Orlando MBI: The Long War on Adults

The War on anything adult and all publishers of ads for anything adult in the Orlando metro area started over 3 decades ago for Orlando's Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) and continues today. The Orlando MBI's overzealous agents have left a trail of thousands of victims, many still in state and federal prisons. I was one of the lucky victims (lucky I'm not spending life in prison anyway) and Memoirs of an Accused Madam is my story.

The most vehement critic of the Orlando MBI was always the Orlando Weekly and the agency managed to silence the newspaper's investigative reporting with the October 2007 arrests of several advertising sales employees for selling ads to escorts and unlicensed massage therapists that offered more than the law allows.

Many around back in 1996 could testify to the fact that this was not a new strategy for the MBI, myself included. The War on publishers of ads for adult business began with the Yellow Pages Fiasco in 1996, when Sprint Publishing was threatened with a RICO case over a refusal to remove the “escort services” category in the Central Florida yellow pages. Sprint did remove the category, stopping the presses (literally) on the 1997 directories printed and distributed by November of 1996.

Someone stated to me back in 1993-94 that Orlando was a testing ground of some sort in relation to the eradication of anything involving adult business or vice, from gambling and bingo to escort services and X-rated movies. I believe it. The MBI's War on Adults has spread throughout the US these days with the attacks on Craigslist (an MBI priority before anyone else ever touched it) and now on Backpage.

Enjoy Bingo?

The MBI would have liked to make sure that you would never enjoy bingo in Orlando; however, Philip Furtney of Ontario fought the agency from 1995, until he died in late 2007, while in-process of a civil suit against members of the MBI Governing Board to retrieve his stolen property. Furtney's brother Bruce, on behalf of the estate, carried-on with the suit and won a judgment. As far as I am aware, Furtney's estate finally collected from the State of Florida.

I would like to keep Philip Leroy Furtney's criminal and civil cases alive in our memories forever and do so with the inclusion of links to posts on this blog. Never forget what the MBI is capable of:

The Bingo Racketeering Case

The Great Bingo Fiasco

Bingo Case Hearing

The Cost of MBI

Most Bizarre Racketeering Case Ever

True Investigative Reporting of a Renegade Agency

Over the years, the Orlando Weeklyand its investigative reporters were often nipping at the heels of the dogs at the MBI. Retaliation is hell and the Weekly and its employees paid dearly for placing the agency in the public eye. One day last week I did a search for MBI articles written by Weeklyreporters and each link was dead. A fear of sorts gripped me at the discovery, a fear that all the solid online information concerning the vicious pursuits of the MBI was being deleted and removed. Whew! It didn't happen and a few days later the links were all working. One other thought I had was that perhaps the Weekly had commissioned a book – that would have been wonderful; it would become a bestseller overnight. (Idea for the Weekly to help make-up for lost revenue!)

To keep the information out there I have compiled a list of important Orlando Weekly stories about the MBI over the last 10 years. Whatever the Weekly did last week with the links has made it so that the articles are on a dark red background with dark blue text – if you highlight the text it is much easier to read. They are in no particular order and searching the Orlando Weekly for stories on the MBI revealed 135 results so these are my picks:

29 Embarrassing Years: An MBI timeline

The Morality Police (scroll to view 2 images, 1 of the MBI director in 1989 and the other of Hitler's SA and both concerned over morality – scary stuff)

Operation MBI Shame: A close look at how Orlando's vice cops really operate

Cops in Cocoa stamp out sin

The MBI busts heads and Rich Crotty attempts to smile (smoke shop raids)

Our little Gestapo (MBI = "Central Florida's Church Lady with a Badge") (love this story!)

Score one for the MBI (about my federal civil suit being tossed with a twist at the end)

Something's Fishy (bad behavior of agents at a strip club)

Dirty Politics (on the Video Exposé takedown)

Operation Overexposed

Breasts out

Run 'Em Out of Town

Happytown Column (on The Original Bookstore raid)

The Booby Trap

Told You So (Part 2) (I can't locate part 1)

Legal Haze (smoke shop raids)

The links I have included reveal what the MBI really is, but there are many cases that even the Weeklywas not aware of and many defendants that have suffered at the hands of the overzealous agents of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation. Few appreciate this agency in Orlando – the citizens did not ask for this whacked task force to eliminate all that is adult in Orlando. I will leave it to you to figure out what monster enterprise did.

I have written about a variety of cases in Memoirs that are not in any Weekly articles. In the past couple of months I've discussed the Orlando federal conspiracy trial of the 11 defendants from Eastern Europe on this blog – this is indeed an MBI case. MBI is not a local agency. I am not clear on how the agency has changed since former Director William Lutz retired, though at the conclusion of Memoirs I did believe there had been a significant change. Well, I have changed my mind.

I consider it important to keep the information out there and perhaps if I had given away free copies of Memoirs a couple of years ago after it was published, the most recent case involving the Eastern European defendants would never have happened; maybe, just maybe, they would have passed on Orlando. If not for the arrests of the Weekly employees in late 2007, there would be many more articles of cases that are now buried by the MBI.

If you are an adult that likes to gamble, play bingo, visit smoke shops, rent X-rated movies, read X-rated books, get a massage with a happy ending, patronize strip clubs, or call escorts... well, Orlando is not the place to be. We live in a fantasy land for children here - think about it - Disney shut down Pleasure Island (the nightclub theme park) in late 2008, after 20 years, because of demands by visiting families. The MBI has not been dissolved yet, with emphasis on yet, and we can only hope that one day...

If you do not like me, realize that it is the MBI that made me the person that I am today. I like who I am, but if you don't, well, you should know that I used to be a nice, mild-mannered woman. More than a decade of continuous harassment, interference in my life, and a show trial that rivaled many in the Stalin era did it. Change can be a good thing. I learned to kick back.

Backpage Under Attack: My Expert Opinion

Yesterday I did a search for the term “backpage” in Google News and found pages of news articles concerning recent arrests that involve ads on Backpage. Today I did the same search and found additional articles of arrests made in the past day. Village Voice Media, the owner of Backpage, is under serious attack by anyone and everyone that hates adult business of any type. Cops are using the website for stings all over the US now - really - search for yourself.

Before continuing here, I would like to go ahead and establish my expert status on the topic. While I am not an expert on sex trafficking, I do consider myself an expert on the so-called “sex trafficking experts” that are demanding Backpage remove its entire “adult” category, which includes the sub-categories: escorts; body rubs; strippers & strip clubs; dom and fetish; TS; male escorts; phone & websites; and adult jobs. I have dealt with one form or another of these experts with an agenda since 1992, and that is longer than any one of the so-called experts have tackled sex trafficking.

The religious groups involved in attacking Backpage are still cheering with delight over their victory at Craigslist. To clarify, it wasn't really a victory as those type of ads are now spread-out through many categories on Craigslist – participants in adult business manage to find the ads. Beyond this, Craigslist only lost in the court of public opinion and not in any actual court. In fact, if anything threatened by so many state attorney generals had actually gone to any court, Craigslist would have won and they all know it, which is why they choose the court of public opinion.

