{"id":32422,"date":"2026-08-08T12:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32422"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:19:07","slug":"ex-gubernatorial-candidate-pleads-not-guilty-to-threatening-witnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=32422","title":{"rendered":"Ex-gubernatorial candidate pleads not guilty to threatening witnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/1ec12fd\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/3600x2386+0+0\/resize\/1500x994!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2F89%2F1f898eb349039a60345f7e6108cd%2F1502626-pol-me-california-democratic-convention-16-ajs.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>Stephen Cloobeck \u2014 a one-time California gubernatorial candidate ensconced in Democratic political circles \u2014 pleaded not guilty to witness tampering charges Friday related to a burglary case against his former paramour, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-03-24\/la-model-lured-victims-through-dating-apps-then-stole-from-them-prosecutors-say-now-shes-headed-to-trial\">OnlyFans model Adva Lavie.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Cloobeck, 64, was <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-05-13\/cloobeck-arrest-la-county\">arrested in May<\/a> and charged with three counts of attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying and one count of harassment for making annoying phone calls, according to a criminal complaint. Cloobeck allegedly contacted Lavie\u2019s attorney, swore at him and threatened him, his property and members of his family, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>Cloobeck\u2019s former girlfriend, Lavie, was <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-03-24\/la-model-lured-victims-through-dating-apps-then-stole-from-them-prosecutors-say-now-shes-headed-to-trial\">charged in March with burglarizing the homes of older wealthy men<\/a> she met through dating apps. <\/p>\n<p>The pair have since broken off their engagement, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/30\/us-news\/stephen-cloobeck-and-penthouse-pet-adva-lavie-no-longer-getting-married\/\" target=\"_blank\">according to the California Post. <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>He entered a plea of not guilty Friday morning during a brief court appearance in Van Nuys. His next hearing date was set for October. David Chesnoff, who was part of the legal team that <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2021-10-14\/robert-durst-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-susan-berman-murder\">defended Robert Durst during his Los Angeles murder trial,<\/a> appeared on Cloobeck\u2019s behalf. <\/p>\n<p>The defendant and his legal team declined to speak with a throng of reporters outside the courthouse. Cloobeck remains free on $300,000 bond.<\/p>\n<p>Cloobeck got rich in the timeshare industry, eventually selling his Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts company to a private equity firm for $2.2 billion. He immersed himself in Nevada Democratic politics, growing close with the late U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, and later launched a long-shot bid for California governor. <\/p>\n<p>He quickly faded in the crowded field, failing to garner above 1% in any poll, and then threw his support behind Democrat Eric Swalwell, who dropped out of the race in disgrace amid a torrent of sex assault and harassment allegations, which he denied. <\/p>\n<p>According to prosecutors, Lavie posed as the girlfriend of numerous men between 2023 and 2025 before pilfering cash, gold and high-value items from homes in Westlake Village, West Hollywood, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney\u2019s office. She has also pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors have yet to say exactly how Cloobeck  allegedly threatened Lavie\u2019s possible victims. Lavie\u2019s attorney, Lou Shapiro, has declined to discuss the case with The Times. <\/p>\n<p>Lavie was <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-07-30\/la-model-facing-charges-that-she-stole-from-wealthy-suitors-was-just-arrested-again\">arrested again last week<\/a> on a new theft charge out of Riverside County. Responding officers from the Beverly Hills Police Department noticed she was not wearing the ankle monitor she was required to keep on as a condition of her bail last week, leading L.A. County prosecutors to file a new misdemeanor count against her.<\/p>\n<p>She is scheduled to appear in the Van Nuys Courthouse early Monday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stephen Cloobeck \u2014 a one-time California gubernatorial candidate ensconced in Democratic political circles \u2014 pleaded not guilty to witness tampering charges Friday related to a burglary case against his former paramour, OnlyFans model Adva Lavie. Cloobeck, 64, was arrested in May and charged with three counts of attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/7a2c589\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3600x1890+0+248\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2F89%2F1f898eb349039a60345f7e6108cd%2F1502626-pol-me-california-democratic-convention-16-ajs.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}