People v. Soliman CA1/1

BACKGROUND

In 2013, Wondwossen Mekbeb was working as a taxi driver. He also leased a four-room office space, which he subleased to various tenants. Defendant entered the picture when he responded to an online ad Mekbeb placed to rent out some of the office space. Defendant told Mekbeb he was “ ‘interested in starting a legal office.’ ” He said he had been a “federal prosecutor for a pretty long time,” he had worked in Iraq, and he was “one of the guy[s] who interrogated Sadam Hussein.” Defendant also said he was a lawyer “working for the State Department.”

1 Mekbeb agreed to sublease the space, and defendant prepared a rental agreement. Defendant moved into the office space in November 2013. Besides Mekbeb, there was one other tenant in the space, Karley Greer. Mekbeb introduced Greer to defendant, and defendant represented he was “a federal prosecutor and a lawyer.” Mekbeb saw “several pictures” in defendant’s office, including a framed “very huge picture of his law degree” and pictures of defendant with former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell. Defendant also showed Mekbeb his Web site where he advertised his business. When Mekbeb saw defendant’s “Doctorate…