I would also like to establish that I have no horse in this race. I placed ads promoting my books in the “adult jobs” sub-category for close to a year ending over a year ago. So, I have no personal or business need for the “adult” category of Backpage and in fact, quite the opposite as many that purchase my Blueprint books start an escort service and follow instructions in the books and have websites and local listings online. There is no advice in any book to advertise services on Backpage or Craigslist and there never has been. There is an option discussed to place an ad in the sub-category “adult jobs” if one has any trouble finding independent escorts for the business, but then all advice is geared to working only with escorts over 21 years of age and even this option is updated to exclude such an ad anywhere on the Blueprint Blog.

The “adult” category ads on Backpage interfere with escort businesses that operate properly with websites and local listings, so I do not have any reason whatsoever to defend Backpage or the crowd that advertises in the “adult” category. Who really wants all these independent escorts advertising a $100 special? Not me or anyone that bought my books to enter the business. You can conclude that I have no horse in this race. My interest is based solely on the First Amendment rights of the publishers and an unequivocal disgust for the anti-adult business crowd.

The Print Publishing Agenda

When anything and everything adult went online many years ago we all realized that there would be good and bad. The world has progressed beyond print ads and this is true of any category. Is there anyone out there that actually believes that there were no sex traffickers that actually exploited children in operation before adult business went online? There were pimps on the street. There were underage prostitutes that worked for businesses that advertised in mainstream newspapers, independent news publications, and yellow pages. Nothing at all has changed except the delivery of the ad.

Print publications that include “adult” or “entertainment-adult” categories that have not succeeded in the world of online publishing and marketing would love to see the “adult” category of Backpage eliminated. Those inept advertisers not capable of creating and publishing a website or not interested in putting forth time and effort in their businesses to list online locally would probably flock back to print and they'd be back in the money – and make no mistake – it was big money for the print publishers. My print ads in the Reuben H. Donnelley (now Dex One Corporation) yellow pages in Central Florida total was around $50K back in 1996. These days one could accomplish the same by spending less than $1K a year online. Hopefully you understand the point here.

The Sex Trafficking Expert Agenda

These so-called sex trafficking experts disseminate false information to the naïve general population and most fall for it hook, line, and sinker. More often than not, people do not even bother to question the source agenda. You do realize that the DOJ passes out major grant money and funding to all of these so-called non-profit groups, right? They are non-profit” only in the sense that they do not show profits or pay tax on profits, but in reality all participants are collecting serious money in the form of paychecks and research grants. Do include local, state, and federal law enforcement in this agenda.

They have all formed task forces for what has existed forever by giving it a new label – the sex trafficking label. The pimp from the street moved online and now they all need $millions+ to find him – have you ever heard anything that absurd? I could pick out the pimps and underage prostitutes online easily in much less time and for much less money. These people are inept idiots that have managed to give themselves long-term paychecks at the expense of adult business, the US taxpayer, and the First Amendment.

DOJ-Funded Human Trafficking Task Forces – An excerpt:

“To facilitate multidistrict contacts and cooperation in sex trafficking cases, the U.S. Department of Justice has funded 42 jurisdictions and 36 trafficking victim services providers to form human trafficking task forces to identify and rescue victims of trafficking by proactively investigating such cases.”

Or could it be that it is not really a deep concern for a few underage prostitutes and their pimps and more of an anti-adult business agenda? Bingo. These people want to wipe-out all forms of adult business, but escort services and advertising websites used by escorts are the target du jour. They are happy that they'll put 200K+ adult independent escorts out of business with some lame pretense that they must stop a few minor girls from being sex trafficking victims. Bullshit – I have looked closer at many of their crap cases on this blog.

The fact is that they want no advertising venues to accept ads for any adult business or operator of any type. They have been at this for many years in the US, but have finally figured out out to get serious $$$$ for the agenda. Back when the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) went after Sprint Yellow Pages in Orlando there were no big funds available and few rallied to the cause – the MBI was on their own (with grant money from Disney) against the First Amendment rights of publishers and it was an ugly game. Read Yellow Pages Fiasco for more information on that mess.

More recently (2007-08) there was the MBI's lone pursuit of Orlando Weekly and its employees – a local Orlando newspaper: Well, Google the term “orlando weekly and mbi” to see the pages of results as all stories about the MBI in the Orlando Weekly are currently down or have been eliminated (http 500 error) or read First Amendment attorney Marc Randazza's thoughts: The Orlando Weekly Case

Now I am curious as to what is going on with the Weekly. All of the previously published stories about the MBI are unavailable, including The Morality Police, a major story published concerning many cases, including my own case. All stories that exposed the truth about the MBI have disappeared.

The Religious Agenda

This should be obvious to you. In the name of religious zealotry, the sex trafficking card is played often these days, but it isn't anything new for religious groups in the US to pursue the anti-adult agenda with any means available. A short story from Memoirs:

For an entire year I received about forty to eighty calls a month on my main toll-free number wherein the callers requested a free book about Jesus that they had seen advertised on a Christian program on television. I was always nice, and explained that it was a business line and I had no such ad. I advised them to call the program and question them about it. This was no big problem and only added about twenty or thirty dollars to my monthly bill.

After about a year, things suddenly changed: The phone would ring off the hook with calls coming in from all over the country. The callers were responding to an ad for free phone sex that ran on USA Network affiliate stations everywhere. Some stated that they saw the ad in a magazine as well. The callers described an ad with ladies almost entirely nude except for a small piece of lingerie. They all repeated my number to me, and the phone rang constantly with this crap from around eleven in the evening until two or three in the morning.

After about two months of these harassing calls I had the number disconnected. Every time I picked up the phone the billing started, and it was ten cents a minute. It was seriously running up the bill. I never actually saw the ad on television, but an escort that worked for me did and called me and described it to me. This was a toll-free number that I’d had since opening the business, and many repeat clients called it, usually from out-of-town numbers.

When I thought about the situation I realized that the free book about Jesus ad had not served the purpose that someone intended: to get me to turn the number off. Regardless, someone dug into their deep pockets and finally achieved the desired result. I was never able to get a person on the phone at any affiliate station that could direct me to anyone that had the advertiser’s information. This was an intelligent maneuver deliberately used to prevent me from receiving toll-free calls from clients, and it was successful.

The Court of Public Opinion

I can see that someone wanted all of those articles from the Orlando Weekly removed and unavailable online to the general population. They do not want you to know how long this war has been going on here and would prefer that you believed it was an admirable agenda. Someone told me many years ago (1993-94) that Orlando was a testing ground of sorts – I believe it. What used to be an MBI agenda is now being pursued all over the US using any and all tools in the toolbox. Caveat Emptor. The goods they are selling the general population are indeed defective in this situation.

Censored by PayPal

I awoke today to read the following email from PayPal:

We are hereby notifying you that, after a recent review of your account activity, it has been determined that you are in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy regarding your sales / offers of an ebook about escort services on blueprintforanescortservice.blogspot.com.

Therefore, your account has been permanently limited.

Under the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used to send or receive payments for certain sexually oriented materials or services or for items that could be considered obscene.

It is a trick statement as allof my books are “about escort services” including Memoirs. All are also sold on my website, The Accused Madam. I only had funds from the last three sales in the account so the balance is $30 after PayPal took its fees on the three sales and adding the previous balance of $2.

The censors at PayPal must not want anything sold that isn't for children. Does Disney own PayPal or a piece of the company?

Nothing in any book I have written could possibly be considered “obscene” or “sexually oriented material”. My books are all intended for an adult audience, but if they were rated they would all be PG or at worst R. There is nothing sexual in any book I have written.

