CONFIRMED BY ILL. SUPREME COURT– YOU ARE VIEWING THE MOST DANGEROUS BLOG IN ILLINOIS. This blog warranted a 3 year suspension by the ARDC/Jerome Larkin! Mottos: "Sunlight is the best disinfectant". Justice Louis Brandeis ; "If the truth can destroy something, then it deserves to be destroyed" Carl Sagan; "Justice is Truth in Action" Benjamin Disraeli. Illinois uses the ARDC to quash dissenting attorney activist blogs ; "The freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic Governments" — (1776-First Amendment preamble adopted by 8 US colonies)
Justice Department Finds that Alameda County, California, Violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Constitution
The Justice Department concluded today, based upon a thorough investigation, that there is reasonable cause to believe that Alameda County is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in its provision of mental health services, and that conditions and practices at the county’s Santa Rita Jail violate the U.S. Constitution and the ADA.
The department’s investigation found that the county fails to provide services to qualified individuals with mental health disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Instead, it unnecessarily institutionalizes them at John George Psychiatric Hospital and other facilities. In Olmstead v. L.C., the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title II of the ADA requires public entities to provide community-based services to persons with disabilities when appropriate services can reasonably be provided to individuals who want them. However, on any given day in Alameda County, hundreds of people are institutionalized for lengthy stays at one of several large, locked psychiatric facilities in the county or are hospitalized at John George Psychiatric Hospital, while others are at serious risk of admission to these psychiatric institutions because of the lack of community-based services. Without connection to adequate community-based services, people return to John George Psychiatric Hospital in crisis again and again.
“The ADA protects individuals with mental health disabilities from unnecessary institutionalization, and the Constitution guarantees all prisoners necessary medical care, including mental health care,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our investigation uncovered evidence of violations that, taken together, result in a system where people with mental health disabilities in Alameda County find themselves unnecessarily cycling in and out of psychiatric institutions and jails because they lack access to proven services that would allow them to recover and participate in community life.”
The department also concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions at the jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the ADA. Specifically, the department concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the jail fails to provide constitutionally adequate mental health care to prisoners with serious mental health needs, including those at risk of suicide; that the jail violates the constitutional rights of prisoners with serious mental illness through its prolonged use of restrictive housing; and that the jail violates the ADA by denying prisoners with mental health disabilities access to services, programs, and activities because of their disabilities.
As a result of these failures, prisoners with serious mental health needs have experienced worsening mental health conditions, are sent repeatedly to John George Psychiatric Hospital for acute care, have experienced prolonged stays in restrictive housing, and, at times, have seriously injured themselves or died.
The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section initiated the investigation under the ADA and under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), which authorizes the department to address a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals confined to state or local government-run correctional facilities.
Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at (844) 491-4946 or by email at Katelyn.Smith2@usdoj.gov.
I went over the notes from the zoom hearing that occurred today in regard to the Circuit Court of Cook County case 07 P 5360 entitled IN RE: AMELIA SALLAS. There are a number of issues that are quite interesting that expose the problem that we all face with the HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY. (exploitation)
Starting with square one, a reoccurring theme in these American Holocaust sagas is the fact that a dysfunctional family is found all to often to be part of the mix and available as prey or a stalking horse for the Criminal venture. As I look back over the cases I examined the ‘dysfunctional family’ was more often than not an element. In the Sykes case a daughter stole $4000.00 from her mother and when mother went to seek out a protective order the daughter used clout to get the matter into Probate Court and a predatory guardianship. In Gore the predators used a disabled granddaughter to oust the caring family member who was Guardian 1 and appointed her (the disabled person) as guardian. In JayCox target was estranged from his wife and two sisters. The beat goes on.[1]
Today in Sallas to divert attention from the Guardian’s criminal misconduct, misrepresentations to the Court and the unlawful usurpations, and massive losses to the Estate and the husband of the Amelia Sallas of more than Nine (9) million dollars – the miscreants started the Court diversion immediately. The kidnapping of Amy Sallas and her incarceration were used to divert attention – the Guardian ad Litem asserted that the husband had agitated the Ward. Indeed, having been wrongfully isolated without any color of law by the guardian the captive wife discovered that she still has a life – a saint would be agitated! Indeed, Amelia learned that there was a possibility that she was not on the fast track to be a Zombie!
Such was the opening Salvo!
The ploy did not work – Dean was not deterred from presenting his Motions and pointing out that:
1) There was no statutory authority for anything that was going on, and in fact the CONSTITUTION of the United States of America prohibited it. Indeed, the Guardian ‘s authority was limited to the ward by the words of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b, to wit:
Guardianship shall be utilized only as is necessary to promote the well-being of the person with a disability, to protect him from neglect, exploitation, or abuse, and to encourage development of his maximum self-reliance and independence
The Guardian had no legal power over him and in fact he was not before the Court except to protest the outright theft of his vested MARITAL PROPERTY INTERESTS of $9,000,000.00 and the continued illegal and criminal efforts of the Guardian to carry out the threat of being left homeless and penniless.
2) That he, as Amy’s husband, had a duty to protect her and to protest the fact that the Guardian’s appointment had to be pursuant to 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b and if it was so limited just about everything the Guardian was doing was ultra vires – and in direct violation of Amy Sallas’ rights under the CONSTITUTION of the United States of America.
3) That the Guardian was not honest with the Court and in fact was presenting reports to the Court that were not in accord with objective reality[2].
The unexpected happened – Dr. Samuel Sugar M.D. appeared in the Zoom gallery. With the remarkably successful Symposium that he sponsored still fresh he commented on the sorry spectacle her was observing. Journalist Janet Phelan also appeared as observer and most important Dean Sallas stood his ground and demanded Justice.
Of course, as unfortunately expected, the Presiding Judge was/is disinterested in the plight of Amelia Sallas or Dean Sallas. It appeared from her demeanor at the hearing – for all to observe – that she could care less that the Guardian demonstrated no respect for her or her office – indeed, she was totally disinterested in the fact that a Guardian she appointed had abused his office and was mocking her by not informing her of the fact that he allowed his ward (Amy) to be victimized by the criminal conduct of the Byline Bank in direct violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22. Indeed, it matter not to her that she was not informed of the Guardian’s conflict of interest, the wrongful isolation of his ward or the overreach of his office. Of course, the Judge was not interested that the Guardian without lawful color of law had , used his office to gain unlawful dominion over Dean Sallas’ vested property interests and had in direct violation of 18 USCA 241, 242 and the specific prohibition of 42 USCA 1983 had seized almost all of Dean Sallas property and was forcing him to live an abject poverty. Indeed, having usurped all the Sallas family funds he seeks to unlawfully evict Dean from his ½ million-dollar home by assuring that the utilities, the taxes, insurance, and upkeep expenses are not paid. His supervisor brags that Dean will be homeless and penniless.
The Guardianship which is designed to HELP a disabled person acclimate into the world was prostituted in case 07 P 5360 to abuse the elderly person. Nine million dollars of savings is unaccounted for – a lifetime of savings lost! A Circuit Judge is herein presiding over the UNCONSTITUTIONAL ABUSE of Illinois law and claims related to wrongful conduct and interpreting that Statutory limitation of:
Guardianship shall be utilized only as is necessary to promote the well-being of the person with a disability , to protect him from neglect, exploitation, or abuse, and to encourage development of his maximum self-reliance and independence
This clause and prohibition according to today ruling approving the Guardian’s fees is thusly to be interrupted to be the functional equivalent of a jail sentence and the loss of all property and liberty not only for the unfortunate soul who is declared to be a ‘ward’ but for her spouse and anyone who objects to the HUMAN TRAFFICKING in the elderly.
The oral order of this Judge suggests that the RULE OF LAW and the Constitution is an inconvenience to be ignored[3].
I wish I could say that the action described is unusual or unique. It certainly is not unique in case 07P 5360. It certainly was not unique as reported by the presenters at Dr. Sugar’s AAAPG symposium, nor is it unique in the reports from AAAPG, Cear, NASGA, Probate Sharks, MaryGSykes ** blogs. Nor was it unique in the articles and material aired on Netflix, written about in the NewYorker, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, or a bunch of GAO reports to Congress. IT IS WRONG and is illustrative of wrongdoing.
We have reached the point of NO RETURN. As speaker after speaker at Dr. Sugar’s symposium urged it is time to fish or cut bait. Dean Sallas brought his petitions today to highlight the perfidy that he faces. He has appealed to Law Enforcement. He has received some encouragement, but he realizes that DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT.
In the weeks to come, Dean will rise up in the Chancery Court in the case of BYLINE BANK vs. AMELIA SALLAS 2019 CH 13960 and pursuant to his MOTIONS now pending Demand that the Court of Equity give honor to its heritage and take cognizance of the fact that in violation of the laws as to elder abuse, predation of elders, 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22, consumer protection laws designed to protect the elderly dismiss with prejudice the wrongful foreclosure action.
I have to comment on the Byline Bank’s conduct. The Bank is well aware that at the time of the loan (Jan 25, 2018) neither Dean nor Amelia was engaged in any business venture. They were also aware that interest rates for HOME MORTGAGES had hit rock bottom. Indeed, it was no secret that to aid seniors such as Sallas the Government was encouraging REVERSE MORTGAGES. It takes real greed to resist the temptation to provide an elderly couple with run of the mill Home loan at the advertised 3% loan rate or a REVERSE MORTGAGE that will obviate month loan payments.
It takes a ‘special’ kind of lender to openly and notoriously ignore a criminal statute that reads.
(755 ILCS 5/11a-22)(from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 11a-22) Sec. 11a-22. Trade and contracts with a person with a disability. (a) Anyone who by trading with, bartering, gaming or any other device, wrongfully possesses himself of any property of a person known to be a person with a disability commits a Class A misdemeanor. (b) Every note, bill, bond or other contract by any person for whom a plenary guardian has been appointed or who is adjudged to be unable to so contract is void as against that person and his estate, but a person making a contract with the person so adjudged is bound thereby.
Obviously, the lender was aware of Amelia Sallas’ adjudication by the Circuit Court in case 07 P 5360 as a person with disability.
The hearing of today before Judge Boliker was informative in that the words and phrases of this remedial Statute in Illinois have little meaning as at least in Judge Boliker’s court room this statute is not enforceable. (see transcript of July 28, 2020 Zoom hearing! Not only does the criminal nature of the loan have no meaning, but the responsibility of the Guardian to protect the assets of the ward is not applicable.
(a) Upon the filing of a petition by a reputable person or by the alleged person with a disability himself or on its own motion, the court may adjudge a person to be a person with a disability , but only if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the person is a person with a disability as defined in Section 11a-2. If the court adjudges a person to be a person with a disability , the court may appoint (1) a guardian of his person, if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that because of his disability he lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions concerning the care of his person, or (2) a guardian of his estate, if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that because of his disability he is unable to manage his estate or financial affairs, or (3) a guardian of his person and of his estate.
(b)Guardianship shall be utilized only as is necessary to promote the well-being of the person with a disability , to protect him from neglect, exploitation, or abuse, and to encourage development of his maximum self-reliance and independence. Guardianship shall be ordered only to the extent necessitated by the individual’s actual mental, physical, and adaptive limitations.
755 ILCS 5/11a-3
Obviously, Judge Boliker on July 28 was aware of the violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 by the Byline Bank and was aware that on February 15, 2018 when the Guardian approached her for leave to negotiate the mortgage that had already been signed 3 weeks prior, he was not being candid with her. Thus, it should not be surprise to yours truly and Sallas that when the Guardian on that date told her that he was not contesting the void loan and unlawful mortgage foreclosure we really should not have been surprised. The issue in case 2019 CH 13960 is whether the Chancery Court will follow the RULE OF LAW.
Democracy is NOT a spectator sport! We appear to have lost the battle in the PROBATE COURT – do we love our inheritance enough to fight to win the war?
[1] This disfunction is unexplainable but clearly exploitable. Amelia and Dean’s children by their attornment to the pandemic scheme to exploit their mother promulgated by the Guardian and other have assisted in the loss of their inheritance. They certainly should realize that their mother is pushing 80 and their father 84. The days separating them from their inheritance is short, yet, to satisfy whatever drives them they must be deemed ready to imprison their mother, impoverish they father and deprive themselves of a substantial inheritance and comfort. This disfunction is known as cutting off your hand to spite your face! It is common and as observed today easily maneuvered.
[2] It is sad, but it appears that the Judge’s conduct and total disinterest in the alleged CRIMINAL ACTIONS and deceptions by the guardian indicated to at least the undersigned that the Judge not only was aware of the deceptions but attorned and approved of them.
[3] I am aware that calling a ‘spade a spade’ or exercising FIRST AMENDMENT rights to complain of the felonies of elder abuse is in Illinois ethically challenged and lawyers who stand up against criminal abuses such as are evident in the Sallas cases are summarily punished by the IARDC (Illinois Attorney Disciplinary Commission). In its zealousness the IARDC subpoenaed DEAN SALLAS’ Google records. His crime of not attorning to the abuse and exploitation of the Guardian was quickly addressed by the IARDC. The only problem is the fact that Dean Sallas is not a lawyer and they like the Guardianship Court in fact have no jurisdiction to take possession of his property or intimidate him.
My reaction to all of this is to show that zoom hearings MUST and should continue after Covid as an option to every litigant who requests them.
The Sallas case has now garnered the attention of major guardianship corruption activists and Dr. Sam Sugar is clearly a leader in all of this. Good for him for attending.
