Los Angeles Bench Report (6/2010)
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Buket Gets 3 Years 8 Months
LOS ANGELES — A notorious YouTube graffiti vandal known as “Buket” was sentenced today to three years, eight months in prison after accepting financial responsibility for a new spate of damage.
C**** Y*******, 26, who used the moniker Buket, was on probation after pleading guilty in December 2008 to 32 felony counts of vandalism when he was rearrested May 21.
He was charged in May with five new counts of felony vandalism over $400.
Investigators discovered graffiti with his moniker on the 7th Street Bridge, the Cesar Chavez Bridge and in the 4200 block of South Broadway, said Deputy District Attorney Deann McCarthy.
The most recent incidents occurred between Dec. 22, 2008 and March 31.
On July 30, Y******* pleaded no contest to one count of felony vandalism and accepted responsibility for the four other counts.
Together, the five counts totaled $14,174. In exchange for his plea, the other four vandalism counts were dismissed today.
Superior Court Judge James Bianco today imposed the three year prison sentence that was suspended following Y*******?s plea in December.
Judge Bianco added another eight months for the no contest plea in July.
Judge Bianco also ordered him to pay $117,196 in restitution, which includes $103,022 that he still owes in restitution from the December plea.
McCarthy said Y******* has only paid $400 to date from the December case.
Y******* was taken into immediate custody to begin serving his state prison sentence.
Y******* became something of an Internet sensation when he plastered his “Buket” bomb 20 feet above the busy Hollywood Freeway — vandalism that was captured on videotape and posted with a rap soundtrack on YouTube and numerous tagger-related blogs.
Another daylight attack, which was also videotaped, appeared to show “Buket” applying his moniker to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus as passersby and passengers watched in surprise.
A YouTube video that captured both tagging exploits has more than 450,000 views. But the notoriety also got the attention of sheriff’s transit investigators, who last May arrested Y*******.
Sheriff’s officials said they had evidence that Y******* had marked hundreds of freeway overpasses, concrete walls and transit buses across the state and southern Nevada.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified at least 20 “Buket” scrawlings along a stretch of the river spanning a couple of miles, causing an estimated $60,000 in damage.
Read MoreBuket Busted Again
A prolific graffiti vandal known for spraying his name above the Hollywood (101) Freeway in broad daylight was arrested in the Watts area Thursday, authorities said.
C**** *******, 25, who frequently included his street name “Buket” when he left graffiti, was arrested this morning for violating the terms of his parole, which included a strict prohibition on tagging, said Deputy Aura Sierra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was in custody without bail.
Recently, the sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau had been investigating tags along the Los Angeles River and to a mural along the northbound Hollywood Freeway, Sierra said. Investigators believe Yazdani was responsible for the graffiti.
Deputies arrested Yazdani when he showed up at the Transit Services offices to collect property seized in a previous tagging arrest, Sierra said. Deputies also conducted a probation compliance search of Yazdani’s residence.
Investigators recovered tools for scratching or etching windows and clothing splattered with paint, Sierra said.
Read MoreBuket Sentenced and Released
C Y was sentenced to 10 months in county jail, 256 hours of graffiti removal and five years formal probation. Because of time served, he was released from jail Monday afternoon.
The graffiti artist who gained notoriety on YouTube with his daredevil tagging exploits pleaded guilty today to nearly three dozen felony vandalism counts and was released from jail after serving time since last May, prosecutors said.
C Y, one of Los Angeles? most prolific taggers, who is known in the tagging world as ?Buket,? admitted to 32 counts with the special allegation that damage exceeded $50,000.
Judge Steven J. Kleinfield sentenced the 25-year-old San Jose State graduate to 10 months in county jail, 256 hours of graffiti removal and five years formal probation.
But with time served and credits for work and good behavior, Yazdani was out of jail by Monday afternoon.
Yazdani became something of an Internet sensation when he brazenly plastered his ?Buket? bomb 20 feet above the busy Hollywood Freeway ? vandalism captured on videotape and posted with a rap soundtrack on YouTube and numerous tagger-related blogs.
Another daylight attack, which was also videotaped, appeared to show ?Buket? applying his moniker to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus as passersby and passengers watched in surprise.
Authorities allege that between 2005 and 2007, slapped his tags on buses, freeway walls and overpasses as well as the concrete lining of the Los Angeles River.
Los Angeles County sheriff?s investigators arrested Y in May, saying that his moniker has marked hundreds of freeway overpasses, concrete walls and transit buses across the state and southern Nevada.
He was believed responsible for upward of $150,000 in property damage along the Los Angeles River and in the areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Department ? and at least as much in other parts of California.
Y, who split time between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where he was a graphic designer, already had been on probation after pleading no contest in 2007 to three counts of felony vandalism.
Prosecutors had been seeking state prison time in the case, said Los Angeles County district attorney?s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.
?We objected to the jail sentence believing this is a very serious case that caused a lot of damage, and we asked for a state prison sentence,? Gibbons said.
?If the defendant is involved in this type of activity again, that?s exactly where he will end up,? she said.
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