Screw the censors at PayPal.

When I login to my PayPal account I see the following notification:

Why is my account access limited?

Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):

• Jul 10, 2011: When you signed up for your PayPal account, you agreed to our User Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. Because some of your recent transactions violated this policy, we've had to permanently limit your account.
  
  Please remove any references to PayPal from your website.
  
  You'll be able to withdraw any money in your account 180 days after your last transaction. We'll email you when it's ready to be withdrawn.
  

My email response to aup@paypal.com:

Nothing in any book that I have written could possibly be considered "obscene" or "sexually oriented material". While the intended audience for my books is adult, if anyone were to read and rate any of my books they would each be a PG or at most an R. There is nothing sexual in any book.

What you are doing here is incorrect, but this is the US and I respect your right as a company to not do business with anyone you choose. Welcome to Amerika, the new Disney, where everything is for children and adults do not exist except in relation to children.

Screw PayPal's censorship of me and my books. So you manage to stop me from selling ebooks that are available from Google ebooks and in Amazon's US, UK, and Canada Kindle stores and as paperbacks through any bookstore. Thanks a bunch and screw you.

Vicky Gallas

Blocking Escort Services in Orlando: Always Evolving

Since I first discovered that escort business lines in Orlando were being blocked in area resorts, the methods have certainly evolved. Make no mistake – the simple techniques of past are still in operation, though at a more advanced stage; however, other means became necessary as technology (and phones) progressed and improved.

Back in the early days it was all about blocking escort business telephone numbers in hotel PBX systems and also programming at the telco central office in the case of one particular telco. It took me a good year to figure out the how back in 1993-94, but few could manage to wrap their minds around it. I met with statements that it could not be done and was impossible – from telephone company security, believe it or not. Hell, if they were that stupid, no wonder it was easily implemented. Denial, denial, and more denial topped with a jab of “that's crazy”. Yet it was so simple when we look back today.

To simplify how it worked with the old PBX systems:

There were a variety of PBX systems on the market and many had such a “blocking” feature. It was as simple as the tech guy programming the PBX to block a list of telephone numbers from being dialed from a block of rooms, say rooms reserved through a convention services company for a specific convention. Yes, PBX systems had a call blocking feature – still, I was called “crazy” and the fact that this was even technically possible was denied by everyone.

By the time the attendees arrived and checked-into their rooms that list of numbers was blocked and that conventioneer couldn't dial a number on on the list from his room. Other rooms not reserved for the specific large convention at that resort could dial the number without trouble. This caused many to believe there were no blocks at all. In Memoirs I used the example of a convention booked at the Dolphin Hotel and discussed our investigation – the large convention of 900 attendees experienced the blocking; the smaller convention of 100 attendees did not. This is discussed in-depth in the book.

Back in those days there was also blocking at the central office level. I know this for fact as payphones on Disney property were also blocking the escort business numbers. The telephone company at that time was Vista United Telecommunications – the first all-digital telephone company in the world; however, in early 2001 Vista United was acquired by Smart City. This is also discussed in the book. Read more about Smart City advances here: Smart City: A Magic Phone Company


More Advances brought new forms of Blocking

As time progressed so does the technology utilized by the blockers. Website blocking entered the equation and conventioneers searching for escort business websites hit a wall in Orlando area resorts. This later evolved into blocking using WiFi. But the issue with both was that some callers still got through when using a more advanced phone or not using the hotel's WiFi or saving the telephone number on the website before they left home. There is no sense in repeating myself – read more about this in: Hotels Using WiFi to Block and Censor


The Blockers found New Solutions

The practice of blocking escort service telephone numbers has certainly evolved since the early days, and even in the last year. We are dealing with an entirely different animal today. In my opinion there's a Lockheed Martin satellite involved and we have moved to an entirely different scale with added participants. If you live in Orlando you know who Big Brother is around here and I am not going to expound on that statement. Sound crazy?

I have a website that I have used in research for quite some time. Let me offer a sample of results from my ongoing research:

In late January of 2011 – the Golf Merchandise Show brought 45,000 people to International Drive and Disney resorts. This many people will fill-up many resorts in both areas, and then of course there were other smaller conventions going on at the same time. Result:

Not a single caller from any resort on International Drive or Lake Buena Vista / Disney area. Plenty of callers from out-of-the-way places, such as nearby Brevard County, Lake County, Volusia County, Polk County, and Seminole County. A handful of callers from deteriorated motels on the 192 strip in Kissimmee, but none from sizable resorts in Kissimmee or Osceola County.

The results are not believable, so it is a good thing that I have a couple of witnesses and take great notes for my research.

In February and March the same crap continued. We had many conventions in Orlando, including a list with 30,000+ attendees, and not a single phone call from anyone booked in any nice resort in Orange or Osceola counties. The website implements a tracking of sorts and was viewed an average of 600 times daily with at 200+ unique IP visits – that is daily! Some days the website had 1000+ visits. Yet not a single telephone call, even when switching telephone numbers and including a second number. It is as if the entire I-4 corridor through Orlando and Kissimmee has the numbers blocked, and that screams satellite.

I have one other party with an Orlando website to compare notes with. That party has experienced the same problems and still books calls, but the calls are the typical non-convention outside area calls. So is it busy? Sure, if you opened a service in Orlando to book drunk idiots out at UCF, men in groups in dumpy apartments, or people in surrounding counties.

As technology evolves, so do the blockers.

Most Bizarre Racketeering Case Ever

In my last post – Looking Forward in 2011 – I requested than anyone ever hearing of a more malicious racketeering / RICO prosecution with so little evidence that there was no search warrant or court order to wiretap involved to state the case and the court. I invited you to prove me incorrect in my statement that there is no case as ridiculous as the one I endured, and a relative of Philip Furtney came through.

He made no mention of my challenge, but the topic of the email was Philip Leroy Furtney of Ontario from The Bingo Racketeering Case. This man endured more than anyone in any of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation's (MBI) absurd prosecutions abusing the racketeering statutes. Of course it is an MBI case in Orlando!

To read all about the long plight of Philip Leroy Furtney of Ontario, click on the links below. Mr. Furtney passed in September of 2007. He was described as a passionate man that never gave up.

The Bingo Racketeering Case

The Great Bingo Fiasco

Bingo Case Hearing

The Cost of MBI


May Philip Leroy Furtney of Ontario rest in peace and know that he won the 15-year fight! May agents and prosecutors with the MBI and the State of Florida rot in hell where they all belong.

Visitors from Strange Acronyms and My Life

I am curious as to who from the USAISC gives a crap about my former business. The acronym is for United States Army Information Systems Command and the party arrived at my website on the My Former Business page via a search for the complete name of my former business yesterday just after 3am (October 12, 2010). I must wonder if my Anonymous Whacko from Central Florida contacted pals at a government agency. All of those former MBI agents, our former sheriff Kevin Beary, and the former director of the MBI, William Lutz, have such pals; no doubt. They have called out the attack dogs before.

Well, I have had a mysterious life since some point in early 2001 when someone did something that began a chain of events that continues today. It wasn't me – believe it or not, I used to be this nice person, naïve to the dark side of the US criminal justice system, the wiretapping without warrant, and the sneak and peek searches that occur regularly in this country. But I was only naïve until the night that I arrived home from a two-day trip to South Florida after a helicopter hovered overhead from South Dade County and finally abandoned the mission close to the last northbound I-95 exit for West Palm Beach. That was in December of 2001, weeks after my arrest.