Boliker is going to have some major problems with her position in the Sallas case, letting lawyers and guardians touch assets belonging to Dean Sallas, a marital partner, with claims to marital assets which have been stolen, converted and trespassed upon. Only Dean Sallas and Dean Sallas alone should have access to his wife’s assets, as she has to his assets, but he is not under any guardianship. He still has all of his facilities and is clearly competent.
The threats and intimidation of Boliker and the OPG and attorney Casanova cannot be ignored in a civilized society.
This has to end. Dean should get his house secured, his $9 million in assets returned to him and also his beloved wife should be returned to him instanter. The OPG’s job is to do this, instead they prey on the elderly and vulnerable.
you can see a copy of the sallas foreclosure file at the following link:
Watch this attorney struggle to justify guardianship. He does describe it to an “out of control tsunami” and how courts want to err toward protecting people, but in doing so, often strip them of important rights.
This couple has been unbelievably isolated from one another for over 18 months by the Office of Public Guardian.
There is no court order to do this. There is no reason to do this. He has never been investigated by APS or ever accused of a crime regarding his beloved wife.
Dean Sallas is about to be 84. He needs his wife.
The nursing homes have finally opened up. He goes to visit wife (who has been placed in a nursing home against her will by the Office of Public Guardian and she wants to see her husband he wants to see his wife (who is about the same age, maybe a few years younger).
This is the note he gets when he visits:
Dean Sallas You may not visit Amelia Sallas until you have talke to Lisa Casanova and we have permission for visitations. THIS IS A DIRECTIVDE FROM LISA CASANOVA ATTORNEY signed cynthia Montesinos drcs 04/09/2021
This case is a travesty. The guardianship needs to be investigated and everyone involved who is a part of this should be indicted for fraud and elder abuse (of both Dean and Amy Sallas). The OPG should be immediately investgated and defunded.
The horrors of the OPG continue on unabated and the ARDC is involved!
Sharon Opryszek and Jerome Larkin must be investigated and the agency defunded until it can be show that it operates in an honest, transparent and ethical manner.
Pier Hopkins and her beloved Grandmother Marlynn Hopkins are also suffering at the hands of judges and attorneys.
Many cases out there need to be investigated by the authorities. This appears to be a continuing pattern and practice.
Please pray for all these victims and that justice be done.
The ARDC is coming after me for reporting on these cases. Their perfidy and mendacity must not continue.
To Law Enforcement charged with protecting the Elderly from abusive conduct:
Subject: the ELDER CLEANSING OF AMELIA SALLAS – A CRY FOR HELP!
Reference: Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois cases, to wit: In re: Amelia Sallas 07 P 5360, & Byline Bank vs. Amelia Sallas et al 2019 CH 13960
While the Human Trafficking the in the elderly has become a certificated ‘growth industry’ in Cook County, Illinois and it is becoming common for elderly citizen’s Civil and Human Rights to be trampled upon by corrupt and unsupervised Court appointed guardians there has to be line in the sand that cannot be trespassed.
The Amelia Sallas case has been the subject of literally hundreds of e-mails and mailings complaining of the whole violation of the Civil and Human Rights of Amelia Sallas and Dean Sallas – a couple who until the intervention of a Court appointed guardian not only were secure in their homes but enjoying a long-term marriage. The couple have been married for more than fifty years, accumulated savings well in excess of 9 million dollars and were secure in the belief that as citizens of the United States of America they could live out their retiring years together and in comfort.
In derogation of the 14th Amendment Amelia Sallas ran afoul of the Justice system, was declared incompetent by a Judge san the evidence required by 755 ILCS 5/11a -3a and railroaded into a guardianship wherein the criteria of the statute were again totally circumvented and ignored. See 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b. Amelia’s husband objected and without a legal basis the wrongfully appointed guardian for Amelia Sallas seized dominion over not only Amelia vested marital property interests, but the vested marital property interests of her husband Dean Sallas. The net result has been the dissipation of 9 million dollars in assets and continued exploitation of Amelia Sallas.
Placing Amelia Sallas in a ‘sheltered care facility’ did not terminate her life even though the guardian was successful in having her infected by Covid 19, however, the aforesaid removal of Amelia Sallas from her home and marriage did serve to temporarily isolate the elderly couple. This evening, the ‘sheltered care facility’ discovered that this elderly couple were COMMUNICATING and this very evening they were in each other’s presence enjoying each other’s companionship and some pastry.
All HELL BROKE LOOSE! Dean was ordered off the premises! By order of ELISABETH CASANOVA, Dean was not have contact with his wife of ½ a Century. Ms. Casanova is an attorney for the Court appointed guardian. Though the tears of his wife, Dean meekly removed himself from the premises. ELDER CLEANSING requires the victim to be totally isolated from her prior life!
The outrage and assault on HUMAN RIGHTS has now reached the point of no return. Dean Sallas has reached out to the Illinois and Federal authorities for assistance in retrieving the CIVIL RIGHTS of he and his wife. He has complained of:
1) Loss of liberty. Arbitrarily the Guardian, first recognized the Court well exceeded its statutory authority in rubber stamping an order allowing for a Guardian to be appointed for Amelia. A compromise was reached – Amelia was returned after her adjudication to the marital home where she continued to reside with her husband. This truce ended when Amelia embarrassed the Guardian by:
a. On January 25, 2018 she negotiated (with her husband) a reinstatement and renewal of the predatory home mortgage that the Guardian was maintaining on the marital home. She signed her signature on the loan documents. (This action created a criminal violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 and voided the predatory mortgage)
b. Amelia suffered a medical abnormality and without permission of the guardian sojourned to SWEDISH COVENANT HOSPITAL . She discussed intelligently her medical conduction and signed herself into the medical facility.
Amelia was subsequently hauled out of her home and her marriage and without consent of either Dean or Amelia subjected to a sua sponde involuntary de facto dissolution of marriage that apparently is being maintained by order of Elizabeth Casanova, one of the attorneys for the Guardian.
2) Loss of Property. The Guardian has sequestered almost even item of property previously owned by Dean and/or Amelia Sallas. He engineered the loss of 9 million dollars in real estate assets and is now engaged in handing over to the ByLine Bank, pursuant to a void mortgage the marital home having a value of approximately half a million dollars.
Today’s outrage requires emergency action. Across America citizens have complained to deaf ears that when a court appointed guardian is embarrassed by some event – such as occurred today – i.e., Dean and Amelia getting together and enjoying each other’s company against the express authority and demand of ELIZABETH CASANOVA terrible things happen to the captive elderly person. Unavoidable accidents are frequent. They include unexplained illness, various induced pneumonia, restrain bars on the bed being in the down position, drug reactions etc.
My concern is not paranoia. It appears that the Guardian has not be entirely candid with the Judge who appointed him and who is charged with supervising him AND Dean Sallas has filed dispositive Motions in the 2019 CH 13960 case, and in this guardianship case 07 P 5360. The ELIZABETH CASANOVA, one of the attorneys for the Guardian is reported to have requested the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois to investigate if an attorney has been assisting Dean Sallas in addressing the violation of the CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS of he and his wife. The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois has immediately responded and in direct violation of Dean Sallas’ 1st, 4th , 5th and 14th Amendment sent out a subpoena to obtain information as to Dean Sallas’ Google account.
The retribution against Dean and Amelia Sallas is not a new situation. They have had to deal with a total invasion of their privacy, their marriage, the loss of their life savings, the loss of their health and security and threats – including a death threat. A supervisor of the Guardian’s staff (not ELIZABETH CASANOVA) bluntly told Dean Sallas that he was going to see him penniless and homeless! The Court transcript of July 28, 2020 demonstrates that except for the pandemic and the discovery of the Guardian’s dishonesty with the Court he might have actually accomplished that feat by Christmas of 2020.
On Wednesday, April 14, 2021, Dean Sallas will object to the Guardian’s 11th current account, the Guardian’s request for fees for the time spend in violating the Civil and Human Rights of both Dean and Amelia Sallas, the lack of candor of the Guardian with the Court, and the violation by the Guardian and the Court of Dean Sallas’ 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendment Rights.
In Summary – Dean and Amelia Sallas need the help of law enforcement. All that they are requesting is that Law Enforcement enforce the Law. 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3 regulates the appointment of a Guardian. The criteria are severely limited by both the ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION and the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. There is no way that the current guardian CHARLES GOLBERT meets any of the criterion of the Statute or can perform the acts allowable by the Statute. Golbert, may have political and judicial clout but he is not above the law! His lack of candor to the Court and his established incompetence disqualifies him from acting as a guardian. His lack of supervision of his subordinates or his direction to his subordinates (Elizabeth Casanova) . Nowhere in 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3 is there any authority provided to the guardian to nullify a 50-year marriage, adjudicate the forfeiture of the assets, and enjoin the couple from enjoying their mutual FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS together. Ditto of intimidation –
Kenneth Ditkowsky, a friend of Dean Sallas. APPENDIX 1.
On Thursday, April 8, 2021, 09:57:59 PM CDT, wrote:
You can view “Motion by Sallas Filed Apr 4 021.pdf” at: Adobe Acrobat
________________ Sent with Adobe Document Cloud. Click on the link above to access the file online. No sign up or installation of Acrobat is required to access.
On Thursday, April 8, 2021, 10:55:32 PM CDT, kenneth ditkowsky <kenditkowsky@yahoo.com> wrote:
A few minutes ago at Dean’s request I forwarded what should be his dispositive Motions for case 07 P 5360 entitled IN RE: AMELIA SALLAS set for the next Court date to the service list. while I did not do the scanning of the two motions, I am proving that you can teach on old dog new tricks. JoAnne – I copied the IARDC so that they will not have to subpeona my wife’s Google account to ascertain that it was me who assisted Dean Sallas in the 21st Century act of serving copies of his motion. Pursuant to the 1st Amendment to the Constitution – whether your friend Ms. O likes it not I can and will continue my friendship with Mr. Sallas and as a citizen do what I can to see that he obtains JUSTICE! Until I read the material in the cases of ByLine Bank vs. Amelia Sallas 2019 CH 13960, and the material in this file, including and not limited to the https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:abc6fdc4-21c9-4774-b875-7b99ee534c5fetc I still believed that we lived in the United States of America. I am having doubts! How could an elderly couple be literally stripped of their freedom, their property and virtually everything they have – including their marriage! Neither Dean nor Amelia committed any crime – EXCEPT TO GROW OLD! They were drawn into this nightmare literally set for life – their net assets were in excess of nine million dollars, they had a nice home etc. Dean put up one heck of fight and is still doing so against terrible odds – the motions he filed sek to vindicate the Court – I could not even imagine a Judge having the temerity to treat the Constitution with such contempt – but it happened herein in case 07 P 5360 from day one through today. I could not imagine such avarice as has been demonstrated by the fiduciary Guardians – but it happened right here in the Circuit Court of Cook County in case 07 P 5360. The averred perfidy of the Guardian in NOT being candid with Judge Boliker is beyond CONTEMPT. I am surprised that Boliker of her own MOTION has not cited Golbert for CRIMINAL CONTEMPT OF COURT. It is in insult not only to Judge Boliker, but every lawyer everywhere that he did not make the required disclosures – Such demonstrates the lack of respect that the Judge and the Court have for themselves and the Rule of law. Dean has brought all this to the forefront. The first reaction is in the record book – that was Ms. O of the IARDC sending a subpeona for Dean Sallas’ Google Records! We have really sunk to new lows! Did she believe that she would intimidate Mr. Sallas? Or maybe she wished to intimidate someone else and prevent Sallas from attending the presentation of his dispositive motions? Greylord was a low point in Illinois jurisprudence – the subpeona to Google drove the nadir even lower! Judge Boliker similarly has an opportunity to to demonstrate just how little respect Illinois jurisprudence is entitled and how little respect she has for the Rule of Law – or she can take a step to vindicate herself and the Rule of Law by disapproving the 11th current account and referring the entire criminal matter to the ILLNOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL. I hope that she will stand up for the Constitution! I lack confidence in such occurring and expect instead another subpeona from Ms. O to Google, Yahoo, or whomever. thank you Dean for setting the stage for Illinois to fish or cut bait! We are all standing shoulder to shoulder with you! Maybe on APRIL 15, 2021 you and your beloved wife will be reunited and out of the predatory control that you and she have been burdened.
kenneth ditkowsky
Fri, Apr 9, 8:11 PM (12 hours ago)
to Human, elder.justice@doj.gov, askdoj@doj.gov, doj@doj.gov, Federal, FBI-, United, Judicial, Katherine, shauna.boliker@cookcountyil.gov, The, Janet, Chicago, ADA, Cook, The, stateattorney@cookcountyil.gov, Attorney, USDOJ, WLS-TV, Whistleblower, Angela, newseditors@wsj.com, ABAJournal.com, ACLU, Joanne, Dean
Sent: Friday, April 9, 2021, 08:00:22 PM CDTSubject: A CRY FOR HELP FROM DEAN AND AMELIA SALLAS! To Law Enforcement charged with protecting the Elderly from abusive conduct:
Subject: the ELDER CLEANSING OF AMELIA SALLAS – A CRY FOR HELP!
Reference: Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois cases, to wit: In re: Amelia Sallas 07 P 5360, & Byline Bank vs. Amelia Sallas et al 2019 CH 13960
While the Human Trafficking the in the elderly has become a certificated ‘growth industry’ in Cook County, Illinois and it is becoming common for elderly citizen’s Civil and Human Rights to be trampled upon by corrupt and unsupervised Court appointed guardians there has to be line in the sand that cannot be trespassed.
