A former San Diego attorney convicted of five felonies, including forgery and writing bad checks, was found dead in an apparent suicide at his La Jolla home Feb. 25.
Gary Ravet, 60, faced a possible sentence of four years and four months. Sentencing had been set for March 24.
On Feb. 24, a San Diego Superior Court jury found Ravet guilty of passing a forged document, filing a forged document with a public office, burglary, writing bad checks and grand theft. The case also included three bad checks Ravet had written in 2013, two to Costco for a total of $2,422 and one to Vons for $59.
The forged document was a deed that released a $230,000 lien on his La Jolla home.
Judge Peter Gallagher said that he’d allow Ravet to remain free on bond to give him time to get his affairs in order. The judge also asked Ravet’s lawyer to deliver Ravet’s passport to the court. San Diego police found Ravet’s body police about 10:30 p.m. after a request for a welfare check.
A cause of death has not yet been determined.
Ravet, who has had more than 100 lawsuits filed either by or against him and his businesses, resigned from the California State Bar in 2003 to avoid disciplinary proceedings. He was a former president of La Jolla’s Congregation Beth El synagogue.