That night I arrived home to find that my home in East Orange County had experienced a break-in. The criminals had searched the house and did something in my computer. Papers had been moved and someone used the PC for some imaginable reason. I figured that they were searching for the client lists, but I really don't know what the focus of the search was as it has always been denied – by the MBI, the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor, the FBI, the DEA, and the DOJ. In the years that followed, I attempted Freedom of Information Act requests and the responses on a couple were vague. It may be time to mail off the FOIA requests again as they surely cannot claim the same investigation.

I would consider it possible that the USAISC visit is a result of my anti-war statements on this blog; however, the search term was the complete name of my former business so that wouldn't make much sense. Nothing about that case has ever made much sense though, so this is absolutely normal to me, I suppose. At least it is normal if you've suffered the interactions and experiences that I have in the last decade.

Am I worried? No, I'm just curious as a cat. Thanks to the agents of the State of Florida and their co-conspirators at the federal level, my life changed forever long ago. My Anonymous Whacko told me to "get a life before it was really too late" in a response to my post about him. Well let Vicky enlighten you: I do have a life that was changed forever thanks to you and yours.

I mean really – the case was over when the jury acquitted me on both counts on January 17, 2003, so imagine my dismay with your informants jumping through unimaginable hoops to attempt to enter my rented house with its address known to no one in relation to my name as late as 2008. Do you people ever go away? You do know I'm not scared, right?

Fear is an emotion that I overcame many years ago. All that you accomplish is to provoke me – that 2008 visit succeeded in provoking me to write the book. It doesn't really matter that few people have read it at this point; it isn't going away and I am laughing out loud.

Yes, they changed my life forever. I only wish that I could state how much they changed it, but I can't – any explanations must be saved for a jury in case it all happens again. The one fact that I will state is that I doubt that I would be alive long enough to make it to a jury trial anyway at this point. On that note any possible fear factor has been removed. Don't you get it?

More on GPS Tracking Without Warrant

I still want to know which state and/or federal agency used illegal GPS tracking during my criminal case, and I want to know more than ever now. According to the information that I heard today the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) was far from alone. So who actually planted the device on my vehicle the day after my arrest after I bonded out of jail while I was shopping at Publix? Which agencies utilized information illegally obtained from the device?

So far it looks like the MBI was working with the DEA and the FBI. This isn't unusual for the agency – I've stated before that I felt the hard hands of the feds involved in my case with the helicopter chase on I-95 in South Florida and all of the strange occurrences I experienced before I made it to trial. I last discussed this in GPS Tracking by State and Federal Agencies.

I'm not willing to let it go. I have filed FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) demands with various federal agencies for information, but have gotten absolutely nowhere. Today I received some additional information and now know positively that the feds were involved. How is it possible that I receive lies in response to FOIA demands? What the hell kind of a country is this? Law requires that they respond honestly to FOIA requests. Was this a covert operation in which nothing was recorded on paper or are they all liars? What did they think I did to deserve such a covert op if this was the case? I have said it before and I'll say it again: This case had little to do with my escort business operating in any illegal manner or breaking any laws.

Within a few days after my arrest I made sure that I wasn't followed – trust me when I say that I know how – and went to see a very old friend; someone I had known for a decade. That friend had nothing whatsoever to do with the escort business. Really I went to see him to stop him from coming to my house as I didn't want him to have any problems because of my problems. When I returned two weeks later – again positive that I wasn't followed – there were several men there working in the yard, or so I thought at the time, and one stated that the people living there had moved out and asked me who I was. I left without answering.

From what I heard today, the men working in the yard were actually digging-up the yard and they were feds. My friend had returned to his native country after my first visit, so he wasn't there to deal with the feds, thank God. The feds had no warrant from what I was told, but my friends rented the house so they might have received permission to dig-up the yard from the homeowner. They tried to get in the house and met with resistance and then everyone moved out shortly thereafter.

Now this story sounds too familiar to me, probably because it is a part of the Memoirs account of various things done to me following my arrest. Yes, they actually sent fake cable company people to my house that stated a need to dig-up my backyard and the prosecutor in the case screamed allegations in a court hearing that I "had trash bags full of cash buried in my backyard". I still have the CD recording of the hearing, so let's not bother to pretend it never happened, okay? In that court hearing I actually offered to let them dig-up the backyard, providing that they agreed to leave it as they found it, and no warrant was necessary. My offer was scoffed at, most likely because they'd already been digging in the yard and knew their allegations were false when stated.

Of course there were no "trash bags full of cash" but they actually got my co-defendant, Rocky, to state this same allegation in his original deposition made to get out of the Orange County jail. Rocky went from $900K bond to "no bond" (as in not bondable for any amount of money) to a $20K bond once he did his 4 hour deposition in the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor (OSP).

So now I find out that they went digging in my friend's yard as well less than two weeks after my arrest. This is the case that will never die, at least not until I receive truthful answers from the State of Florida and the feds. I ain't goin' away until I'm dead. I do not give a flying fuck who is offended or what I'm threatened with, and you could take that to the bank.


Image: Satellite Over Earth – 06-24-07 © Pete Stopher / 2010 © iStockphoto.com

GPS Tracking by State and Federal Agencies

There was a case decided in U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit recently that allows law enforcement to place a GPS tracking device on a vehicle without regard for the Fourth Amendment or need to obtain a warrant based on probable cause. It doesn't even matter if they sneak on your property to place the GPS device on the vehicle. There is nothing new about this and it is something that law enforcement agencies across the country have done since Patriot Act was passed, but now it is legal whereas it required a warrant prior to the court ruling. Read about the case HERE. In my opinion the decision will be reversed by the United States Supreme Court in the near future. Read the actual Opinion HERE. It is a PDF.

Agents from somewhere placed a GPS tracking device on my vehicle the day after my arrest. I had bonded out of jail and had no choice but to go to the grocery store as Thanksgiving was two days away. They had me followed for the hour and a half that I shopped. I knew I was being watched and followed, but was clueless as to why at the time. I actually thought it had to do with how I paid for my purchase, so I used a credit card instead of cash. The stalking in the store was all too obvious as I was in there for so long with my teenage son's shopping list.

It was a couple of weeks later when I realized why I was followed that day. My house had a double-car garage and the door was down 95% of the time. My windows all had sheers and heavy drapes that were usually closed. My yard had a high privacy fence. They had no way of placing the device on my vehicle because they couldn't tell if anyone was home or not.

I am the champion at losing anyone in traffic or out of traffic. I learned to drive as a teenager in Germany, and I sure can drive if I want or need to. When I took the driving test in Germany it was 300 multiple choice questions and a serious driving test, and it required real study and practice. The test in Florida is 25 stupid multiple choice questions that anyone with half a brain could pass without looking at the book. In my younger years I also raced on occasion, and usually won. So trust me – I know how to drive.

The realization that they'd placed a GPS tracking device on my vehicle hit me when I noted that they kept showing-up (undercover, but still them) in places that I was when I positively knew that I had not been followed. It also occurred to me why they placed the tracking device on my car at about that same point in time: Agents broke into my home while other agents were sitting next to me in restaurants or lurking around corners when I was inside a friend's house. To this day I have no real idea what they were looking for when they broke into my home, but if I had to guess I would say that it was client lists – on my computer or actual books in my closets. They never found anything because there wasn't anything to find.