The Amelia Sallas case has been the subject of literally hundreds of e-mails and mailings complaining of the whole violation of the Civil and Human Rights of Amelia Sallas and Dean Sallas – a couple who until the intervention of a Court appointed guardian not only were secure in their homes but enjoying a long-term marriage. The couple have been married for more than fifty years, accumulated savings well in excess of 9 million dollars and were secure in the belief that as citizens of the United States of America they could live out their retiring years together and in comfort.
In derogation of the 14th Amendment Amelia Sallas ran afoul of the Justice system, was declared incompetent by a Judge san the evidence required by 755 ILCS 5/11a -3a and railroaded into a guardianship wherein the criteria of the statute were again totally circumvented and ignored. See 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b. Amelia’s husband objected and without a legal basis the wrongfully appointed guardian for Amelia Sallas seized dominion over not only Amelia vested marital property interests, but the vested marital property interests of her husband Dean Sallas. The net result has been the dissipation of 9 million dollars in assets and continued exploitation of Amelia Sallas.
Placing Amelia Sallas in a ‘sheltered care facility’ did not terminate her life even though the guardian was successful in having her infected by Covid 19, however, the aforesaid removal of Amelia Sallas from her home and marriage did serve to temporarily isolate the elderly couple. This evening, the ‘sheltered care facility’ discovered that this elderly couple were COMMUNICATING and this very evening they were in each other’s presence enjoying each other’s companionship and some pastry.
All HELL BROKE LOOSE! Dean was ordered off the premises! By order of ELISABETH CASANOVA, Dean was not have contact with his wife of ½ a Century. Ms. Casanova is an attorney for the Court appointed guardian. Though the tears of his wife, Dean meekly removed himself from the premises. ELDER CLEANSING requires the victim to be totally isolated from her prior life!
The outrage and assault on HUMAN RIGHTS has now reached the point of no return. Dean Sallas has reached out to the Illinois and Federal authorities for assistance in retrieving the CIVIL RIGHTS of he and his wife. He has complained of:
1) Loss of liberty. Arbitrarily the Guardian, first recognized the Court well exceeded its statutory authority in rubber stamping an order allowing for a Guardian to be appointed for Amelia. A compromise was reached – Amelia was returned after her adjudication to the marital home where she continued to reside with her husband. This truce ended when Amelia embarrassed the Guardian by:
a. On January 25, 2018 she negotiated (with her husband) a reinstatement and renewal of the predatory home mortgage that the Guardian was maintaining on the marital home. She signed her signature on the loan documents. (This action created a criminal violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 and voided the predatory mortgage)
b. Amelia suffered a medical abnormality and without permission of the guardian sojourned to SWEDISH COVENANT HOSPITAL . She discussed intelligently her medical conduction and signed herself into the medical facility.
Amelia was subsequently hauled out of her home and her marriage and without consent of either Dean or Amelia subjected to a sua sponde involuntary de facto dissolution of marriage that apparently is being maintained by order of Elizabeth Casanova, one of the attorneys for the Guardian.
2) Loss of Property. The Guardian has sequestered almost even item of property previously owned by Dean and/or Amelia Sallas. He engineered the loss of 9 million dollars in savings and is now engaged in handing over to the ByLine Bank, pursuant to a void mortgage the marital home having a value of approximately half a million dollars.
Today’s outrage requires emergency action. Across America citizens have complained to deaf ears that when a court appointed guardian is embarrassed by some event – such as occurred today – i.e., Dean and Amelia getting together and enjoying each other’s company against the express authority and demand of ELIZABETH CASANOVA terrible things happen to the captive elderly person. Unavoidable accidents are frequent. They include unexplained illness, various induced pneumonia, restrain bars on the bed being in the down position, drug reactions etc.
My concern is not paranoia. It appears that the Guardian has not be entirely candid with the Judge who appointed him and who is charged with supervising him AND Dean Sallas has filed dispositive Motions in the 2019 CH 13960 case, and in this guardianship case 07 P 5360. The ELIZABETH CASANOVA, one of the attorneys for the Guardian is reported to have requested the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois to investigate if an attorney has been assisting Dean Sallas in addressing the violation of the CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS of he and his wife. The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois has immediately responded and in direct violation of Dean Sallas’ 1st, 4th , 5th and 14th Amendment sent out a subpoena to obtain information as to Dean Sallas’ Google account.
The retribution against Dean and Amelia Sallas is not a new situation. They have had to deal with a total invasion of their privacy, their marriage, the loss of their life savings, the loss of their health and security and threats – including a death threat. A supervisor of the Guardian’s staff (not ELIZABETH CASANOVA) bluntly told Dean Sallas that he was going to see him penniless and homeless! The Court transcript of July 28, 2020 demonstrates that except for the pandemic and the discovery of the Guardian’s dishonesty with the Court he might have actually accomplished that feat by Christmas of 2020.
On Wednesday, April 14, 2021, Dean Sallas will object to the Guardian’s 11th current account, the Guardian’s request for fees for the time spend in violating the Civil and Human Rights of both Dean and Amelia Sallas, the lack of candor of the Guardian with the Court, and the violation by the Guardian and the Court of Dean Sallas’ 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendment Rights. In Summary – Dean and Amelia Sallas need the help of law enforcement. All that they are requesting is that Law Enforcement enforce the Law. 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3 regulates the appointment of a Guardian. The criteria are severely limited by both the ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION and the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. There is no way that the current guardian CHARLES GOLBERT meets any of the criterion of the Statute or can perform the acts allowable by the Statute. Golbert, may have political and judicial clout but he is not above the law! His lack of candor to the Court and his established incompetence disqualifies him from acting as a guardian. His lack of supervision of his subordinates or his direction to his subordinates (Elizabeth Casanova) . Nowhere in 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3 is there any authority provided to the guardian to nullify a 50-year marriage, adjudicate the forfeiture of the assets, and enjoin the couple from enjoying their mutual FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS together. Ditto of intimidation – JUST FOR THE RECORD – inspite of the illegal and CONSTITUTIONALLY COMPROMISED action of the KGB housed in Chicago preying on our elderly, Dean and Amelia have clandestinately been having contact with one another. The miscreants were bound to find out! This e-mail is sent out broadly in the hope that LAW ENFORCEMENT of our American Democracy can over-ride the self appointed usurpers and protect Amelia from punishment for her avoiding element 2 of elder cleansing – We all know about Helen Stone!
Kenneth Ditkowsky, a friend of Dean Sallas. APPENDIX 1.
kenneth ditkowsky
Fri, Apr 9, 8:33 PM (12 hours ago)
to Nasga, CEAR, Rick, AARP, AMERICANS, Tribune, Joanne, WLS-TV, Whistleblower
Maybe the cry for hell ought to go on all the blogs! In Jaycox they solved the problem by having his get an ‘aspirated pnemomoia. It is fatal – today’s venture and discovery that she has been in contact with Dean may be fatal! (I am not paranoid – once burned twice warned!
I wish I could help. How is this so openly done in our country. How can the FBI and DOJ ignore when they surely must know it is happening all over the country. Good lord.
The empowerment of the HUMAN TRAFFICKERS IN GRANDMA has been going on for a long time and most of us have been molified by the political set doing their think – agreeing with us and PASSING MORE AND MORE LEGISLATION that is not enforced. Dr. Sugar’s Symposium will again discuss the problem, many will participate, and it will end with all who participate feeling good. Will one Grandma be freed from her captors? Will one criminal go to jail? Of course not and quite probably Dr. Sugar, Rick and a few others will follow through BUT the majority will fall by the wayside. The CALL TO ACTION ****** Law enforcement has to enforce the Law and we – the great unwashed – have to heed the call to action and not be distracted. How do we accomplish on goal? One case at a time. Like it or not if you win and free your mother, we all win. If Dean Sallas on Wednesday obtains his freedom and that of his wife from the predatory guardian – AND law enforcement does an HONEST INVESTIGATION FOLLOWED BY AN HONEST PROSECUTION of the crimes openly and notoriously committed in case 07 P 5360 and 2019 CH 13960 we all win. What do we win? We win a reaffirmation of our core values and the fact that we ar ea Nation of laws. We send a message to our corrupt political icons that they serve us and our core values. We send the corrupt politicans that IT IS NOT WHAT IS SAID THAT IS IMPORTANT – IT IS WHAT IS DONE! Lanre Amu is a principled man who happens to have a dark hue to his skin. He is educated, religious and a nice person. He immigrated from Africa and can be classified as Negro. Amu has a problem besides the racism that is part of the Chicago culture – he sees the world in terms of right and wrong and like many of us does not see too much in grey. To belong to the cancel culture movement or any of the current cults you have to be a believer – Amu’s integrity would never allow such to occur – ergo he is a pariah. As a Black pariah — OH hell I do not have to spell it out. Joe Louis has in e-mail after e-mail described the scenario. The First Amendment and the 14th Amendment were enacted to address this situation – Government is not an instrument of TRUTH! It is an instrument of protecting the rights of all citizens. This cannot be done when Judgeships are for sale by political parties, elections are rigged, certain political individuals are targeted and others given a pass, and certainly not when we target groups of our citizens for exploitation. Dr. Sugar on April 11 – tomorrow will hold his symposium. Will it get any press? Will it have an effect? I sincerely hope so.
Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez speaks at a press conference at the Daley Center on Wed., April 7.
Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez has walked back a campaign pledge to give the public more access to records from her office under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
The clerk is the official record keeper for the Circuit Court and is responsible for collecting and distributing tens of millions of dollars in court fines and fees. But the agency is not subject to the state’s open record laws. That exclusion means the public has largely been kept in the dark about the operations and funding of one of the largest unified court systems in the country.
On Wednesday, Martinez touted her support of a bill, SB583, in the state Senate that would make the office subject to the Local Records Act, a state law that attorneys said doesn’t provide the same transparency as FOIA.
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“We certainly believe that the public has a right to know how public dollars are being spent and, more importantly, that they have access to that information,” Martinez said at a press conference at the Daley Center alongside the bill’s chief sponsor, State Sen. Michael Hastings (D-Frankfort). “Including the Circuit Clerk’s office in the Local Records Act makes sure that the information remains public, even after my tenure as the Clerk of the Circuit Court is over.”
But the new bill is a change of tune from the promises Martinez made as a candidate.
At a candidates’ forum in February 2020, Martinez, then an Illinois state senator, said making the Clerk of Court’s office subject to the Freedom of Information Act was “the only way we’re going to be able to really dig deep and find where the problems are at and start addressing them.”
Martinez’s predecessor, Dorothy Brown, was the subject of a federal corruption investigation, and allegations of delays and inefficiencies have long plagued the office. In 2018, the Chicago Reader reported that at least two dozen state inmates had post-conviction appeals delayed because the Circuit Court Clerk’s office couldn’t locate their case files.
At the same time, the office has shut the public out of accessing crucial information about how cases are moving through the court system, who court fines and fees impact the most by, and how the Circuit Court Clerk manages the office’s $120 million annual budget.
A campaign promise amended
Martinez wasn’t the only candidate to promise to make the Circuit Court Clerk’s office subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Still, as a sitting state senator, she had a leg up on her opponents: A week before the forum last year, she had introduced a bill that would do just that.
“For the first time in over 20 years we’re going to have an opportunity to actually bring some sunshine and transparency into an office that has been overshadowed by so much corruption, patronage, and bad management,” Martinez said at the forum, which the nonpartisan Civic Federation sponsored.
Her bill didn’t go anywhere in last year’s legislative session, which was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
When Hastings introduced an identical bill earlier this year, the Civic Federation, which advocates for good government, supported the effort, according to a letter they sent to the bill’s sponsors. But then he introduced an amendment, supported by Martinez, that struck all references to the Freedom of Information Act and instead made the Clerk of Court’s office subject to an older, more obscure, and less robust law called the Local Records Act.
Attorney Alexandra Block said the amendment “renders [the bill] effectively toothless.” Block, who has litigated public records lawsuits on behalf of news organizations and advocated for more transparency in the court system, said the Local Records Act falls short in several respects.
Unlike the Freedom of Information Act, which allows any member of the public to request a wide range of records from public agencies, the Local Records Act only allows requesters to “inspect” documents in person and the amendment only applies to Clerk of Court records about the “obligation, receipt and use of public funds.”
“It was a statute that was written for the paper age, not the electronic age,” Block said, adding that there’s “no recourse” under the Local Records Act if public agencies don’t fulfill requests.
Patrick Hanlon, a top aide to Martinez, said the clerk remains dedicated to transparency, but that during the campaign, it became “clearly evident” that the Clerk of the Circuit Court is a “nontraditional office of the judiciary” and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
“You can’t force the judiciary to be part of FOIA,” he said.
But Block called this “utter nonsense.”
“The state legislature is fully empowered to set policy for free access to information, including for the non-judicial functions of the court system,” she said.
The amended bill passed a Senate committee last month and now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
At the press conference Wednesday, Hastings said the bill was a step forward for transparency for an office that has operated in the dark for too long and he was confident the bill would pass the Senate and the House.
“This idea is all about good government and transparency. A lot of legislators down in Springfield, they realize a need for that,” he said.
