Operation Plastic Empire Update

I posted State as a Con Artist in January 2010, and that con game lives on at this point. The case that I am referring to is Orange County, Florida case # 1996-CF-011913-B – the "B" means that Trevor is defendant B out of A through I. Trevor Campbell's Motion to Vacate and Set Aside Judgment of Conviction and Sentence was denied on March 10, 2010 by Circuit Court Judge Richard F. Conrad.

How could I even imagine the State of Florida doing the right thing for a change? Really; I should've known better. Judge Bob Wattles died and the state found a judge that would rule in their favor. Go figure. The State of Florida rarely represents the people and is not concerned with justice. Prosecutors in Florida are only concerned with convictions, and whether those convictions are correct is totally immaterial. Don't let them kid you.

When looking at the Bingo Racketeering Fiasco and the state's avoidance of complying with court orders to pay the $millions, this is made obvious. In that case the prevailing parties have now filed a motion seeking enforcement. The Florida Attorney General's Office is dead-set on costing the state an additional $million by prolonging the payout and forcing the parties to return to court again and again, so of course I should have expected the state to fight in Trevor's case.

Even when the Court of Appeals reverses the judge's order the state isn't going to give-up. Instead prosecutors with the Office of Statewide Prosecution will push it to the Florida Supreme Court. Poor Trevor will be fighting for the next decade to get this conviction reversed. Eventually it will be resolved in his favor, but eventually we will all be dead too.

I have a copy of the original Motion to Vacate, the state's response to the motion, and Judge Conrad's order denying the motion. The state speaks with forked tongue and uses the straw man approach in every responding paragraph. They include the reasoning that Trevor's motion should be denied because "it could pose an intolerable fiscal and intellectual burden to the judicial machinery of the state...." No shit, right? What about Trevor and the list of other defendants that were incorrectly prosecuted for commercial, and not criminal, behavior. What about the defendants' lives and financial burden?

The worst part of the state's response is the statement that places all blame on Trevor for making the guilty plea to begin with, and for not filing this Motion to Vacate in a timely manner, as after all – Trevor should have known better than to plead guilty to this trash case, right? What the State of Florida is saying is – hey Trevor – we don't give a flying fuck! You were dumb enough to plead to this crap and now you're stuck with it; right or wrong. Never mind that we held you in the rotten Orange County jail for an entire year before you made this plea and received "time served" plus probation. Never mind that you had an attorney that we intimidated into compliance. They are saying that Trevor should have known better.

They actually have the audacity to blame Trevor for not filing this same motion to vacate in 2000, and state that "Padilla wasn't a secret." According to the state, the "Motion to Vacate became time-barred as of March 9, 2002. Wasn't a secret to who I wonder? Regardless, the Michael J. Peter citation eliminates the issue of time in Trevor's case, but then the OSP has no stupid prosecutors and the state is well-aware of this fact.

Each defendant in the original case had at least one attorney, and most went through 2, 3, or more. No attorney was willing to take on the OSP and the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI). As stated in Memoirs, I spoke with Trevor's second attorney, from the Public Defender's Office, and this guy had no intention of going to trial; none whatsoever.

I think I'll make a list of all attorneys involved in the far-reaching mess so that you know where not to go for legal advice if you ever have the need.

The one attorney here that fights for the defendant and doesn't know the MBI well enough to fear them is Nick Sinardi. He is a Tampa area attorney and he handled the original case from Hillsborough County wherein defendant Padilla appealed his conviction in the Tampa court over the very same credit card sting operation by a Tampa area law enforcement agency. That case went on till 2000, when a Florida Appeals court reversed the judge's conviction and sentence. Trevor was smart and hired Sinardi to get the conviction vacated. Thanks to Sinardi, Padilla prevailed. That case is Padilla v. State, 753 So.2d 659 (2DCA 2000).

It's obvious to me that the law is a mere game to prosecutors in this state, and the many defendants in this case are proverbial notches on a belt of convictions. Shame on them!