It is important to note that this all transpired beginning on November 21, 2001. In late 2005, my son drowned the vehicle in a deepwater canal out by the Kennedy Space Center – an accident of course. I do hope that the tracking device went down with the vehicle. I'm also sure that another was attached to the next vehicle that I owned - long after my jury acquittal.

This was never admitted by the MBI or any other agency, but years later (2007) I heard of another situation and case in which this was done to an MBI defendant shortly after arrest. They didn't admit it in her case either, but she was positive they did it. The case is the Li Ping Ding massage parlor case and Ms. Ding ended-up pleading guilty to one count of RICO. It is Orange County, Florida case # 2007-CF-004712-A-O and for some reason, the case is currently listed as "on appeal". Ms. Ding will be on felony probation until 2019.

I am sure that illegally placing a GPS tracking device on vehicles is something the MBI did frequently - hell they were caught taping an attorney and his client in an office, so please don't pretend they're good and acted legally. The funny thing with the US criminal justice system is that it's acceptable for law enforcement to break the law, but unacceptable for a citizen to expect their constitutional rights. Does anyone care that this has been done illegally for so many years? Nope – no one cared when I complained.


Image: Communication Satellite - 2009 © Natalia Silych / 2010 © iStockphoto.com

When History is also the Present

A few days ago my anonymous attacker that claimed Memoirs was lies also included a statement that the story was old news. Actually the story was never news at all – not really – as my persecutors at the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) worked tirelessly to bury their dirty deeds and any reference to the telephone line blocking that has gone on for a minimum of 18 years.

There was indeed a change of the guard over at the MBI, but not until December of 2008, when former director William Lutz exited. Hell, his goodbye statement is still on the top of the main page of the MBI website which is otherwise unchanged since. The MBI victimized thousands during the course of the Lutz era, but Lutz was never alone, obviously. The line blocking continues and was joined by website blocking by 2007. That is what the champions of censorship do – they censor access to any telephone number or website that they choose. Read about the agency's past censorship pursuits in The Yellow Pages Fiasco.

When I have discussed The Bingo Racketeering Case in past it is because the case and the story are a part of history and a part of the present. Philip Leroy Furtney died in September of 2007; however, if all the money owed by the State to Furtney's estate has been paid the moment passed without fanfare. The Great Bingo Fiasco reveals the current state of the case in Orange County, Florida civil court under Case # 1995-CA-006890-O. The last entry on the docket sheet shows that there was a Satisfaction of Judgment filed by Furtney's estate on July 12, 2010. It was the mostly unpublicized case that continued for 15 long years. Whether this means that the estate has recovered the $millions owed or not is questionable.

I have occasionally discussed the ongoing situation with Operation Plastic Empire (MBI) and the case that started that ball rolling, Operation Out Call (IRS). Did you imagine that either of these messy cases were history for the hundreds of defendant-victims? Racketeering and credit card factoring convictions do not disappear and these people were wrongly prosecuted to begin with, as I stated in State as a Con Artist when explaining the new filings on this 1995 mess. Two of the defendants in the case disappeared prior to trial and there is still a Capias issued for each. Another 1996 case that really is still not resolved. The State of Florida case is Orange County, Florida Case # 1996-CF-011913-B, and the last file entry was made on March 10, 2010. The entry is an Order Denying Motion to Vacate and Set Aside Judgment of Conviction and Sentence. I seriously doubt that this was an ending, but know it has never ended for the list of defendants. Read more in Operation Plastic Empire Update and Skeletons in the Closet.

Another case that I have discussed is the Fabozzi case – a case connected to Operation Plastic Empire (MBI) and Operation Out Call (IRS). This is Orange County, Florida case # 1996-CF-003504-A-O addressed in The Fabozzi Case. This MBI prosecution is really not history either – Joey Fabozzi is still on felony probation from the case and he did serve four years in a Florida prison. Do you think it's all history to him? His co-defendant and brother Carmine died shortly after his release from prison.

Of course I also refer to my own case and story often on my blog. Would anyone expect any different? My case is not history. I had two co-defendants – Beth Sams and Robert Mihalek (Rocky). This is Orange County, Florida case # 2001-CF-015492. Rocky served time in prison, but is still on felony probation until 2014 and must pay the assessed court and investigative costs monthly. If you care about what was done to Rocky that caused him to plead guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (RICO), just read The State of Florida Drugs Its Witnesses. And what ever happened to Beth Sams? According to the records under her name, there was an AFFIDAVIT FOR VIOLATION OF PROBATION filed on February 11, 2008. According to the Florida Crime Information Center, there is still a Warrant issued for Beth for the Violation of Probation. Apparently she has hidden herself well – good for her!

One issue that is connected to all other issues except the Bingo case mess is the continued blocking in the resorts and hotels on International Drive, Lake Buena Vista, and Disney. If you doubt that the issue existed in past and still exists today, then it is only because you haven't done your homework. Memoirs is far from "old news" as my attacker asserted. Neither are Eddie Munoz's cases that are easily accessed in PACER.

There is also a list of cases that have yet to be resolved by plea or trial from the long, horrifying Lutz era of the MBI. It was only over in December of 2008. I think I will start bringing each of the remaining cases to the forefront here.

I always think about what people state when they personally attack me. I question the statements in my mind. I deleted the post as it was ridiculous and I refuse to argue with an anonymous idiot on my blog. I also question the attacker's agenda – Who is he or she? What is his reason in covering my story by referring to it all as lies? Why does he care so much that I post on this blog and attempt to sell my story? I have been attacked here in past by another escort service owner, but this time I feel it was different. My trial may have concluded with my acquittal by the jury in 2003, but the harassment sure didn't stop there, and actually I wrote the book at the end of 2008 because of the continuing harassment and the informants showing-up at my door. Is the attacker one of those informants, angry that the second edition has her real name? I am sure that I'll never know who specifically it is, but I do recognize the pattern of intent to discredit.

For the full story on Operation Outcall (IRS) read "The Love Float" starting on page 30 of the New York Magazine Google Books box at the Footer of this blog.

Denial doesn't change the facts. My story is all still real and it is history, but it is not in the past – it is the present that I discuss.

Image: Orlando Cityscape in Early Morning 2009 © Josh Rinehults / 2010 © iStockphoto.com 

Defining Freedom of Speech

Well, we are back to full moderation of comments here on this blog. This is, obviously, not the first time it has happened, but once again I am verbally attacked by some moron. It is easy to spew lies when you post anonymously, but guess what? This is my blog and I can as easily delete your ridiculous comment. Exercise your right to free speech and start your own blog.

As for my story in Memoirs being all lies – place your name on that along with a contact email and I'll publish your comment. After I publish your comment I will subpoena your information from the appropriate ISP and file a defamation lawsuit for your attempts to place me in a false light. I have said it before and I'll say it again – anything in the book stated as fact is exactly that. I sure do not see anyone coming forward to file a suit against me, and I'm sure I won't.

I never accepted the false information disseminated by agents or their informants in past and I will not be accepting it today either. I went through far too much hell in the case to tolerate such attacks. I fixed it by publishing the book and commenting under my real name anywhere that I comment. If my attacker is so ignorant that he doesn't understand why I did this, he need only contact his attorney and ask.