I think your attorney harassing Dean Sallas with a subpoena is not only outrageous but an embarrassment to the entire legal profession. Dean at 84 is not and never has been an attorney and his dealings with x, y, and z are NONE OF THE IARDC’S business. The over-reach by your IARDC attorney cannot be swept under the rug as it is so beyond propriety it should be a termination offense! In fact her total disregard for the CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS of citizen DEAN SALLAS should result in termination of her LAW LICENSE. iNDIVIDUALS in the public sector who so blatantly thread on the Constitution cannot be allowed public license. Respect for the RULE OF LAW and the Constitution are not to be taken lightly. Please let me make an observation – Ms. O did forward a letter she apparently received from Attorney Elizabeth Casanova. This letter was similarly grossly inappropriate. The letter claims that Dean Sallas might be obtaining help in resisting the clearly criminal conduct emanating out of the COOK COUNTY PUBLIC GUARDIAN’S OFFICE. Attorney Casanova apparently has no understanding of the Illinois and United States Constitutions and in particular the 1st Amendment. Such lack of understanding and the maintenance of a law license are incompatible. If Ms. Casanova does not recognize the 1st Amendment such is her right – but when she uses public offices to advance such lack of respect the activity crosses the line and the IARDC should take action. Most importantly, Dean Sallas – a citizen – has made some very serious averments in his MOTIONS in the Circuit Court. They are all accurate! The public is now aware of those allegation – WHY IS THE IARDC not acting to protect the public from the public officials who have soiled their oath? If certainly is a disgrace that the IARDC joins forces with the miscreant public officials who are openly and notoriously making war on Grandma! Kenneth Ditkowsk
DETROIT (AP) – The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously overturned the decisions of a Kalamazoo-area judge who terminated the parental rights of a poor couple after their two children had missed 25% of school.
While the absences in 2017-18 were higher than the school’s average, there was no evidence of resulting harm or neglect, the court said Friday, a key threshold when a judge decides whether to take jurisdiction over children.
The case was closely watched by advocates for poor families, especially during a pandemic when education has been significantly disrupted.
“In 2017, over 230,000 children were chronically absent,” Tim Pinto, an attorney for the father, said during arguments in March. “I’m positive that those stats are much worse today.”ADVERTISEMENThttps://0a667e7f654a162c79b85f21ab0f25c9.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Kalamazoo County Judge G. Scott Pierangeli placed the two children in foster care in 2018 and ordered the parents to meet several conditions, including drug screens, counseling, psychological evaluation and employment.
Parental rights were subsequently terminated because the couple didn’t engage in certain services, according to a summary of the case.
“If the only issue was school absenteeism, I’m not sure the service plan made sense,” Pinto said in an interview Monday.
One child’s first-grade teacher said he had been performing at grade level despite absences. There was no testimony about his sister’s performance, according to the child welfare appellate clinic at University of Michigan law school, which represented the father.ADVERTISEMENThttps://0a667e7f654a162c79b85f21ab0f25c9.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
The case now will return to Kalamazoo County. The children’s mother did not appeal the termination of her parental rights at the Supreme Court.
Before losing their rights, the couple had many challenges. They fell behind in rent after the funeral of a 22-year-old daughter. The father also was hospitalized with a chronic illness.
The Supreme Court agreed with an appellate judge who said Pierangeli was wrong to take control over the children, who now are 9 and 13.
“Ideally, every child should have perfect school attendance, but I cannot conclude that a 75% average absenteeism rate is a convincing force of there being educational neglect that is on the level of child abuse,” Judge Michael Riordan said last year.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Than you for sending me a copy of your resonse to Ms Casnovia’s complaint to the IARDC concerning the fact that Dean Sallas was able to attend the July 28, 2020 hearing and to learn about the 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 criminal violation that occurred on January 25, 2018.
While Ms. Casanovia does no say so in her letter of complaint what really frosts her was that he lack of candor in Judge Boliker’s courtroom on February 15, 2018 (and apparently at other times) was exposed. whether Mr. Golbert has any intellectual or other respect for Judge Boliker as he appointed fiduciary he does have to at least give the expression of respect. Dean was over at the house yesterday and he pointed out some items in the 11th current account that if I were Judge Boliker at the present time I would be livid. Let me be mores specific. On February 15, 2018 when Casanovia appeared for Golbert in Judge Boliker’s courtroom she was careful NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT THE LOAN DOCUMENTS HAD BEEN ALREADY SIGNED BY AMY. This had to be deliberate. On July 28, 2020 Ms. Casanova again was careful not to disclose to Judge Boliker that CHARLES GOLBERT, the COOK COUNTY PUBLIC GUARDIAN, had signed a blank signature page that was attached to EXHIBIT h – The predatory loan documents! He had not executed an EXCULPATION CLAUSE and therefore the words and phrases of the signature page made him personally liable on the loan. It appears from papers furnished Dean by Byline Bank that Golbert has attempted to at this late to negotiate an exculpation from the Byline Bank. This also was not disclosed to Judge Boliker. He and Ms. Casanovia appear completely confident that the Judge will rubber stamp anything that they put in front of her and will allow the abandonment of $300,000 in equity. In the olden days – back in the 2oth Century lawyers protected a Judge from being ‘sold!’ I remember on several occasions telling a Judge he was being ‘played’ or ‘sold.’ The 1st was at a Kiwanis meeting in direct response to a question and the 2nd when the Judge gave me ride home and confided in me that he was upset by something that occurred in his courtroom on that day. Had I not been asked the question directly I would have volunteered it. Judge Boliker is entitled to same courtesy BUT I do not expect anyone will provide her with it. As the Attorney General of the State and the Illinois Department of Aging are both designated to help seniors who are being exploited I’ve copied both in this e-mail. I’ve also coied the FBI and others. Everyone is on the record as being against the HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY however, the no one has stepped up to help Dean Sallas or any of the other victims.
Protective Services, forcing the state to come up with new training for its workers and pay more than $127,000 for wrongfully removing a couple’s children and allegedly lying to the court about it.
Now, attorneys for parents Melissa and Dillon Bright are calling for the firing of the CPS workers involved and asking for prosecutors to investigate and consider criminal charges.
“They lied in their affidavit, they lied in their sworn removal testimony and they have – when questioned about those lies – taken the Fifth,” said family lawyer Dennis Slate.ADVERTISEMENThttps://5a60f16b30b52e0c8a57eb9b13beed1f.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
“When the Harris County District Attorney ran for office said that she would investigate perjury claims within the Harris County courts. She needs to live up to that campaign promise and look into this case and bring the appropriate action.”
The judge’s ruling late Thursday came weeks after caseworker Lavar Jones shocked the courtroom by pleading the Fifth repeatedly during a removal hearing in which Judge Mike Schneider at one point ordered CPS to stay away from the two young children before ultimately giving them back to the parents.
It’s an unusual case that offers repeated examples of CPS missteps, but the Brights’ attorneys say it’s also a sign of a “broken system” and the need for more accountability from the agency tasked with making decisions as to whether parents are fit to keep their own children.
The agency offered a terse comment on the decision.
“In light of today’s ruling, we are reviewing our options,” said CPS spokeswoman Tejal Patel, “including our right to appeal.”
****
The trouble that eventually landed the Bright family in court started back in July. It was a hot, Texas summer day and Melissa Bright let her kids – 2-year-old Charlotte and 5-month-old Mason – play in sprinkler.
Melissa put the baby down on a lawn chair as she turned around to strip off Charlotte’s wet clothes. When she did, she heard a thud. Mason had fallen, the 19 inches from the chair to the cement driveway below.
Panicked, Melissa called her husband – then dialed 911. At the hospital, the child abuse prevention team at first told CPS that Melissa’s explanation of the injury was a likely one, according to court records.
But the next day, an MRI revealed that Mason had a second fracture – a smaller, hairline crack – and bleeding in his brain.
That second fracture, the abuse team decided, would have come from a second incident. And when Melissa couldn’t offer an alternate explanation, the team deemed the injuries were “consistent with child abuse.
So, as the Brights struggled with medical decisions, the bills those would entail, and the difficulties of parenting from the hospital, they also now needed to placate CPS and fend off accusations of child abuse.
They tried to agree on an in-home monitoring plan, but before Mason even left the hospital, CPS supervisor Niesha Edwards instead decided the kids would have to go live with Dillon’s mother in her home in Baytown, more than an hour away.
Meanwhile, the Texas Children’s Hospital hematology department found that Mason likely had a blood clotting disorder. That could have explained how a fall from a lawn chair could generate so much bleeding and so many problems, but it also meant that there could be more problems ahead – and there were.
The head injury didn’t heal as planned, and before leaving the hospital baby Mason ended up needing a hole drilled in his brain to relieve pressure. Afterwards, according to the Brights, doctors warned that if the family wanted to avoid a second surgery it was important to keep the child from crying.
But that would require nursing – and CPS wouldn’t let Melissa live with the child.
After he was released from the hospital, the baby went to Baytown – but eventually caring for a medically fragile child became too much Dillon’s mother, and the Brights wanted to move their baby closer to home with an aunt and uncle in Tomball.
But the agency dragged its feet in approving that move, repeatedly promising answers and failing to deliver, records show. Eventually, Dillon called caseworker Jones, according to court records, and told him that since CPS hadn’t followed through on getting approval and the current plan was quickly becoming infeasible, the Brights planned to bring the kids home.
So they did.
Twenty-two days passed.
Then, on Sept. 18, Jones texted to ask how the kids were – and Melissa sent along happy photos and a health update.
The next day, Jones marched into court and – without notifying the Brights of the court appearance – filed a petition asking for emergency custody of the children who, he said, were in “immediate and continuing danger.”
He didn’t tell the court about the diagnosed blood disorder, which could have explained some of the medical problems. And he didn’t mention that the parents had gotten a second medical opinion that explained the second, hairline fracture.
So, just after noon on Sept. 19, a court approved the removal.
“It didn’t even dawn on me that he was going to show up and take our kids,” Melissa told the Chronicle. “It wasn’t even on our radar, especially after it being so long.”
That night, the children were separated and both taken to foster care. The caseworker didn’t even leave behind a copy of the order of removal as required by law, family attorney Slate said.
***
A few weeks later, in early October, the parents, their lawyers, CPS workers and county attorneys showed up in court again for a three-day hearing to figure out whether the state had enough cause to keep the kids.
When questioned about his the earlier claims he’d made during the Sept. 19 emergency hearing and about the agency’s reasons for removing the kids, Jones pleaded the Fifth, making for a case the judge found thoroughly unconvincing.
“It is not possible,” Schneider said in court last month, “to look at the facts and imagine that the agency actually felt there was any sort of urgent need for protection to remove the children.”
When Schneider sided with the Brights, the case moved on to a November sanctions hearing, where Slate and fellow attorney Stephanie Proffitt argued that the agency’s efforts to take the kids were based on such groundless arguments that they should be forced to pay the family for legal fees and other costs – a total of more than $127,000.
Over the course of five days, the court heard testimony from the Brights, a program director and supervisor Edwards who drew incredulous looks in the courtroom when she so frequently claimed that she didn’t know, couldn’t answer or didn’t understand the questions that Slate eventually asked whether she had any knowledge that made her qualified to make decisions.
Slate and Proffitt laid out a litany of accusations, including claims that workers had altered computer records to match an affidavit, intentionally failed to turn over incriminating text messages, and plowed ahead with the “bad faith” removal to avoid telling their program director they had not checked on the kids for 22 days.
“We’re not here to get a pound of flesh from CPS,” Slate said. “I haven’t solved the riddle of why they would – knowing that were going to be caught in a perjury trap – continue going on with the case, except that they didn’t want to tell their program director. It’s baffling to me.”
Stephen Dieu with the Harris County Attorney’s Office, which represented CPS in the hearing, accused the family’s attorneys of “cherry-picking” text messages and records, and argued repeatedly that the agency was protected by sovereign immunity.
“There are legal remedies but this is not the one,” he said. “The department cannot be sanctioned.”
But a look back at agency records would show that’s not true. Seven years ago, Slate and Proffitt won a $32,000 sanction in another case involving a “groundless” removal where the agency didn’t tell the parents about the emergency hearing and waited hours to take the kids after courts closed.
“When we got the sanctions in 2011, we really thought that would open somebody’s eyes,” Proffitt said. “There are only a handful of cases in Harris County that have even filed for sanctions. There’s no repercussions.”
This time, there were.
In a scathing ruling from the bench on Thursday, Schneider dinged the agency for being “dishonest” and possibly “malicious,” saying the entire removal and subsequent legal battle never would have happened if the agency just told the Brights about the emergency removal hearing and gave them a chance to defend themselves at the start.
“We do need to deal with the issue of how we make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said, before ordering the agency to pay $127,000 and giving them two weeks to create new training for its workers.
But, Schneider said, there was one thing the family requested that he could not order: an apology.
In recent years, DCFS throughout the nation has been targeting perfectly good parents and slamming their kids into foster care where they languish and sometimes even die without their parents. Ripping kids from their parents has to have a better process and procedure and rights for good parents. Currently the proceedings are held in secret and parents are routinely denied their court file, the state’s attorneys’ files and even their own attorney’s files.
I knew someone in a similar situation. She spoke to an attorney immediately. The attorney advised her to take her child somewhere, such as to her own mother’s house, and stay there until her child’s pediatrician’s office opened. At that time she was to take the child directly to the pediatrician for an examination.