Read the article entitled "The Screw-ball Scheme" in New York Magazine (pg. 30 also called "The Love Float") if you're interested in the IRS Operation Out Call that spawned the ridiculous MBI Operation Plastic Empire.

A South Florida Case

Back in May of 2009, I discussed the case of Christina Wypych and Douglas Ketcher in South Florida Indictments. Both made guilty pleas in the case back in November 2009. At a later sentencing hearing Wypych was sentenced to 22 months and Ketcher to 23 months. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Ketcher is currently in transit. According to Christina Wypych, she is required to report to the BOP on March 30th.


Here is the article on the sentencing from the IRS website:

February 3, 2010, in Miami, Fla., Douglas J. Ketcher, aka Brian Davis, of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and Christina L. Wypych, aka Danyella Valentine, of Broward County, were sentenced for their roles in running an escort service. Ketcher was sentenced to 23 months in prison and Wypych was sentenced to 22 months in prison. In addition, the defendants were ordered to forfeit $1,001,086. Ketcher and Wypych were charged in April 2009 with operating a prostitution ring, money laundering, and tax fraud. According to court documents, Ketcher was the president, director and sole shareholder of BDDV Associates, Inc, (BDDV), dba “Sweeties,” and Wypych was the vice-president and director of BDDV. From approximately July 2, 2002 through approximately February 2007, Ketcher and Wypych ran a prostitution business in Broward County and in other states. The defendants advertised their prostitution business as the escort service Sweeties. Ketcher and Wypych maintained “Sweeties.us,” an adult Internet website, and placed ads in local newspapers to solicit the hiring of “models” and “phone operators.” According to court documents and in-court statements, prospective customers would call Sweeties to schedule an appointment with the escort, ranging from $250 to $400 per hour. Ketcher and Wypych enticed escorts to travel to cities outside of Florida to engage in acts of prostitution by promising them large cash rewards, payment of travel expenses and other incentives. During the plea hearings, Ketcher and Wypych admitted that they impeded the Internal Revenue Service by hiding cash profits, paying employees in unreported cash, and by overstating business travel deductions.

Christina commented on my South Florida Indictments post or I would be unaware of the case resolution. She seems like a nice lady caught in the middle of a mess. My main reason for posting this on both of my blogs is as a reminder to those deciding to get into the escort business, or already entrenched in it, that Going Federal is serious. This case is not only about tax filings; it's also about crossing state lines. Yes, I know that you see so many services operating in this manner, right? Trust me; that will not be a defense in the end, should you ever arrive there.

I have been criticized by a couple of readers of Blueprint for an Escort Service for my statements in relation to accepting credit cards and operating in two different states (Atlanta and Dallas or wherever), but I stand by all that I state. My experience with the escort business is extensive – I don't give a crap if Michelle or Mr. Winky state that it's all good. I could charge $500 for my information too, and at least it would be solid information, but who charges that much for a book? I do not know who either of these people are, except that they claim to have extensive experience. And then there is Carrie that promotes the idea that you can make millions$ in the escort business and start with less than $100 – good luck with that! There is also a new outfit that sells their help and information at an even higher price, and again they neglect to state who they are and where their experience comes from. One major point is that I am verifiable and use my real name.

Be careful who you listen to when it comes to escort service operations.

Bingo Case Hearing

The location of the hearing in The Great Bingo Fiasco was changed; so was the judge. I'm not sure what is going on with the situation, but one wouldn't know that the March 22, 2010 hearing will be held in courtroom 12B with Judge Lawrence V. Johnston, III, unless they viewed the file in person. According to records online and records in the clerk's office it is a different judge and courtroom, but an Amended Notice of Hearing offers the above noted correct information. It's at 9:00am.


It should be an interesting hearing with the Florida Attorney General subpoenaed. I doubt that I'll go as the courthouse provokes too much emotion in me; still. What a horrible place – that is all that I could think for the duration of my visit today. The clerks in both the criminal and civil divisions were nice and helpful; however....