We have some level of freedom of speech in the US, but this does not extend to disseminating false information that places a person in a false light and ruins anything they attempt to do in life. The only absolute defense in a defamation suit is truth, and Memoirs is full of facts and truth, which is of course why no one has sued me.

The person that chose to attack me is most likely an agent from some unknown agency or an informant – the MBI agenda changed in December of 2008, when former director William Lutz retired, though they are still clearing up cases from the long Lutz era.

The person that attacked me verbally also has a right to free speech, and guess what? He can start his own blog by going HERE. He may name the blog "VickyGallasisaLiar" if he so desires. I may (and would) then subpoena his contact information and serve him in a defamation suit. I do not have to tolerate lies about my person, my family, or my former business, and I never will – just ask the agents that lost in the case or anyone else involved, including their informants.

Still trying to bury my story huh? Funny attempt anyway, but screw you "anonymous" attacker.

Third Culture Adults

I admit that I have never adjusted to life in the US, and if I had a choice I wouldn't live here. Many people consider me to be un-American, to say the least, and I have been attacked on the topic more times than I care to remember. There is nothing like being told to leave the country when you disagree with poster statements on a forum – as if I could, right? Of course it is always stated obnoxiously, but the translation in my mind has always been, "You do not think like I do and therefore you are un-American. Get out and don't let the door hit you in the arse." I actually had one poster offer to pay for my one-way flight, but of course the person didn't come through with real information. (yes, I asked).

Incidentally, those statements that I disagree with usually involve the US invasion of the Middle East and the "support our soldiers" assertion parroted by so many Americans. Their favorite take on it is always, "Even if you do not support the war, you must support our military." The hell I must. Supporting volunteer soldiers is no different than supporting the illegal occupation of the Middle East, and sorry, but I'm not going to pretend to consider this acceptable; not to sell books on Amazon and not to make anyone feel warm and fuzzy about me. Really I do not give a flying crap what anyone thinks of me – that is a fact that you could take to your fact bank.

One early morning this past week an Amazon forum poster took the time to tell me about "Third Culture" kids and adults, and this was the most helpful information that anyone has ever given me since I have been in the US. Wow! There is a coined term for what I feel, what I am, why I disagree with Americans all the time, and why I have never adjusted to life in the United States! It was a shocker for me as all along I considered that it must be me, and what a depressing thought. My contradictory thoughts of being a foreigner in a foreign land are now reconciled.

The Amazon forum poster was so kind as to furnish a link to a website on the topic and offered a book recommendation. I think the poster is female and figure that she must be another one of us third culture kids to be as knowledgeable as she is on the topic. The Third Culture Kid (TCK) website has lists with 500+ answers to:

You know you're a TCK when…

- “Where are you from?” has more than one reasonable answer.
- You go into culture shock upon returning to your “home” country.
- Your life story uses the phrase “Then we moved to…” three (or four, or five…) times.
- You know how to pack.
- You have the urge to move to a new country every couple of years.
- You wince when people mispronounce foreign words.
- You don’t know whether to write the date as day/month/year, month/day/year, or some variation thereof.
- Your minor is a foreign language you already speak.
- When asked a question in a certain language, you’ve absentmindedly respond in a different one.
- You think that high school reunions are all but impossible.
- You realize what a small world it is, after all.

I am sure that you have the idea anyway.

On that note, I am seriously sick and tired of Americans calling me un-American just because I disagree with their own indoctrinates in American society. It is an indoctrination in which I did not participate.

Image © 2007 S. Greg Panosian / © 2010 iStockphoto.com 

The State of Florida Drugs Its Witnesses

This is for anyone that has read Memoirs of an Accused Madam and noted the part wherein I state that my co-defendant Rocky was drugged in jail when he made the wild and lengthy deposition and entered his guilty plea to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (RICO). Actors of the State of Florida made sure that he was on so many prescription drugs that he likely didn't know his own name. They had the help of my other co-defendant, Beth Sams/Mihalek, who also married Rocky in the middle of the case and long before my trial.

Rocky didn't even know which particular drugs he was put on for sure. How could he? From what I was told by a pharmacist the doses are enough to knock out a horse. You decide, and ask your pharmacist if you so desire.

This is an excerpt of a letter from Beth Mihalek to Rocky (Robert Mihalek) shortly after he was sentenced to 36 months in prison for not testifying in my trial, although he was there to testify and simply stated to the prosecutor, John Craft, that he wouldn't lie on the stand. He was subsequently told to leave the courthouse.

Once Rocky arrived at the Florida prison following sentencing he wanted to expose the prosecutor and the agents of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and all that they did to him. He was stopped dead in his tracks by threats of never being released from prison. He did copy many of Beth's letters and mail them to me though, and I have copies of documents from the original and long since disappeared file that prove it is her handwriting.

The exact excerpt:

"Please take your medicine. Ok, first you need to tell your "psychologist" or the "medicine doctor" you are on:

Lithium Carb 300 mg cap 2 p.o. am. 2 p.o. h.s. (1200mg for manic bipolar)
Atenolol (for tremors from Lithium)
Paxil 40 mg tab 1/1 tab @ h.s.
Clonazepam 1mg t.i.d.
Trazadone 100 mg 1/1 p.o. @ h. s.
Manic Depression – Trazadone – makes agitated depressed patients sleepy.
Manic Bipolar – Start Lithium + Atenolol for tremors.
Paxil for depression for a week or 2 until manic symptoms are cleared. If anxiety is high – continue.
Panic Disorder – Klonopin

I am only telling you this because your gonna need them to get you through each day. I have some bad news and I'm not going to lie to you. I called Judge Johnson's secretary today about that motion. She couldn't find it where it should have been. She was supposed to send for your file. I'll call her tomorrow. But I called Kenny he says he can't do anymore. So I called 5 different hot shot lawyers. I'm going to the newspaper tomorrow and the library to write gov. Jeb Bush. I won't quit but you need your meds to chill out…"

Is there any person reading this that isn't appalled at what was obviously done to my co-defendant in this case? He finished his 36 months in prison, but will be on the 10 years of felony probation until 2014.

What kind of justice is this?

Show Trials in the US

I recall a particular court hearing in my own case that triggered the understanding that there are show trials in the US too. The thought that I was in a kangaroo court permeated my mind as I listened to John Craft, the prosecutor, state that I had foreign bank accounts and trash bags full of cash buried in my backyard. It would have been laughable if I wasn't the victim du jour. I made several attempts to respond to the allegations, but was cut-off by the kangaroo court judge, Anthony Johnson. I did manage to blurt out my response before Johnson was able to move on to a new topic; I had to as Orange County, Florida records all Circuit Court hearings, and if the allegation was going to be recorded, I knew that my response needed to be as well. Can't let such wild lies go without response and I was stuck representing myself at that point.


If you've read Memoirs of an Accused Madam, then you know it only worsened from that point forward. The trial was totally bizarre, with clerks from the prosecutor's office dressed like street hookers for effect and state witnesses gabbing with each other all over the halls. My friend Dusty kept me updated on the hallway circus at the conclusion of each day. The jurors could hardly walk through it all as they entered and exited the courtroom throughout each day. I can only imagine what they thought, but then it was clear to me that the verdicts reflected their thoughts well.