That’s what she did. The pediatrician wrote a letter with the date of the examination, with the fact that he had been the child’s pediatrician since whatever the date of the initial visit (in this case, since the child had been brought home from the hospital after his birth), and with a statement that there were currently no signs of abuse or neglect and had never been any signs of abuse or neglect since the child’s birth. The letter also contained information for the CPS worker to use to contact the physician.
With the physician’s statement that there had been no signs of abuse or neglect the up to and after the time the report had been made, no CPS worker would have grounds to intervene. If a CPS worker did come to the home, the parent would be able to say that a threat by a neighbor caused the parent to take the child to the pediatrician. Then the parent could give copies of the physician’s letter to both the worker and the police. This is probably the best way to get CPS to back off. It would also be a good way to get a copy of the letter into the police files. In case of further trouble, an attorney might appreciate proof from the police that the letter had been presented to CPS at the initial contact.
You can’t prevent someone from making a report, but you probably can prevent any investigation from going further than a knock on your door, and yes, you should step outside and make it clear that you will not allow anyone to enter your home without a valid reason.
See below. In far too many corrupt cases, GAL’s Child Reps and attorneys are asking the judge to place gag orders against Facebook Blogging, posts and pages. All of this is highly unconstitutional under the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Below is a sample Motion to Vacate a Gag Order. In most states, you have to file a Motion to Vacate based upon “good cause” in 30 days, or where a gross mistake of law was made, within 2 years.
Gag orders are considered immediately appealable because they are injunctions in effect. Illinois has a 2 day shortened period to appeal with a decision being made in about a week, or the aggrieved party can file a normal Notice of Appeal in 30 days and ask for an expedited briefing schedule.
Other states may have different rules for appeals of gag orders.
Sample motion:
Firm Code pro se
THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE X JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
X COUNTY, Y STATE
FATHER NAME, Petitioner
v.
MOTHER NAME Respondent
Case No. XXXX
Hon Judge’s Name
Court Room x
Zoom Information X
MOTION TO VACATE GAG ORDERS (NON FINAL ORDERS)
Now comes Respondent Mother X and motions this honorable court to vacate the following gag orders on the grounds they are patently unconstitutional, overbroad, and not issued in accordance with 7th circuit law which requires strict strutiny: 1) Order of X date that litigants could not talk about the case on social media and 2) Order of Y date where it was added to the previous order that litigants could not talk about the case or the attorneys on the case on social media. In addition on Z date the court order stated that DCFS (who is not a party to this case and the court accordingly has no jurisdiction over them) was ordered not to permit any additional sexual assault kit testing on the children.
Each of the foregoing gag orders are unconsitutional and violate the rights of Respondent Mother and must be vacated. Further, the Order against DCFS is invalid because DCFS is not a party to the case and this court has no jurisdiction over DCFS which is an agency of the State of X or its employees. DCFS has not filed an appearance in this case.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
On X Respondent Mother was raped by the Petitioner in this matter, (father’s name). She reported it to the police 3 days later. She then had a rape test kit done at X Hospital in Elgin, Illinois. The Elgin police department has now received back the results of the test kit and have found a DNA match with Father.
On March 25, 2019, Respondent Mother filed for an Order of Protection in the X County Court system, Case No. Y. That case has since been consolidated into the above case.
Respondent Mother was granted both an Emergency Order of Protection and a Plenary Order of Protection which expires 4/11/21,
The parties have two children, SW born X date and JB born Y date.
In August 2018 Mother was raped by Father. This rape was not reported to the police, but the parties separated and Father was told he could not live with Mother until he received counseling and got a job. He never went to get DV counseling, nor has he obtained a job.
In October of 2018, Father lied to Mother and told her he was in counseling for psychopathy. Mother did not know at the time that psychopathy is not curable, and there is no treatment for it. She has spent long hours since then studying up on what a psychopath is, how dangerous they are and how there is no cure for psychopathy because a psychopath enjoys being a psychopath.
In December of 2018, Father was trying to pressure Mother into sex, he was mean, cruel, and abusive. He locked her out of the house, called her a whore, slut, a bitch, etc….. and threatened to murder her. This was done in front of the children. He threatened to take the children to X country and she would never see them again.
Petitioner Father continued to live with Mother because his name was on the lease and he threatened to kill her if she left and take the kids and she would never see her children again. He repeated these statements to Mother’s boss on March 22, 2019.
In January or February of 2019, Father hit SW so hard he left bruises because she refused to go to bed.
On Feb. 27, 2019, Petitioner Father told Mother that she had to have sex with him and she refused and he became enraged.
From the first time that Mother was raped by Father until March 22, 2019, Petitioner Father insisted he was seeing a counselor for his antisocial behavior. . In addition, Petitioner Father admitted he lied to Mother about seeing a psychologist.
On March 22, 2019 Petitioner Father admitted in a text message that he never went to counseling.
In November, 2018, Mother was told by SW that her grandfather Father was hitting her. In December of 2018, SW then reported that her Grandfather hit Grandmother, his second wife.
In March of 2019, SW complained that grandpa was touching her “down there” and there was a large bruise on her lower backside. She made it clear he was not just touching her vulva, but was inserting his fingers in her vagina. She was 3 at the time. Mother called a child psychologist to make an appointment, but the child psychologist insisted on Mother taking SW to her pediatrician for a sexual assault exam. She took SW to the pediatrician on March 25, 2019. Mother showed a bruise on her lower back and she examined the child and referred the case to DCFS. The pediatrician believed that there was a problem with either the father or grandfather but not with Mother.
The diagnosis from the pediatrician was parental concern regarding child sexual abuse and a referral to DCFS to investigate.
On April, 19, 2019 SW came home after visitation with her dad, and her lower back was even larger than before and there were scratches on her legs, and there was a large bruise under her right butt cheek, and her vulva was bright red and looked irritated. SW said that grandpa hit me and threw me down and that Grandpa had given her a bath. Mother took her to the police station who then advised Mother to take SW to Hospital.
Mother took SW to Hospital and the doctor diagnosed her with contusions and domestic concerns. The police took pictures of the child’s back. Doctors at Community Hospital said they could not do a rape test kit for children there, that Mother had to take the child to Childrens Memorial Hospital in Chicago. One doctor did not think it was necessary, so Mother did not take the child to Childrens Memorial Hospital in Chicago because it was 4 am.
A doctor then contacted Mother the next day from Children Memorial Hospital and that doctor asked her to bring in SW. SW was brought in the following Monday as requested. On that Monday, SW had an anal swab and a rape kit test performed. This was done in April of 2019. SW has been observed on numerous occasions in the late part of 2018 through 2019 acting out sexually, particularly with men. This was not normal behavior for a three year old child.
In May of 2019, SW told Mother and the court appointed supervisor, Heather W, that Grandpa had touched her with “mommy finger and daddy finger” on her vulva, this is a reference to a children’s song which would be index finger and middle finger. Mother contacted her DCFS case worker and the case worker continued her investigation for abuse of the child by the father and/or grandfather.
In June of 2019, SW had bruising on her sides and back. SW reported that “grandpa threw me down.” SW said that this was because grandpa was mad at her.
In June 2019, JB had a bruise on his forehead over his left eye. Since he was about 2 years old he could not say what happened to him. He was non verbal at the time.
On July 9, 2019, SW had a black eye. She said that Grandpa got mad and hit her. This was reported to DCFS and a photo was sent to the caseworker.
On July 22, 2019, SW came home with a split lip. She refused to say how it happened. Whenever Mother asked her about the injury, SW would start to cry.
In retaliation for Mother filing an Order of Protection against Father, Father filed a Petition for Parentage on April 8, 2019 and asked for temporary and permanent residential custody of SW and JB, despite his long history of abusing both Mother and the children.
On April 24, 2019, Petitioner filed a Petition for a Rule to Show Cause because allegedly Mother did not sign up for Our Family Wizard and she was not responding to Petitioner’s messages. This was a false petition. However, the Judge ignored the Petition and never ruled on it. Mother in fact did sign up for Our Family Wizard and did in fact answer all of Petitioner’s messages in a timely manner.
On April 15, 2019, without any Petition having been filed, the court granted an order to allow Petitioner 4 days per week parenting time.
On April 24, 2019, Respondent Mother filed an Emergency Petition to Restrict the parenting time of Father due to his abusive behavior and the abusive behavior of the grandfather who lived with Father in P suburb. The judge ignored the pleading, but issued an order that the Grandfather would be barred from seeing the children SW and JB. When asked how that would work because Grandfather and Father live together, Judge X stated that “grandfather could just go into another room.” Judge X also said there would be an evidentiary hearing on the issue of parenting time on May 2, 2019, but that never happened, instead the court held a status conference.
In Mother’s Petition which was filed on April 24, 2019, she made numerous serious allegations of abuse, detailed on pages 2 to 3, ¶ ¶ 8 to 10 therein.
On April 30, 2019, Petitioner filed for a continuance of the evidentiary hearing set for May 2, 2019.
On May 15, 2019 Petitioner filed an “Emergency Motion” to Restrict Respondent’s parenting time based upon a plethora of false allegations not found in the records at all. The Petitioner falsely accused Mother of screaming at the police and DCFS, of acting irrational in front of them, of threatening suicide, of harming the children, etc. when there is nothing whatsoever in the medical records, DCFS records or police records to substantiate these claims. The May 15, 2019 Petition was not filed with any evidence whatsoever to support these claims and it was utterly false. It is believed that the Petition was filed in retaliation for Respondent Mother revealing a history of psychopathy and abuse by the Petitioner to both Mother and her children. There is no evidence whatsoever that Mother has PTSD around her children or has any suicidal thoughts. That is not reflected in any reports whatsoever of DCFS, the police or her medical records or psychological evaluation. Again, this pleading is false and baseless.
On July 10, 2019, Petitioner filed a Petition for a Rule to Show Cause against Mother for her posts on social media. Specifically, in ¶ 6 on page 1, Petitioner claims that Mother cannot refer to him as a “rapist” or “liar” despite the fact she has filed a police report against him for rape, she has reported the rapes to this court and to her therapists and is obtaining counseling for the DV. In addition, since Respondent has admitted to being a psychopath (i.e., narcissist or sociopath), he is a liar, has admitted numerous lies to Respondent, and Petitioner is only presenting the truth on social media. Also he has admitted to raping Mother and lying to her and to possessing child pornography.
Petitioner has a constitutional right to talk about her case on social media in an honest and truthful fashion. Since Respondent has admitted he lies and has raped her and has possessed child porn, the statements are truthful and are protected by the First Amendment.
In addition, Mother has a page on her Facebook Account, which is a public group with over 1,000 members. Mother publishes frequently on the status of her case, her struggles and on the status of many other troubled custody cases in Illinois and the U.S. Mother has a First Amendment right to do this and she is a protected reporter and part of media in Illinois and the U.S. Respondent, the lawyers and court have no right or authority to interfere in her First Amendment rights.
In addition, those who have stated on the transcript that she should not or cannot contact DCFS or the police may be charged with Obstruction of Justice, for which there is no immunity. Mother reports truthfully on her case and on other cases.
Media and its reporters may assert defenses to defamation and false light suits for: litigation privilege, reporter’s privilege, hyperbole, exaggeration, opinion and other well recognized defenses. Father has not sued Mother for defamation, false light or libel.
On August 30, 2019, counsel for Father filed a Motion for a Restraining Order against Mother for her reporting activities on Facebook. He claims that he and his employees have been threatened by unknown third parties. However, he is the one who chose to represent an abusive Father. He is getting paid handsomely to represent an abusive Father, perhaps $300 per hour or more. He has a law degree and bar admission. He has been practicing law for over 26 years. He claims to be an award winning attorney. Mother has received repeated death threats over the years from her ex partner and she is not whining about them that she needs to stop counsel’s social media posts, if he ever makes any, nor has she ever asked for a gag order against him or his client.
Further, Attorney Scott Sheen claims that Mother is “mentally ill” but she has had two psych evaluations that reveals she has no known mental illnesses. Her transcripts show she is lucid, clear thinking and does a better job arguing her case than Mr. Sheen. Perhaps Mr. Sheen is the one that needs a psych evaluation. (In one recent pleading, he filed a Rule to Show Cause and repeatedly moved for sanctions against “SW”–the couple’s three year old child. He needs to read his pleadings before signing them. His client does too, but his client has an excuse, he does in fact have a mental impairment as shown by Father’ psych evaluation.
