Former UCSB Associated Students Legislative Council member Joseph Lee, facing a felony grand theft charge, failed to appear in court last month, according to prosecutor Tony Davis.
This is the just the latest legal issue for Lee, who came under fire in April when he stole a laptop from a fellow student. A month later he pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property and computer fraud – both felonies – and was sentenced in June to three years felony probation and 150 days in county jail.
His current grand theft case actually predates the other, alleged to have occurred earlier in the same month, but the investigation hadn’t been completed until after he was put on probation. Because that case predated the one he already pleaded to, it is not considered a violation of probation.
When Lee, who ultimately stepped down from his position on the Associated Students Legislative Council – the student government body at USCB – didn’t appear at his arraignment on September 14, Davis put in a request for a bench warrant, though it wasn’t clear if such a warrant had yet been issued.
Lee is on the court calendar for an arraignment proceeding on October 14.