Next: Update on the credit card factoring fiasco from Operation Plastic Empire, a 1996 case. Yes, there are additional cases, beyond these two, that require revisting as well in the not-so-distant future.

The Great Bingo Fiasco

It floors me that no article concerning the bingo racketeering case or the civil forfeiture filed at the same time so much as mentions the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) or the agency attorney, Joseph Cocchiarella. The MBI pursued the defendants like a pack of vicious wolves back in 1995, stealing their property under the guise of forfeiture laws, and Cocchiarella engineered the entire fiasco.


When I attempted to make a complaint about MBI agent Brant Rose back in 2000, it was Cocchiarella that threatened me with the power of the state in the form of a racketeering arrest if I didn't close my business immediately, and of course refused to accept my complaint by screaming at me for 20 minutes until I slammed the phone. This prosecutor later, with the help of the Office of Statewide Prosecution, made good on the threats.

It may interest some to know that Cocchiarella is still serving the people of the State of Florida. I know that he was with the State Attorney's Office (Florida's Ninth Circuit) as recently as late 2008, and may still be, though finding any information on him today is far from easy. He was also the Director of the MBI from the late 1980s until 1991. The Florida Bar Association lists his current employer as the State Attorney's Office in Orlando, Florida so I will venture a guess that he is still employed as an ASA. I believe he had one of those fake Florida retirements wherein the state employee retires to collect a large sum of money and then returns to work at a higher rate of pay; in Florida this is referred to as the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP).

With the understanding that Cocchiarella is still with the State Attorney's Office and working directly under the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida, why would the Orlando Sentinel omit his name and all references to the MBI in articles relating to the bingo case? It was, after all, Cocchiarella that prosecuted the bingo defendants and filed the paperwork to forfeit the defendants' property. Cocchiarella has been involved in every far-fetched MBI prosecution since the beginning of his lengthy career. The great majority of those prosecutions have been clusters involving serious police and prosecutorial misconduct, though none are ever charged as such; this includes drug cases and vice/organized crime cases.

I can think of many instances that officers should have been charged in a variety of cases over the years, but apparently having a pal like Cocchiarella in the SAO gives agents a free pass to do whatever they want to do. Now this inept moralistic jackass is costing State of Florida taxpayers in the $7 million range, but no mention of him anywhere? What gives? Is he planning to run for political office?

Our State Attorney General was also of substantial assistance to the MBI in past, before he became our AG. Bill McCollum has been subpoenaed in a March 22, 2010 hearing on the bingo racketeering mess. If he doesn't come out with a solid answer as to why his office is disobeying the court order to pay, he could be charged with contempt. The Florida Supreme Court ordered the state to pay the remaining defendants for the forfeited property with interest several years ago, but instead of paying as ordered the state has spent additional money to prolong the situation.

The case in Orange County court is #1995-CA-006890-O. According to the case docket, the Motion to Enforce Judgments is scheduled for 9AM on March 22nd and it is in Division 40 with Judge Robert M. Evans presiding. AG McCollum did file an emergency motion to quash the subpoena on March 9th, though there is no response or order recorded as of this writing. The case is Florida State Attorney General's Office vs. Bradenton Group Inc, et al. Court records searches are through the Orange County Clerk of Courts.

The legal opinion can be read here:

http://www.5dca.org/Opinions/Opin2007/110507/5D05-3338.op.pdf


Hopefully full restitution will be made soon in the 15 year-long bingo racketeering fiasco.

The Cost of MBI

It is time for the State of Florida to pay the piper, or in this case the winner, on the case that began in 1995: The Bingo Racketeering Case.


This is one of the biggest legal messes in Florida history and there is almost no news available on it unless you are searching specifically as I am. At this point Florida is liable for around $7million, but it looks like the state is claiming it doesn't have the money, or maybe just playing the con artist as players for this state do so well. Come on Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum - pay up!