LEGAL ARGUMENT-–NO RIGHT TO SEAL COURT INFORMATION In the present case, the court has made it clear that they do not want Respondent Mother to talk about the case, the litigants or even the attorneys. This is tantamount to a sealing of the case, without actually sealing the case. Respondent Mother is a mother of two young children who has suffered severe physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her ex partner for years, and now believes that her children may also be suffering from abuse at the hands of her ex partner, an admitted liar, rapist and abuser. She is also working on her case pro se and needs the support and advice of other people who have suffered the same fate in the court system. The presumption of public access “disallows the routine and perfunctory closing of judicial records.” Cendant, 260 F.3d at 193-94. Before records can be sealed, the party advocating secrecy must meet its “burden of showing that the material is the kind of information that courts will protect” and that “disclosure will work a clearly defined and serious injury.” Id. at 194 (internal quotations omitted). Only specific and identifiable privacy interests, such as genuine trade secrets, privilege, or interests created by statute or court rule justify sealing the record in civil cases. Baxter Int’l, Inc. v. Abbott Labs., 297 F.3d 544, 546 (7th Cir. 2002); Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. FTC, 710 F.2d 1165, 1178 (6th Cir. 1983). “Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated reasoning, are insufficient.” Hammock, 142 N.J. at 381-82, 662 A.2d at 559; Cendant, 260 F.3d at 194. Even assuming that the parties satisfy their burden of identifying a compelling privacy interest, they must still show that the interests in secrecy substantially outweigh the strong public presumption of access. Hammock, 142 N.J. at 381, 662 A.2d at 559; Cendant, 260 F.3d at 194. This balancing process must be conducted separately for each document to be sealed. Hammock, 142 N.J. at 381-82, 662 A.2d at 559. Moreover, “to have the least intrusive effect on the public’s right-ofaccess,” an entire document should not be sealed when it is possible to redact just the private information. Hammock, 142 N.J. at 382, 662 A.2d at 559. In addition to the common-law right of access, the First Amendment provides a right of access to judicial decisions and other sorts of filings in civil cases. N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. J.B., 120 N.J. 112, 119-123, 576 A.2d 261, 264-66 (N.J. 1990); Publicker Indus., Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059, 1067-71 (3d Cir. 1984). The presumption of openness under the First Amendment is even stronger than the common-law presumption and can be overcome only by showing “an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest.” Publicker, 733 F.2d at 1073 (internal quotation omitted); In re Providence Journal Co., 293 F.3d 1, 11 (1st Cir. 2002). In the present case, there is absolutely no need to place a gag order on anyone. The Petitioner has already admitted to rape, lying and possession of child pornography. Those are his admissions and he should live with them. Respondent has published truthfully about her case and she is seeking the advice of some 1,000 members of her Facebook page for how to proceed in this case. She reports on her case and is part of the media. Likely her Facebook page is shared on other Facebook Pages, timelines and other blogs. She has the right to disseminate blow by blow information about her case, publish anything filed in her case, and neither the court nor the attorneys should interfere with or suppress her First Amendment rights. WHEREFORE, Respondent Mother respectfully moves for an order reversing the gag orders of August 14, 2019 and September 5, 2019 wherein she was ordered not to discuss, comment upon or disclose any case information regarding the parties, the court or the lawyers. Such Orders are clearly overbroad and violate her First Amendment Rights. Copies of these orders are attached hereto. Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/Mother/
Mother , pro se Appellant
Prepared by: Mother address Phone email:
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have served on the following parties a copy of the foregoing Motion to Vacate Gag orders via the Clerk of Court’s ECF system on October 8, 2019.
/s/Mother/
Respondent Appellant Pro Se
NOTICE OF FILING
This is to notify you that on October 8, 2019 I filed the foregoing Notice of Appeal electronically with the Clerk of Court’s website via the ecf online filing system.
/s/Mother/ Respondent Appellant, Mother , pro se Mother
VERIFICATION
I hereby verify that the statements made herein are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and recollection and where based upon information and belief, were believed to be true at the time the statements were made.
s/Mother/ Respondent Mother , pro se
NOTICE OF MOTION
You are herewith notified that I shall present the foregoing Motion to Vacate Gag Orders on October 9, 2019 in Court Room 100 of the X County Circuit Court at 9:00 am.
This petition concerns the removal of my husband, Charlie Thrash on March 6, 2019 from his home at 310 Harvard Oak, Shavano Park, TX 78230 (a teeny community of approximately 3,926 people, which is surrounded by San Antonio) by Mary Werner, wife of the Mayor of Shavano Park, acting under guardianship orders of Judge Oscar Kazen, who also lives in Shavano Park.
It did not matter one whit to Oscar Kazen – not only a judge, but also a lawyer who is expected to know Probate Law – that I held a valid Durable Power of Attorney, signed by Charlie on June 24, 2016, naming me as Charlie’s agent. Oscar has only ever heard the one-sided argument the attorneys Cavaretta, Katona & Leighner (CKL-Lawyers.com) keep bleating: that since I was not married to Charlie I had no standing in a guardianship hearing, thus denying me my rights as a spouse, which indeed, even as a common-law wife, gives me priority standing over the estranged family member – a grand niece of Charlie’s named Tonya Barina, the self-appointed applicant to become guardian of Charlie’s estate, a right to which Barina was awarded on November 15, 2018, by then-Judge Tom Rickhoff.
As the first judge in the case, Tom Rickhoff appeared to at least respect Charlie’s wishes that he remain in his Shavano Park home, with me as guardian of Charlie’s person. But once Oscar Kazen was elected to Bexar County Probate Court Judge and assumed office in January 2019, replacing Tom Rickhoff, Oscar had no such compunction, and Oscar Kazen replaced me as Guardian of Charlie’s person, and put in my place his neighbor Mary Werner, wife of the Mayor of the small community in which we all lived – Shavano Park Mary Werner was awarded Charlie in guardianship by her neighbor & chosen political candidate for judgeship, Oscar Kazen, acting in his capacity as probate judge, on January 29, 2019.
And by March 6, 2019, Charlie was removed from our home, I was evicted along with my three adult children, all property inside the house was seized, whether it belonged to me and my adult children – or Charlie – and we were made instantly homeless.
On April 4, 2019, lawyers acting for Mary Werner and Tonya Barina filed motions to sanction myself, my adult daughter Brittany Martinez-Thrash, and our attorney Phil Ross a total $262,391.77, adding court-ordered debt and impoverishment to the misery of homelessness the court had inflicted upon us. less than a month earlier. The motions to sanction me, Brittany and Phil is based upon misrepresentations to the Court as to the full reading of Texas Estates Code §1055.003(d) and §1051.104(a)(5), both of which give me, Laura Martinez-Thrash, as holder of Power Of Attorney signed by Charlie in 2016, priority over guardianship (in front of Tonya Barina) and standing in the court to be party to Charlie’s guardianship — all rights denied to me by Oscar Kazen, acting under half-complete and inaccurate instructions & descriptions of these statutes.
Oscar Kazen legally holds the authority as a probate judge to rule any way he likes on any guardianship case that comes before him. The only way the citizens have to hold Oscar Kazen accountable is to vote him out of office, but they can’t vote out Charlie’s court appointed guardian, Mary Werner, who lives around the corner from from Kazen, or hold her accountable for her actions.
It should raise red flags that the Mayor Bob and his wife Mary Werner hosted a political fundraiser for Oscar Kazen’s election to Bexar County Probate Judge in 2018 the position of power from which Oscar has taken Charlie from his home, seized approximately $3,000,000 of Charlie’s money, and awarded Charlie as a ward to Mary Werner, for her financial enrichment and career advancement.
I ask you: Is it not Public Corruption when a politician’s elected office is financed and his election ensured, by the very same people who then financially benefit from the rulings and orders the judge issues from his bench?
If there’s any abuse of power over Charlie’s assets going on, it’s been done under the authority of the court-appointed Guardian of the Estate, Tonya Barina, who has sold millions of dollars of Charlie’s assets to pay both Mary Werner’s and Tonya Barina’s lawyers to defend their control over Charlie and his estate.
List of Charlie’s property sold off: his home his condominium his hangar at Boerne Airport his airplanes his prized Corvette, trucks, cars his prized Harley motorcycles his prized Triumph motorcycles his gun collection his personal jewelry – Rolex watch, 14K gold Cadillac signet ring, 14K gold class ring his safe deposit box at Frost Bank, believed to have contained $100,000+/- cash, jewelry, coins & other valuables – all seized by Tonya Barina, who has not provided any inventory. his businesses on West Ave, including all equipment, tools, and inventory his livelihood and a means of earning money
Total estimated cost of Charlie’s assets and possessions sold to pay for Mary Werner and Tonya Barina: a minimum of $2.5 to $3 Million dollars, from which a Guardian of the Estate, by Section 1155.003(b) “A fee of five percent of the gross income of the ward’s estate and five percent of all money paid out of the estate…” which could equal $150,000 – $200,000 Tonya Barina created for herself – all by filing and being awarded guardianship of her estranged, but quite wealthy, grand-uncle, whom she had never met, until she guardianized him on Nov 15, 2018.
List of Attorneys paid from Charlie’s estate: Kristopher L. Bowen, Jr., the Bowen Partners Andrea Tidwell Bowen, the Bowen Partners Karen R. Andersen, the Andersen Firm Laura Cavaretta, Caravetta, Katona, Leighner Les Katona, Jr., Caravetta, Katona, Leighner William Leighner, Caravetta, Katona, Leighner Barrett Shipp, Shipp, Ecke, Cromeens
Total estimated cost of all attorneys paid for out of Charlie’s estate (and there are no limits on how much lawyers can charge an estate for keeping a person under guardianship, where the lawyer have open access to all funds from which to be paid) — at a minimum 262,391.77 but most likely the legal fees removed from Charlie’s liquidated assets most probably approaches $1 Million – all to keep Charlie in a guardianship which is unwanted and unneeded.
Attorney paid for by the taxpayers of Bexar County representing Oscar Kazen: Martin Collins – Staff Attorney for Bexar County
For all these reasons, and many more, available at the website FreeCharlieThrash.com, We, the undersigned
1. Call upon Mary Werner to resign as guardian of Charlie’s Person, in favor of Laura Martinez-Thrash.
2. Call upon Oscar Kazen to immediately:
Recuse himself from Charlie Thrash’s guardianship case, and
Pledge to recuse himself in any proceeding to appoint his neighbor and political fundraiser, Mary Werner as guardian of residents of Shavano Park.
3. Call upon Mayor Bob Werner to immediately:
Explain the privately-held, non-profit corporation Going Green in Shavano Park that is registered as a taxpayer entity at his home, as well as release a complete membership list, and all minutes, records, purchases, and assets this privately-held corporation had in determining that the entire community of Shavano Park would become dedicated to environmental causes that many voters, resident and taxpayers may not wish to see their tax dollars dedicated to; and
Explain and list in detail all financial support provided to neighbor Oscar Kazen in his successful bid to become a Bexar County Probate Judge, including all parties hosted at the Mayor & Mary Werner’s residence Shavano Park, for Oscar Kazen residing at Shavano Park, any other functions held anywhere for Oscar’s election as Probate Judge, as well as all in-kind contributions of any value.
Sincerely,
Laura Martinez-Thrash Wife of Charlie Thrash
Brittany Martinez-Thrash Adult daughter of Laura, adopted by Charlie
Billy Duncan Friend of Charlie Thrash since 1953
V. Warren Jennings, Friend of Charlie Thrash since 1953
An Article from April 16, 2020 – Why has the media censored the wanton killing of the elderly at these sheltered care facilities – WHO IS PROFITING?
AS I listen to the hourly commentary on the toll of the virus, which apparently has now been surplanted by the debacle in Washington yesterday, it interesting to note how little emphasis had been root causes of the deaths of so many senior citizens. Why the censorship of a key aspect of the pandemic?
YOU HAVE 3 GUESSES AND THE FIRST 150 DO NOT COUNT!
Tip leads police to 17 bodies at a New Jersey nursing home
Updated 2:17 AM ET, Thu April 16, 2020One of the two buildings of Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center, in Andover, New Jersey.
(CNN)A tip of a body in a shed led Andover Police to one of New Jersey’s largest nursing homes Monday eveningwhere they found 17 bodies in the facility’s morgue, one of the responding officers told CNN.The officers responding to the Andover Subacute and Rehab Center II didn’t find a body in the shed, but employees asked them for assistance with the bodies in the morgue.”The staff was clearly overwhelmed and probably short-staffed,” Andover Police Chief Eric Danielson, one of the responding officers, told CNN. “The residents were expiring. Why? We’re not sure if it’s from Covid-19 or from other diseases, but we tried our best to ease the burden.”
Four bodies remained on site, and the other 13 were transferred to a refrigerated trailer at Newton Medical Center. Danielson did not provide any identifying details regarding the victims.
