tricking people into believing he’s a lawyer, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Harold Goldstein, 64, was released from federal prison May 1 after serving a portion of his seven-year sentence and put on supervised probation. Goldstein had been convicted of mail fraud and making false declarations under oath that he was a lawyer, at one point stealing the identity of a Northern California attorney.

A homeless man from Costa Mesa is scheduled to be in court today after police arrested him for allegedly hitting another transient with a 2-by-4 during a fight over a sleeping spot earlier this week. Police said Lawrence Alexander Rugley, 29, confronted a 45-year-old homeless man atop the roof of the Costa Mesa pool hall and arcade, Games Plus, 518 W. 19th St. Rugley told the man that was his sleeping spot, and during the argument Rugley grabbed the thick piece of wood and clubbed the man several times in the back and legs, police said.

A Corona del Mar man will have to serve 90 days in jail if he violates probation in the next five years after assaulting a woman in his home, prosecutors said. Corey Katir, 48, pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery after he was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman half his age when she went to his house to respond to a Craigslist ad he had for a room to rent. Katir was sentenced to five years’ formal probation and 90 days in jail.

A tentative trial date has been set for a Newport Beach man accused of killing a local liquor store owner after he was confronted for allegedly stealing a magazine. Weston Kruger, 30, is charged with murder during a robbery after prosecutors say he threw Sportsman Liquor Store owner Hao “Tony” Quang Huynh to the ground, killing him in July 2007. Kruger was on probation pending domestic violence charges he has yet to stand trial for. Kruger’s murder trial is scheduled for April 6 in Santa Ana’s Central Justice Center.

It was around the time of her 16th birthday, making it 14 years ago this month, that Elaina Kroll said her Laguna Niguel choir director sexually abused her. Albert Lee Schildknecht, then the music director at St. Timothy Catholic Church, was a married man and 44 years old, nearly three times Kroll’s age. “He was a father figure,” Kroll said. “Like a good girl, I obeyed.” For nearly two years from that day, Schildknecht sexually abused her. There were sexual encounters in his car, in the parking lot outside The Gypsy Den in Costa Mesa and even at a local park.

Local philanthropist, owner of the Anaheim Ducks and Corona del Mar resident Henry Samueli pleaded guilty to lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission about his involvement in a stock option scandal in federal court Monday. Samueli stood beside his attorney, Gordon Greenberg, as Judge Cormac Carney explained to him in meticulous detail the provisions of his plea agreement, which included five years of probation and more than $12 million in fines. Sentencing for Samueli is set for Aug. 18. Carney expressed concerns that Henry Nicholas III, who founded Irvine-based computer chip maker Broadcom Corp.

The son of a Costa Mesa city councilwoman arrested for misdemeanor assault and battery was sentenced to probation and community service, court records show. Andrew Dixon, son of Councilwoman Linda Dixon, pleaded guilty to battery Wednesday and had the assault charge dismissed. Dixon was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and given three years of informal probation. Dixon was arrested Monday night after an argument at the Dixon family home in the 200 block of Princeton Drive turned physical.

A Newport Beach artist who used a Picasso sketch valued at $200,000 to con a local real estate broker struck a deal with the court Tuesday that spared him years in prison. Michael Schofield, 60, said little while caged inside the Newport Beach Harbor Justice Center courtroom. Standing in his dark blue prisoner jumpsuit, ankles and wrists shackled, Schofield answered each felony count with a pronounced “Guilty, sir.” Schofield pleaded guilty to two grand theft charges and one count of bouncing a $5,000 check.