Summary Karla Carbo impersonated an attorney at least three times over the last six months.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah police have arrested a woman suspected of posing as a lawyer and negotiating a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Investigators believe Karla Carbo, 29, of South Jordan impersonated an attorney at least three times over the last six months, said Sheriff s Capt. Justin Martinez on Wednesday.
Carbo was arrested on suspicion of fraud, forgery and identity theft Tuesday, a week after negotiating felony counts down to misdemeanors during plea negotiations on behalf of a client in Summit County, east of Salt Lake City.
The plea caught the attention of Utah State Bar Association officials, who reported Carbo had been using a legitimate attorney s name and bar number to represent clients without a license, police said.
It came to light after the attorney whose name she was using got a summons from the city of Draper, where Carbo was representing a client. The other attorney doesn t practice criminal law.
Investigators are looking at a similar report from Tooele County, and they believe there may be others. Carbo also submitted a bar application under the assumed name in California last October, though it was rejected, Martinez said.
Carbo s clients thought she was a legitimate attorney, and most were Hispanic immigrants, Martinez said. The plea agreement she negotiated in Summit County will be canceled, he said.
It s not clear whether she has any legal training or why she was posing as an attorney, Martinez said.
No attorney was listed for Carbo in court records Wednesday, and a message left at a phone number listed under her name was not immediately returned.