I will venture to say that there aren't many trials as bizarre as that one; I know there aren't as I've sat in many courtrooms watching other trials.

There are other variations of the show trial that take place in courtrooms across the US every day of the week. If you're ever bored and want to find out what's really going on with our criminal justice system, go watch a felony trial. For good measure make it an interesting one, perhaps a racketeering trial if at all possible.

I have almost finished reading J. Patrick O'Connor's The Framing of Mumia Abu Jamal. I figured that I would mention the book, since I'm on the topic of show trials. What a book. I am floored at what McGill (the prosecutor) was allowed to get away with during Mumia's trial; absolutely shocking! O'Connor lays out the scene of the shooting of Officer Faulkner and the evidence piece by piece, word by word, and witness by witness. He includes transcripts of court testimony that was important, and tells the reader why it is so important. This was a show trial to rival any in the former Soviet Union.

The main issue that tugs at me as I read this book is that I do not understand why the murdered officer's wife Maureen would find this acceptable. It really bothers me or I wouldn't state it here. Doesn't she want justice served in her husband's murder? Doesn't she care that it is CLEAR that Mumia Abu Jamal is not guilty? I won't say anymore here as I do intend to review the book in the next few days. It is a troubling case, and one that should bother anyone interested in justice.

There is a man in Montgomery County, Mississippi that is now starting his sixth capital murder trial for a 1996 shooting that left four people dead. Yes, you read that correctly – the sixth trial. His name is Curtis Flowers and his most recent two trials ended in hung juries. The first three trials resulted in convictions; however, the racial issues in ole Mississippi, the fabricated witness testimony, and prosecutorial misconduct during each trial resulted in the state Supreme Court overturning the verdict and ordering a new trial.

Curtis Flowers new show trial begins this week according to CNN. He has a team of attorneys and many supporters watching. Montgomery County, Mississippi prosecutors should be put on notice that the world is watching and they're not going to get away with the criminal acts committed in the preceding five trials. Mr. Flowers is entitled to a real and fair trial – he has already been incarcerated since January of 1997 waiting for it. If they can't convict him this time they had better set him free.

State as a Con Artist

I wrote about the big MBI con in Operation Plastic Empire (MBI) and Skeletons in the Closet and figure that it is time for an update and a plea to the current representatives of the State of Florida in the case to resolve the argument. It is a simple argument, after all is said and done, at least in the case of Trevor Banks Campbell. It's also a 1996 case, so let's get to work for true justice people. No more excuses and hidden agendas; those days are over. 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.

I sometimes doubt that Trevor is still speaking to me as he really does not want me to write about the case until it is resolved with the conviction and sentence judgment vacated. But then it was my reference to this case in Memoirs that prompted him to contact me, listen to my legal points and advice to retain an attorney, and finally do something about this con job by the State of Florida. I am a prolific legal researcher, and absolutely enjoy aggravating the guilty parties herein.

Trevor did speak with an attorney that obviously agreed with my points as the case is now reopened and motions are filed. The case is currently in front of Orange County Circuit Court Judge Bob Wattles. From what I do know of Judge Wattles he is a fair man, so it is unlikely that this case will be swept under a rug as it was in the past. I knew his nephew Wayne; however, have not spoken to him in many years. I once bailed Wayne out of jail on a DUI charge. He said that he was the black sheep of the family and spoke very highly of his uncle. That is a good sign for this long overdue pursuit of justice in the referenced case.

The defendants in Operation Plastic Empire were arrested on a slew of felony charges in relation to an MBI-created false case. The main problem that I have with the entire mess is that none of the many defense attorneys involved exposed the con job. I have since been told that an attorney takes their life in their hands when they go against these false prosecutions, but is that really an excuse? Maybe I should have gone to law school and just let the cards fall wherever they were supposed to.

These defendants were prosecuted and pled guilty to charges based on an MBI operation that sought to prosecute for a legal activity. Okay, so prosecutors managed to coerce guilty pleas to non-offenses by setting excessive bonds and/or holding each defendant indefinitely in jail while awaiting trial. The resulting guilty plea, at least in Trevor's case, involved getting out of jail with a time served sentence that included probation. It was the better option at the moment, no doubt, as he spent over a year sitting in a jail cell.

The remedy today is simple too, and any attorney reading this knows that I am correct. I defer to the Michael J. Peter case. There is no time limitation when the conduct with which he (Trevor) was charged is not proscribed by the statute he was convicted of violating.

The Peter case revealed the remedy, but it was a Tampa area State of Florida case that exposed the con job of the entire operational agenda of criminally charging a non-offense. "Credit card factoring" and "money laundering" were the base(less) offenses of the "racketeering" and "conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO)" charges. The MBI, in Operation Plastic Empire, solicited the commercial business of each defendant in the case as each operated escort services. The defendants were prosecuted for what was really only commercial behavior. In the Hillsborough County (Tampa), Florida case the state lost when the defendants appealed their convictions. The cases that were consolidated are: 2D98-3398; 2D98-3581; and 2D98-3634. The convictions and sentences were reversed by the Second District Court of Appeal.

The wheels of justice do indeed grind slow – it has been 14 years now. Better fix it people, because it won't go away, and I am getting ready to contact each defendant in the case. Trevor only contacted me as a result of what he read in Memoirs.

More Show Trials

We have more U.S. show trials coming soon to a theater [court] near you. Why pay to go to the movies when you can view surrealistic fictional events in courtrooms all over the country any week day?


The odds are set high against any defendant that opts to go to trial in a U.S. kangaroo court. Court participants are often angered at the audacity of the defendant to exercise the right to trial, and if that defendant loses, the sentence is usually 10 times any previously offered plea deal. This is, of course, why 95% of defendants in criminal cases succumb to the plea bargain; regardless of innocence or guilt.

If the defendant wins in a jury trial the intelligence level of the jurors is questioned and often the win is attributed to the inability of prosecutors to include specific evidence in the presentation to the jury. What about the defense being denied the inclusion of evidence favorable to the defendant? In my own trial jurors never got to read Dusty's Sworn Statement, and prosecutors proceeded on the pretense that all witnesses were there voluntarily knowing that it was a lie. Of course that was far from the only false pretense of this trial.

Admittedly, taking a case to trial is scary from any defendant's perspective. The trial has little to do with innocence, guilt, or anything in-between. It is all in the presentation to the jury and the jurors' perception of the presentation by defense attorneys and prosecutors. Perception of the level of deceit proffered by either side is what sways the opinion of most jurors, though there are some that decide the case before the trial actually begins – this is the problem juror that a defense attorney must weed-out and exclude during voir dire.

Choosing the jury is of main importance in any trial. It has been stated that once the jury is selected the trial is almost over. Indeed this is true as defense attorneys and prosecutors are not necessarily seeking total impartiality. There are not many people that are absolutely impartial. Our past experiences in life make us the people that we are, thus eliminating total impartiality. Selecting the jury is an exercise is psychology, a give and take, and an understanding that open-minded fairness is probable for the potential juror.

I often wonder what type of jury my attackers believe that I had. From the moment that I was acquitted I have heard a variety of misconceptions concerning the trial jury. I rarely, if ever, speak about the jury in the case in respect for their privacy, but there's nothing disrespectful about offering a general fact now and again. One of my jurors was in her sixties and retired from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Remember now – the jury reached "not guilty" verdicts on both counts in less than an hour after listening to the state for 8 days and me for 1 day, and of course the opening and closing statements.

