Former Mayor Sentenced to Jail in Connection with Child Support Avoidance Scheme

Fairfax, VA (Law Firm Newswire) December 30, 2014 – Ex-mayor of Buena Park, Calif., caught falsifying driver’s license documentation.

Buena Park, Calif., is perhaps most famous as the location of Knott’s Berry Farm, a theme park popular with families. But as of November 19, it has gained notice for another child-centric, though less family-friendly matter: its former mayor, Sangjin Miller Oh, received a sentence of six months in jail and three years probation for lying to the Department of Motor Vehicles in an attempt to avoid paying child support.

An Orange County jury found Oh guilty in May of five felony counts of perjury by declaration. According to the prosecution, between Sept. 23, 2004, and July 20, 2009, Oh used a false name and hid his assets in order to avoid paying his ex-wife child support for their two daughters.

According to prosecutors, 50-year old Oh applied for a driver’s license under the name Robert Oh, his Roman Catholic confirmation name, and entered his lunar birth date on the application without revealing that he had possessed a driver’s license under a different name or that his license had been previously suspended. The prosecution also said that Oh admitted in a recorded conversation that he paid someone $300 to obtain a fake driver’s license for him so that he could shield his assets and register vehicles.

Oh’s 2010 campaign for office came after he had provided conflicting information on forms, including his voter registration, regarding such details as his birth date, the prosecution added.

“The plot to avoid child support using false documents is brazen and borders on the amazing side considering the fact that state agencies share information, with fraud detection being an underlying objective,” said Lisa McDevitt, a prominent family law attorney in Fairfax, Va. “The district attorney’s office would have ferreted out the remaining details in this scheme.”

Oh must perform 200 hours of community service and surrender to authorities on January 9 to begin serving his jail time. Should Oh violate the terms of his probation, he will be sent to prison for three years. (4) Oh is also banned from ever holding public office again.

“While it is offensive to see that a public official would falsify documents, particularly with the objective of shirking his child support obligations, it is a reassuring reaffirmation of our justice system to see such individuals prosecuted, convicted and sentenced,” McDevitt said. “No one is above the law.”

Learn more at http://www.mcdevittlaw.net