More on this huge Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) mess that started in 1995 in the next couple of days. I have some research to deal with.

Informants and Snakes

Informants and snakes have one thing in common: they think nothing at all of biting the hand that helps them.


We have serious trouble in our criminal justice system here in the US. The worst part of the show trial system is the use of informants. Law enforcement will tell you that these dregs of society are a necessary evil, but don't buy it. They are necessary only to further an agenda that requires a created witness when there is no actual or real proof of a crime.

There are two main types of informants at work as you read and I write. There are informants that work for monetary or personal gain – and are actually on a payroll at one government agency or another. They get paid as they produce. The other type of informant is a defendant that has been arrested but has made a deal for a lesser sentence based on how many other (usually bigger) cases that they help agents make against targets. I have been the victim of both types at one point or another in my life.

My racketeering and conspiracy arrest and trial – at least the conspiracy part – was based on the word of an informant that was working off her own charges pertaining to her own escort service. Her name is Theresa Isaacs AKA Theresa Ryssdal and AKA Theresa Raines and I discuss the witch thoroughly in Whatever Happened to Ann. She may use other names that I have yet to discover. Ann had other motives as well: to eliminate Rocky (my co-defendant and alleged co-conspirator) as a competitor; and revenge as I refused to help her get rid of Rocky a year earlier.

The main difference in the two types of informants is that the type that's working off their own charges or sentence in a hidden plea deal will rarely survive a trial; at least not if the defense is investigating thoroughly. The informants that work for monetary or personal gain usually are undiscovered by the defense. Of course prosecutors are supposed to disclose this information as a case nears trial, but few do and most lie.

The personal gain that I reference could be many things including U.S. citizenship. Trust me; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) utilizes the services of clean informants that seek both money and citizenship.

The main reason that I'm writing this is to remind the unaware that we live in a country that embraces show trials and created cases. I guarantee that there are as many informants walking around the U.S. as there ever were in the former Soviet Union. Either type is a serious danger to all that they encounter, and in some cases even their handlers. A snake will bite anyone.

Just a Bad Cop

Forced to defend himself against Frank Carter's henchmen and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Melbourne Police Chief Don Carey admits that Carter is a bad cop. The FOP and Carter's other pals are claiming that Carey stated Carter was a racist as the majority of bad tickets that he writes are to African-Americans. This is best referred to as the straw man defense. Carey is being vilified for finally admitting that Carter is just a bad cop. Chief Carey knows it to be fact as he has heard enough complaints over the years.

As stated in Changing My Mind, most of Carter's victims are black because his area is a predominantly black area. I wouldn't know if he is a racist or not, and Chief Carey has never referred to Carter in this light. Frank Carter was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and not his own department.

Frank Carter has committed many outrageous and abusive acts in his position as a police officer over the course of his lengthy career. Why would the FOP defend his actions by throwing in the race card and attempting to put words in Carey's mouth? Well, most likely because Carter will be hard to defend. He is known by all in his assigned area of Melbourne, Florida. He is feared by most people in that area. I have encountered a Puerto Rican victim as well. It is not a white area and there are not many white victims.

Chief Carey is better off not responding to straw man statements made by Carter backers. These people will say anything as there is no other way to defend this abusive police officer. I do not live in Melbourne and I never have. Carter's reputation is known far and wide. He is indeed a legend in his own mind. The worst part is that Carter is far from alone. Kudos to Chief Carey for admitting something that many have known for years; at least he is not in denial as other police chiefs in similar situations usually are.

Why is it that cops always defend their own and disregard facts? Any one of these officers that defend Carter obviously considers his actions to be acceptable. What does this say about the defenders? It does reveal that they must appreciate and back abusive actions by police officers. To the defenders, anyone not a cop or in a cop family is a perp. Thank you Chief Carey for not ignoring the truth here and running to the defense of an abusive cop! Ignore those straw men.