Travesties in probate are commonplace where there is money involved. Ex parte hearings occur all the time. The mortgage foreclosure in Sallas was intended to be disposed of ex-parte. The attorneys available for defending these lawsuits seem to have a common pattern. Stall! The client agrees to a monthly retainer – something very reasonable – a couple a hundred a month. When the case comes up, they ask for a continuance. A motion is sometimes filed – this drags the case a couple of months, and finally the motion is heard, denied, judgment of foreclosure is entered and the case drags to a sale. The sale is had, confirmed and finally the foreclosure victim is subject to eviction. The lawyer has stalled the case 8 to 12 months and has a few thousand dollars in his pocket. Four or five of these foreclosures and for virtually no work a couple of thousand dollars is in hand. Dean Sallas ran across one of these lawyers – when he learned that Dean had a defense and wished to use it, the lawyer resigned. Dean contacted several other lawyers – they ran like hell when they heard that Dean wanted to present a defense. The problem does not end at the fly by night lawyers who prey on the helpless. Few attorneys are willing to undertake the ‘hard cases’ wherein people with clout are the miscreants. The Sallas case is particularly a problem – not only do we have a Judge in the primary guardianship case who should be disbarred and removed from the bench,alleged criminal conduct by the guardians including the public guardian of Cook County but Sallas is attacking a fundamental avenue of recompense of the Political and Judical elite – GUARDIANSHIP. Guardianship provides the political elite with a tax free source of revenue that can be totally hidden from public view. Let me explain once again. Dean and Amelia Sallas own a home in Skokie. The home has an equity of 1/4 million dollars. The foreclosure allows a judicial sale of the home. The guardian’s control and dominion over Dean and Amelia’s finances prevents any action by Dean to protect his home directly or indirectly. At the foreclosure sale, the property will be sold. The Byline Bank can purchase the property and even though the Rules of Court require the property to be sold for x% of value, if the Court approves the sale it can be sold at super bargain price. There are equities of redemption but they are rarely exercised. The Guardian by signing the mortgage himself has two shots at protecting the theft – assuming that Dean can get a lawyer to represent him. The sale bid will allow a small deficiency judgment in favor of the Byline Bank. Once a judgment is final appeal rights accrue in the foreclosure action. Any appeal by Sallas, pro se or otherwise is premature and will be dismissed. The notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days. The net, net as long as the guardian is in place Dean is checkmated. The sale in these cases is usually completed through a nominee. The miscreant organization has dozens of nominees, some actually are real people who can front for the real purchaser. The real purchaser may be a group, a single political individual, etc. Title is passed, ByLine Bank (the institution) is made who and the principals are provided a bonus – This bonus can be a discount on some tangible property, a lucrative deal etc. The net is Dean and Amelia can easily lose their home and the corrupt judges, lawyers and ARDC stand silent. Even the states attorneys and FBI will not look into these case schemes and declare them corrupt from the get go. The nominee, holds the property until the equity of redemption has expired, and a series of mesne sales takes place. This may take some time. In a house such as the Sallas house where the land value and the house plus land value are approximately the same, while the title his held by one of the mesne purchasers the land can be cleared and a new dwelling constructed so that the full value of the property can be realized. In the case of the Sallas property 3/4 of a million dollars to 1 million dollar new house is possible. With construction costs of about 1/4 of the new set purchase price it is not inconceivable that the new net net, het profit would be a capital gain of as high 1/2 a million dollars. The 1/4 of a million dollars in equity that Sallas enjoyed is wiped out. It has long disappeared and the new tax base is the price paid at the foreclosure sale plus the cost of the new construction. The Sallas equity quietly disappears into the collective pockets of the guardian and whomever shares in the venture. The capital gain is the Federal Government’s contribution to the HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY and the excuse for the Department of the Treasury (IRS) to look the other way. Any they do! In the academic world = not the real world, BREACH OF FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIP is a taxable event. Thus the entire sum would be taxable income jointly and severally to all the co-conspirators. Even Grant Goodman would not be so naïve as to expect the United States of America to ferret out the miscreants and send them a tax bill – certainly collection of the taxes is unthinkable. the incentive for HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY is just too great for the Political and Judicial elite to ignore. Why law enforcement is so reluctant to enforce the law is quite similar to why lawyers are afraid to represent people such as Dean Salla defense of this mortgage foreclosure. Dean has filed MOTIONS TO DISMISS. In a State that takes pride in itself and the Constitution the MOTIONS would be sua sponde granted and Law Enforcement would be called in to investigate the criminal conduct that has permeated the Sallas case. The miscreants would take up residence in prison! Unfortunately we live in Illinois!
Interesting approach. Purchase the claim from the perspective client and prosecute the claim pro se – if I reading the decision properly. An individual may sell his claims to another individual and that purchaser may prosecute the claim. A pro se does not need a law license. This gambit of Goodman’s failed because the Court applied the ‘substance/fact’ test. If it looks like duck, smells like a duck, swims like a duck and has feathers like a duck, it is legally a duck! Nice try.
Earlier today from 10 am to approximately 1:30 pm, attorney Sharon Opryszek of the Illinois ARDC insisted on taking my deposition over a blog post regarding Alan Dannowitz, a targeted individual. There was nothing wrong with that post and I told SO so, but she continued to harass me over it. She asked why I did not file a petition to become reinstated after my suspension was over and I responded that I had morals and ethics and had no desire to be part of an overtly corrupt organization (the IARDC) and that will only happen when hell freezes over at least 3 times, maybe more. I pointed out the fact the judgment was false and she knew it, the court reporter was unlicensed for 10 years, was under an IDPFR order to return any moneys she took for court reporting during that time and Illinois law provides any judgment from a trial where the court reporter is unlicensed is invalid. She had nothing to say about that.
I knew the deposition was nothing but harassment because:
she refused my reasonable request to change the time from 10 am to 2 pm.
she refused my request for a copy of the transcript to be made public and published on this blog
she was not interested in any case law that clearly supported my position (Alvarez case, Kentucky therapist case, 7th circuit and other cases on sealing files, etc.)
she continually attempted to mischaraterize and twist my words until I started to twist her words around and then it was no fun for her any longer.
I am demanding that attorney Opryszek provide me with a copy of the deposition so I can publish it on my blog.
Ken Ditkowsky has a few more words for her, to wit:
possible use of State of Illinois facilities to accomplish the Felony of intimidation!
Subject: Attempts being made to intimidate persons active in the fight against HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY. A reported recent reported attempt by Sharon Opryszek. Ms. Sharon Opryszek claims to be an attorney employee of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The IARDC is a State of Illinois funded entity under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Illinois.
While I as a citizen make no allegation concerning the suspicious conduct of Ms. Opryszek, I do note that in the past and in today’s activity the utilities of the State of Illinois have been allegedly used in what appears to be an effort to discourage the publication of the Blogs MaryGSykes.com and Justice4Every1.com. These blogs have been published by my friend JoAnne Denison as part of her effort to communicate with and educate the public as to the WAR against the elderly that has been raging and so far in the Covid 19 pandemic appears to have been responsible for a significant number of the over 100,000 deaths attributed to nursing homes and questionable predatory guardianships.
Ms. Denison and other citizens of the United States of America have been and are preventing the censorship and ‘cover-up’ of the serious felonies that are in my opinion a proximate cause of the large number of ‘sheltered care’ facilities deaths. The information that I received was that Ms. Oprzszek, acting under color of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (IARDC )employment informed Ms. Denison that she (Denison) had to appear for a DEPOSITION. As a deposition implies an official investigation it makes a representation that an official inquiry is being conducted. Denison is reported to have attorned to and participated in the Deposition. She has consented to and I believe will do so in writing to a copy of her deposition being made public so that all may see what, if anything, Ms. Oprzszek in her official capacity as an officer of the States of Illinois has done or is doing in connection with whatever investigation she is conducting concerning Ms. Denison. I understand that there was and is an official Court reporter employed for the purpose of making a public record of such depositions. DEMAND is made for the IARDC to furnish INSTANTER a written copy of any deposition, interview, or whatever it may be called to be furnished to Ms. Denison instanter so that IT MAY BE PUBLISHED in her blogs and where-ever she deems appropriate.
Please allow me to be blunt. It is my understanding that in the course of Attorney Denison’s sojourn in the company of citizens who object to the FELONIES of “elder cleansing” not only was she stripped of her law license in proceedings that in my opinion disgrace the 2nd oldest profession in Illinois and our State of Illinois, but she has been the subject of repeated threats to her person, her profession, her status and attempts on her life. The obvious direct link to Ms. Denison’s refusal to be mute as Elder Victims of Human Trafficking are victimized and pushed through the Courts. In particular I call attention to the current pending case of Amelia Sallas 07 P 5360 and its related foreclosure suit entitled BYLINE BANK vs. Amelia Sallas et al 2019 CH 13960[1] OneDrive
Illinois is not a totalitarian State, but subject to not only the Illinois Constitution, but the Constitution of the States of America. The right of association and free speech is not dependent on the consent or attornment of public or judicial officials – HOWEVER, in my opinion it appears to me that individuals at the IARDC have made a conscious effort to intimidate Attorney Denison and have referred to her CONSTITUTIONALLY protected Blog as a prohibited entity.
Any assault on the FIRST AMENDMENT by any government or quasi government official or entity is reprehensible and CRIMINAL. Thus, in the spirt of the HIMMEL case and ABA rule 8.3 I am making a public demand for Ms. Sharon Opryszek to forthwith instanter turn over to Ms. JoAnne Denison a true and correct copy of her deposition and for Attorney Denison to publish a copy on one of her blogs for all to see. If there is a scintilla of intimidation found in the proceeding directly or indirectly, whether effective or infective I call upon the States Attorney of Cook County, and the United States Attorney to take immediate and effective action – including CRIMINAL PROSECUTION of all persons who seek (or sought) to deny Attorney Denison her FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.
Respectfully,
Citizen – Kenneth Ditkowsky
§ 12-6. Intimidation.
(a) A person commits intimidation when, with intent to cause another to perform or to omit the performance of any act, he or she communicates to another, directly or indirectly by any means, a threat to perform without lawful authority any of the following acts:
(1) Inflict physical harm on the person threatened or any other person or on property; or
(2) Subject any person to physical confinement or restraint; or
(3) Commit a felony or Class A misdemeanor; or
(4) Accuse any person of an offense; or
(5) Expose any person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or
(6) Take action as a public official against anyone or anything, or withhold official action, or cause such action or withholding; or
(7) Bring about or continue a strike, boycott or other collective action.
(b) Sentence.
Intimidation is a Class 3 felony for which an offender may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 2 years and not more than 10 years.
[1] Ms. Denison has been reported to have been investigating the case of Dean and Amelia Sallas. Her blogging about the case prevents the wrongfully and Unconstitutionally appointed guardian from totally railroading the ELDER CLEANSINGS of Amelia Sallas and from the expressed goal stated by one of the supervisors in the guardian’s office, to wit: leave Dean Sallas homeless and penniless. To date by my calculations over 8 million dollars of the savings of the Sallas family have been lost as a proximate cause of the wrongful and Unconstitutional dominion that the guardian has exerted over the Vested property of Dean Sallas and the Vested property of Amelia Sallas. The foreclosure proceeding has disclosed the with the apparent attornment of a judge who is unconcerned with the enabling statute, to wit: 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3, the guardian facilitated the violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 and the Federal Mail and Wire Fraud acts so as to announce in the July 28, 2020 hearing to the Court words and phrases the connote a total breach of his appointment.
Ms. Denison by her helping Mr. Sallas to have eyes and ears on this proceeding and to be able to fire off complaints to Law Enforcement. By her blog, Ms Denison has been able to exercise her 1st amendment rights are publish the facts that are most embarrassing to the HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN GRANDMA industry.
A Qui Tam is the “false claims act” or “king’s suit” against anyone stealing from the kind (state or federal government).
More details surface in nursing home case
David Jackson and Gary Marx, Tribune reporters
Court documents filed this week add new details to a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging that the giant pharmaceutical firm Omnicare Inc. paid kickbacks to one of Illinois’ most prominent nursing home families.
The new filing, which contains 164 pages of internal company records and other documents, is intended to bolster pending civil allegations that Omnicare significantly inflated the purchase price it paid in 2004 for a pharmacy company purportedly controlled by Chicago nursing home operators Philip Esformes and his father, Morris Esformes.
Omnicare’s $32 million purchase of that company, Total Pharmacy, included roughly $16 million that was a kickback to secure long-term pharmacy contracts with nearly three dozen nursing homes the Esformeses operated or influenced, the lawsuit alleges. Federal anti-kickback laws prohibit pharmacies from paying nursing home owners to induce them to buy that pharmacy’s products with Medicaid or Medicare dollars.
The new documents include copies of handwritten notes from a March 2004 meeting at Morris Esformes’ Lincolnwood headquarters between Omnicare CEO Joel Gemunder and Morris Esformes to discuss the sale of Total Pharmacy to Omnicare.
The lawsuit alleges that Gemunder offered to pay $15 million for Total Pharmacy if three-year contracts were in place with Esformes-controlled homes, $20 million if there were five-year contracts and $25 million if there were 10-year contracts. In the final sale, Omnicare paid the $25 million and let Total Pharmacy keep $7 million worth of accounts receivable, making the sale worth $32 million, according to the lawsuit.
The new court filing also includes other handwritten notes taken two days after the meeting that allegedly show Morris Esformes agreed to backdate nursing home pharmacy contracts “in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety,” according to the lawsuit.
Philip and Morris Esformes, who are listed as part-owners of 28 nursing homes in Illinois and Florida, and allegedly had ties to others in Missouri, declined to comment but denied wrongdoing through their attorneys. They have not been charged with any crime in the sale of Total Pharmacy.
Omnicare — which supplies medicine to roughly 1.4 million nursing home residents in facilities across the U.S. and enjoys an 85 percent share of this market — also declined comment but has told the Tribune the allegations are without merit and that the company “intends to vigorously defend itself.”
Daniel Purdom, an attorney for Total Pharmacy, said there was no wrongdoing in the sale. Purdom also denied that Morris Esformes was involved in the sale to Omnicare, saying Esformes had no ownership or control of Total Pharmacy.
The lawsuit was brought by two industry insiders: pharmacy executive Maureen Nehls, who served as vice president of pharmacy operations for Total Pharmacy, and former health care dealmaker Adam Resnick, a self-described addicted gambler who recently served a 25-month federal prison sentence for his role in a $10 million check-kiting scheme that led to the collapse of Universal Federal Savings Bank in Chicago’s Pilsen community. Resnick was a consultant to Total Pharmacy at the time of the sale.
The Esformeses own some of the best-known and most troubled nursing homes in the Chicago area, including Presidential Pavilion in Chicago and south suburban Burnham Healthcare, and have been the subject of law enforcement investigations in Florida, Missouri and Illinois.
The Tribune in April reported that the Esformeses were embroiled in what prosecutors called a “horrific” patient-brokering scheme in which unsuspecting nursing home residents were shuttled to and from a local psychiatric hospital for unnecessary treatments. The Esformeses have denied wrongdoing in that case and were not charged.
