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Date: 06-09-2021

Case Style:

United States of America v. Jonathan Lee Smith

Case Number: 2:21-cr-00272-JFW

Judge: John F. Walter

Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office

Defendant's Attorney:


Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Directory


Description: Los Angeles, California wire fraud charge criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant, Jonathan Lee Smith, age 40, of West Hollywood.

The CEO of two Hollywood production companies that specialize in reality television programming agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud for obtaining a $2 million business loan using fabricated documents and by misrepresenting his companies’ financial circumstances.

In a plea agreement, Smith also filed today, Smith agreed to plead guilty to the felony offense, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

According to the plea agreement, Smith managed and owned two production companies, Hoplite Entertainment, Inc. and Hoplite, Inc. To convince a private lender to fund a $2 million loan last year, Smith falsely represented that his two companies had accounts receivable of $3,348,000, and he submitted falsified license agreements and other forgeries to back up the claim.

To convince the private lender to give him additional time to repay the loan, court documents state, Smith falsely represented that payment was imminent. He also emailed a fake record showing a $100,000 wire payment from Hoplite, Inc. to the lender. In reality, the loan was never repaid, and Smith has agreed to pay $2 million in restitution.

Smith is expected to make his initial appearance in this case in United States District Court on July 6.

The FBI investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Alexander B. Schwab of the Major Frauds Section is prosecuting the case.

Outcome: Defendant agreed to plead guilty.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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