What does that tell you about jury perception of the State of Florida's case and its prosecutors?

Coming soon - a discussion of trial witnesses

Dusty's Sworn Statement

Dusty handwrote this statement and had it notarized on the way to the courthouse the day that she was finally called by the State of Florida to testify. The notary was subpoenaed on the same day, and immediately after Dusty's testimony. I have transcribed it precisely as she wrote it from my own copy. It is Orange County, Florida Circuit Court Case No. 2001-CF-015492-A, as outlined in my previous post and in Memoirs.


To: Honorable Judge Anthony Johnson Jan. 12, 2003

OSWP Case# 2001-0070-CFD Vicky Lynn Gallas

From: Suzanne Irmischer Redfern

Respectfully:

Your honor I was called to testify in regards to the above case # by the State of Florida.

I met agent Brant Rose at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Orlando International Airport two to three weeks before my arrest in March of 1996. At the time I had no idea that he was an agent or worked for the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation. It was a Full Service call. It was on a Monday between the hours of 11:00AM – 2:00PM. When I arrived I walked into the room he asked me how much. I told him $160 per hour. He then offered me $100 extra not to use protection. I was offended. After we settled our dispute either "my way or the highway" I stayed for 20 minutes and left with $160.

I then came down with a bad case of bronchitis and didn't come back to Orlando to work for two to three weeks.

My first date back to work was the night of my arrest in March of 1996. Vicky phoned me to know a man that went by the name Tim Moody from Arkansas was in town working for Martin Marietta staying at a condo off Curry Ford Road. Shortly after I arrived I was arrested by Agent Paul Winsett. SWAT unit was hiding in garage. They came in undercover with black masks. To my surprise there behind the mask was my Last date that I ran into at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. So now I knew he worked for M.B.I. but I still had no idea who he was since he had used an alias on our first meeting.

June 2000

I awoke late afternoon to find a subpoena in my door jam from an Agent Eddie Byrons [FDLE Agent Eddy Baron] to report to M.B.I. office in late June early July of 2000. I did as requested.

I was escorted to an interrogation room with Eddie Byrons [Eddy Baron]. Shortly after Agent Brant Rose entered room and formally introduced himself. I replied I know who you are. You've lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you and he thanked me for compliment. He then questioned me about my A.T.&T. cell phone and why I had it turned off?

My answer: I was offered a better deal with Bellsouth.

Then he started asking me questions about Vicky Gallas, her business etc. – I explained that I hadn't spoken to Vicky in 2 years. (If he was monitoring my phone he would have known this). I really didn't have the answers he wanted. Then he starts asking me questions that I answered the night of my arrest. He explained that he didn't want me, he wanted Vicky and that the witness subpoena would protect me. I explained I couldn't give him information that I really didn't have because we weren't in contact.

I did phone her once after I received the witness subpoena to find out what was going on. She explained she had placed a complaint with someone at M.B.I. other than that no idea. So there I was, Brant Rose continued to ask me questions like how many times I had sex on my dates etc.--- I thought the questions were more personal than professional and I told him so.

He then started threatening me that if I didn't answer his questions that he would put me in jail. It would be 30 days before I would see a judge and if I still didn't answer they could hold me up to 90 days.

These were questions asked the night of my arrest in March 1996. It was crazy. Then it was brought up again my witness subpoena would protect me from prosecution. That's when I told Mr. Rose the snake story I heard while watching Church one Sunday. A preacher went to an Indian Reservation to try and convert the Indians to Christianity. He was conversing with the Indian Chief about traditions and how when your confirmed your considered an adult in the Christian faith. The Indian Chief explained that there tradition is to take a brave and put him into the forest from full moon to full moon and when he returned he was considered a man.

Well they took a brave and put him into the forest by a strong rushing stream. The fish were jumping, there were tall pine trees, tall mountains and on the tallest mountain there was a snow cap. The brave having time to kill decided to climb the mountain and touch the snow. When he reached the top of the mountain out crawled a snake saying Help me! Help me! to the brave. If you leave me up here I'll freeze to death and surely die. Please take me to the bottom of the mountain for I don't have legs to carry me. The brave said I will not you will bite me and fill me with your poison and I will surely die. The snake replied would I do that to such a friend that would do me the honor of saving my life? So with a lot of haggling on the snakes part the Indian picked up the snake and put him in his coat and started down the mountain. When he reached the bottom the Indian took the snake out of his jacket turned to walk away and BAMM the snake bites the Indian. The Indian then turns looks at the snake and said but you promised! And the snake replied you knew what I was when you picked me up.

Mr. Rose sat for a moment to think about what I had just said. Got angry told me he didn't want to hear any more stories and stormed out of the interrogation room. Agent Paul Winsett came in and told me my rights. I explained that I didn't have the information that Mr. Rose wanted. I hadn't spoken to Miss Gallas in almost 2 years. Then Mr. Winsett walked me out.

Then all was quiet until late August 2001. I received a phone call from Miss Gallas informing me that one of her girls was detained by Brant Rose, then he stated my name to girl named Kelly and did she know Susan Redfern and that I no longer work in Orlando because I have AIDS and did she know who I was. My answer to Vicky was I wonder who or what gave him that idea. 3 days later I received a call from a client telling me he had phoned "All Angelas," spoke to Terri Isaacs who claimed "her cop buddy told her I have AIDS." No wonder my phones stopped ringing! Well it just so happened that I had just gone to the health department for a 6 month check and the results were negative. So Vicky and I knew that Terri was in contact with Brant Rose. Vicky closed Valentines September 2001. We spoke that day she phoned to let me know. We spoke again sometime in October and then again after her arrest in November.

Sometime in the beginning of December 2001 Mr. Brant Rose came with a witness subpoena for a deposition December 20th 2001. He delivered the subpoena himself along with a Brevard County Sheriff Officer to my door. The date from Hell is also a witness in this case and asking me questions?

I contacted an attorney John Natori from Orlando, told him all the above story. He was busy on the 20th and asked to postpone the depo until after Christmas – John Craft refused! Mr. Natori referred me to James Craner who came with me to depo on Dec. 20th. I also explained all of the above story to him as well as Robert Mihalek's attorney at the time Ken Weaver.

I arrived on Dec. 20th 2001 with my attorney James Craner who was not allowed to speak or advise me. Mr. Craft stated that I would be given 30 years if I didn't answer his questions. What kind of justice is this? I'm afraid of these people that's why I brought an attorney. I have turned off all my phones and have lived in fear for the past year. I took a job where I worked 7 nights a week so no one could say I was elsewhere to discredit me as a witness for this case. I have sat outside in your hallway all week everyday – Monday – Thursday to testify.

Oh and one last thought to ponder. Tuesday afternoon Mr. Rose was sitting in hallway. I was there with my friend. I started a conversation with Mr. Rose but not pertaining to case. Towards end of conversation he mentioned that he would be over in Brevard [County] working the Boardroom case and staying at the Radisson at the Port? after this case was over? Now why would a special agent want me to know where he would be staying? I wonder?

Thank you your honor for taking the time to read my statement.


Sincerely,

Suzanne Irmischer Redfern

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