Read what a straw man is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Separate Blogs

I have decided to separate the topics here. The Blueprint Blog will offer all updates and tips in relation to the escort business and this blog will remain the same, except that there will no longer be Blueprint tips and updates here. This decision was prompted by the realization that many escort business entrepreneurs that appreciate the business related advice are not into politics or reading about arrests, prosecutions, and police misconduct.

Gambling Prosecutions

In Florida, running any type of operation that involves gambling is only legal if run by the state, and that includes bingo as referenced in The Bingo Racketeering Case. We have the Florida lottery – operated by the state – to soak-up your gambling dollars. The exceptions are the dog tracks, horse tracks, and jai-alai. Do not dare attempt to be entrepreneurial and open a non-conventional business in this state or you're likely to be prosecuted under the Florida racketeering statutes. Florida's racketeering laws are some of the worst in the nation, and that includes federal laws. Each count is a first degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in a Florida prison.

And you wonder why there's so much violent crime in this state? Get car-jacked on your Disney vacation or perhaps caught in the middle of an armed robbery? Well, I live here and I've been ordered to the floor in an armed robbery. It happens, mainly because there's too much attention and funding to non-crime easy and fun to investigate stuff. You never know when you might be caught in the next bingo hall raid or jacked-up by agents for placing a bet on a sports game. Or tv camera crews could flood the next joint with a computer that connects to a gambling website while agents raid the place. Never wonder why – we have inept idiots in the State Attorney's Office and the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation is stuck in past investigations from the Lutz era of incompetence. The morals agenda has sunk this place.

These gambling related investigations all began when William Lutz was the director of the MBI. Thank God he retired in December of 2008; though he left us all a mess. At this moment in time I am referring to some racketeering prosecutions that are approaching trial. When will the people of this state take these morons' funding? We are closing schools and laying off half the fire department here for crying out-loud! I am referring to the State Attorney for the ninth circuit, Lawson Lamar, and the continuing morals agenda. I know that I don't give a crap if someone uses a computer in a business to place a bet or bets on the Superbowl in a pool hall. Do you?

The upcoming case that involves a Superbowl bet is scheduled for trial in April 2010. The defendants are Dung Nguyen (case # 2009-CF-001668-A-O) and Hau Thai (case # 2009-CF-001668-B-O). So far it looks like both are holding out for trial, and I truly hope they maintain that stand. The MBI investigated this case for 2 flipping years. Must be a fun job, right? Each defendant is charged with:

Racketeering
Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (RICO)
Bookmaking – 35 counts
Unlawful use of a two-way communication device
Unlawful transportation of currency (Nguyen only)

These two young male defendants face life in prison.

The next case in the news was the Plinko store raid; another one of those 2 year MBI investigations. Agents confiscated 88 computers – probably sold them on eBay by now. The defendants in that case look like they will be in trial in June 2010. They are:

Jules Ross, case # 2009-CF-004445-A-O
Donald Fiechter, case # 2009-CF-004445-B-O
John Brady Jr., case # 2009-CF-004445-C-O
Jeffery Hendershot, case # 2009-CF-004445-D-O

Each of these defendants is charged with:

Racketeering (1st degree felony)
Keeping Gambling Houses, etc. (1st degree felony)
Engaging in unlawful financial transactions (2nd degree felony)
Unlawful poss./sale/operation of a coin operated device (2nd degree misdemeanor)
Conducting an Illegal Lottery (3rd degree felony)

They all face life imprisonment also. I find this entire prosecution absurd, and should these defendants go to trial, I hope that the jury of their peers agrees with me. The state attorney's office and the courts do not dare complain about any lack of funds in central Florida. Some judge agreed with this preposterous prosecution of entrepreneurial men attempting to earn a decent living.

Can you imagine what tv cameras paid attention to during these arrests? I will tell you – some people complaining that they lost money in these places. I lose money when I play the Florida lottery, but I do not see anyone charging the State of Florida with RICO. In this state when the lottery began many years ago there was a promise that a percentage of profits would go to education. The Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization of Florida stole that money.