Government authorities in Boston have won settlements in federal court based on Resnick’s information about other deals involving Omnicare and separate East Coast nursing home chains.
The False Claims Act allows private citizens to file lawsuits against companies and individuals defrauding the government and recover funds on the government’s behalf.
The Omnicare kickback allegations — first filed under seal in 2007 — became public in March, when Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan followed the U.S. Justice Department’s lead and declined to intervene in the case after a three-year investigation.
The government’s decision to decline to intervene in a False Claims Act does not mean the case has no merits, experts say, as government authorities often lack the resources to prosecute complex white-collar cases and can intervene at a later date.
On Friday, December 11, 2020, 10:47:29 PM CST, Key Phillip-s <phillipskey@yahoo.com> wrote:
Omnicare provides drugs to my mother at the Sunrise facility in Issaquah, WA. I have in fact questioned a number of times the number and quantity of drugs my mother is given day after day. When we were visiting her earlier this year in WA we questioned what medications she was being given. Sheila was tracked down and verbally assaulted for inquiring what the drugs were that my mother was being given in the middle of day. After my father passed, my mother was denied the right to attend his funeral and instead of being provided grief counseling was loaded up even more on drugs. I formally objected and got the meds reduced. It appears Omnicare was involved in the ongoing “drugging” of the grandmas in Sunrise facilities. I would like to pursue. It appears that Ohana has been paying Omnicare for a number of questionable drugs. If you find anything more about Omnicare and additional information about their “activities” including specific assisted living facilities also involved please advise. And if you can just send the actual Omnicare/CVS article I would appreciate it. This is also pertinent in that it appears that this investigation was conducted by HHS while another part of HHS is defending their denial of our elderly the protections of the HIPPA laws. If you recall I had challenged HHS regarding Ohana and Northwest Geriactrics refusal to provide medical information despite mom signing HIPPA forms that provided my access to her medical information. If families are blocked from receiving medical information this type of fraud goes unchecked–we simply don’t know it is occurring. When we ask we are chastised for “interfering” I would like to restate my objections to HHS and push the matter higher up the chain of command within HHS.
As we all know, gaining control of medical information allows these b…..ds to take over our families lives. Take the HIPPA tool away and I suspect much of the abuse would at least be more difficult. Thank you for distributing this kind of information. We never know when information like this has value.
Key Phillips
On Friday, December 11, 2020, 08:55:13 PM MST, kenneth ditkowsky <kenditkowsky@yahoo.com> wrote:
Omnicare and the Esformes group have been accused before of Pharmaceutical Frauds. The Company is now owned by CVS Health – and it makes a ton of money. I ran across the following article quite by accident, to wit:
This article explains clearly how nursing home residents rarely see a doctor but are billed for thousands of dollars in prescription drugs–many of which may no longer be needed, or different drugs may be needed, but all Omnicare/CVS wants to do is make money. The nursing homes want to bill for doctors that are never seen and drugs illegally dispensed and used. How does this go on when the courts force our elderly and disabled into nursing homes when they can be cared for at home by family? (Sykes, Gore, Hopkins, etc.?)
From Kenneth Ditkowsky:
Omnicare and the Esformes group have been accused before of Pharmaceutical Frauds. The Company is now owned by CVS Health – and it makes a ton of money. I ran across the following article quite by accident, to wit:
Omnicare and parent company CVS Health accused of prescription drug fraud
Lawsuit alleges Omnicare pushed invalid drugs out the door as quickly as possible to make more money. Susan Morse, Managing Editor
A lawsuit has been filed against Omnicare and parent company CVS Health alleging prescription drug fraud in the dispensing of drugs to senior citizens in assisted living and other facilities.
CVS acquired Omnicare in May 2015, and shortly thereafter assumed an active role in overseeing its operations, including pharmacy dispensing practices and systems, according to the AG’s office.
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Omnicare allegedly fraudulently billed federal healthcare programs for hundreds of thousands of non-controlled prescription drugs dispensed based on stale, invalid prescriptions to elderly and disabled individuals in assisted living facilities, group homes, independent living communities and other non-skilled residential long-term care facilities, according to the Government’s Complaint that seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act.
Senior Omnicare and CVS management allegedly knew that pharmacies were routinely dispensing drugs without valid prescriptions, but they failed to begin to address the problem until after they found out about the investigation, according to Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the HHS-OIG.
In addition, Omnicare knowingly transmitted false information to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE that made it appear that drug dispensations were supported by current, valid prescriptions from physicians when in fact they were not, the complaint said.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Omnicare’s practice exposed vulnerable individuals to a significant risk of harm, the complaint said.
Many of the drugs treat serious, chronic conditions, such as dementia, depression, and heart disease. They include antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, cardiovascular medications, and antidepressants.
Omnicare jeopardized the health of thousands of individuals who continued to take the same drugs for months, and sometimes years, without consulting their doctors to determine whether the medications were still clinically appropriate, the complaint said.
In contrast to traditional skilled nursing homes, where residents have access to 24-hour medical care supervised by doctors, assisted living and other non-skilled residential facilities generally do not have doctors on staff to oversee and monitor residents’ drug therapy.
The lawsuit alleges that Omnicare failed to obtain new prescriptions from patients’ doctors after the old ones had expired or run out of refills. Instead, Omnicare assigned a new number to the old prescription. Omnicare internally referred to these as “rollover” prescriptions. The company sometimes allegedly assigned a fake number of authorized refills to a prescription – usually 99 allowable refills for Medicare patients – to allow for continuous refilling. Many pharmacies had to process and dispense thousands of orders each day.
THE LARGER TREND
Omnicare is the country’s largest provider of pharmacy services to long-term care facilities, operating approximately 160 pharmacies in 47 states across the country, according to the complaint.
Every year, Omnicare dispenses tens of millions of prescription drugs to long-term care and other facilities.
The government intervened in two private whistleblower lawsuits that had previously been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act.
ON THE RECORD
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “A pharmacy’s fundamental obligation is to ensure that drugs are dispensed only under the supervision of treating doctors who monitor patients’ drug therapies. Omnicare blatantly ignored this obligation in favor of pushing drugs out the door as quickly as possible to make more money.”
· This lawsuit against Omnicare is part of a series of charges by the Federal Government of criminal conduct by the supplier of Pharmaceuticals. Everyone has heard of the Opioid crisis in the ‘sheltered care homes.’ The media beats its head in pretended rage and covers up the cause. The political elite and Law Enforcement cry loudly that they are frustrated and are in tears over their alleged inability to address the problem. The Medical profession et al similarly cry out in horror and demand a solution, and the public buys into the one act play and it also dons sack cloth and ashes.
In Truth everyone is laughing at the ‘great unwashed.’ The laugh all the way to the Bank at how gullible we are in the same manner they laugh at us as we allow the HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY (ELDER CLEANSING) crimes to continue unabated. We buy into the whole scenario! All we have to do is search on the net for the Words “Esformes” and Omnicare and our vulnerability is exposed. For example:
Omnicare Agrees To Settle Suit Over Reimbursement Claims
Omnicare, Inc., based in Covington, Kentucky, agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it submitted false claims for reimbursement to government health insurers and paid a “kickback” when it bought the pharmacy company, Total Pharmacy Services, LLC. Omnicare is a company that supplies drugs to nursing homes. The 2007 lawsuit was filed by whistleblower, Maureen Nehls. A hearing is set on September 25, 2012 by U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. A complaint was initially filed in 2006 by Nehls and an additional whistleblower, Adam Resnick. Resnick plead guilty and was sentenced in 2007 to 42 months in prison for “siphoning $10.2 million from Universal Federal Savings Bank in 2001 and 2002.” As a result, Universal had to fold and Resnick was eventually paid a settlement of 19.9 million for this suit.
Omnicare, Nehls claimed, purchased Total Pharmacy Services LLC in 2004 for $25 million which included a kickback to Philip Esformes, one of the owners, and Morris Esformes, Philip’s father.According to the complaint, the payment provided Omnicare with thousands of elderly and disabled clients through successful contracts with nursing homes controlled by Morris Esformes. Omnicare was also accused of supplying nursing home residents medicine without prescriptions or with missing prescription documentation. On May 11, the case was settled with the Justice Department for $50 million. The DOJ stated it was the “largest controlled substance settlement in history.” Furthermore, Omnicare agreed to pay $98 million, in November 2009, to settle the civil claims by the U.S. government and assorted states that it received kickbacks from Johnson and Johnson.
For the record, last December (2019) Philip Esformes was found guilty of stealing 1.3 billion dollars from Medicare.
Where is Law Enforcement? Where is the public outrage? Why are our elected officials – including Judges et al ignoring this scandal and its profound and outrageous toll on the ELDERLY? This ELDER CLEANSING COTTAGE INDUSTRY is not a fly by night operation – it is a major financial operation even though its illegality is legendary.
Each of the Enron style operation is integrated into the HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF THE ELDERLY (Elder cleansing). The human flotsam (i.e., you and me) who pass through the Elder Cleansing Cottage Industry perpetuate the “tax free” (because no one demands that the INCOME TAXES be paid) bilking of the United States Treasury. This criminal activity is slated to bankrupt Medicare, the Social Security system and maybe our children in a few years. Yet we are lulled by the propaganda and the censorship imposed by the American ‘ruling class!’
Amelia Sallas (07 P 5360) being one of the victims means that as you read this e-mail Dean Sallas, naked, sans his life savings, sans a lawyer, **** is all that prevents you and me from being kidnapped, appointed a guardian, incarcerated in a ‘sheltered care facility,’ placed on a feeding tube, and reduced to a zombie by opioids and other chemicals supplied by Omnicare. There is at this point in time no-one interested in Grandma, you, or me.
On Friday, December 11, 2020, 04:54:43 PM CST, kenneth ditkowsky <kenditkowsky@yahoo.com> wrote:
When a guardian places an elder charge in a sheltered care facility, the monthly cost always appears to equal the pension payment, minus a few dollars for the guardian’s fee – unless there are other funds to access. It has always amazed me how the cost of the ‘sheltered care’ seemed to correspond to the net cash flow[1].
During one of the ‘accounting suits’ I filed for certain unhappy nursing home investors I was granted access to the actual books and records of one of these facilities. I appeared with a forensic accountant who had knowledge as to how to address financial data that is prepared by experts to address uncomfortable situations. The financials were enlightening and very revealing. An inspection of a facility managed by the same management revealed even more interesting revelations. Any doubts I had as to the actual state of affairs was dissipated. If I were naïve such a state of mind no longer existed, and I could recognize a spade from a club.
Viewing individual accounts was quite revealing and a bit scary. I would have to be deaf, blind, and very disabled not to observe what was actually occurring. The Enron style labyrinth of corporations was also revealing. It presented a serious question as to what, if anything, State and Federal regulation actually accomplished and/or was intending to accomplish. My own opinion, while not relevant or having meaning, was ‘cover up!’ Indeed, the Philip Esformes criminal trial for stealing 1.3 billion dollars of Medicare money verified my suppositions and opinions. Watching the ‘residents’ in their filthy garments slouching in their wheelchairs (this is Physical therapy in many facilities) in the hallways and imbibing the smell of urine did not make me warm and fuzzy.
When Covid 19 struck the death toll in these ‘sheltered care facilities’ was only a surprise to certain high raking political types, the media, and the promulgators of the NARRATIVE! Emboldened by the retention in places like Illinois of the status quo it appears that the miscreants have gotten bolder. They will need more money because of the Pandemic. Indeed, the following article appeared, to wit:
December 3, 2020
COVID-19 linked to ‘substantial cost increases’ in assisted living: survey
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to substantial eldercare cost hikes, especially for assisted living and in-home care. That is according to the results of Genworth’s 2020 Cost of Care Survey, announced Wednesday.
Over the course of a single year, assisted living community rates increased by 6.15% to an annual national median cost of $51,600 annually. From 2004 to 2020, assisted living costs have increased an average of 3.8% annually, or 79.17% over time. This compares with a 62.38% increase for a private nursing home room and a 30.22% increase for home health aides in that time period.
Annual assisted living costs ranged from a low of $36,000 in Missouri to a high of $80,280 in Delaware.
Supplemental study
In a supplemental study on why costs are increasing, owners and senior administrators of 79 long-term care providers cited a workforce shortage (54%), personal protective equipment costs, wage pressures, higher recruiting, and retention costs, and regulatory, licensing and employee certification costs are forcing them to increase the cost of care they are providing under “extraordinary circumstances.”
“Providers have been competing with higher-paying, less-demanding jobs for years, but with COVID-19, they told us it has become much more difficult to recruit and retain care professionals because of factors such as concerns about exposure to COVID-19 and parents needing to stay home with school-aged children,” said Gordon Saunders, Genworth senior brand marketing manager. For consumers, he said, “COVID-19 has underscored the need to plan ahead for long-term care, considering both where we want to receive care, as well as how we will pay for it.”
Study participants said they had to increase wages — in some cases offering hazard pay up to 50% more for workers in COVID-19 units — and increase spending for training on new safety procedures, testing, PPE and cleaning supplies, and benefits. Many operators (84%) said they were trying to absorb these new costs, but 62% predicted they would need to raise rates in the next six months, and 43% said those increases would top 5% or more. About 25% said their companies offered options to residents to reduce costs, including reduced flat rates, reduced care levels and rate discounts.
Less than half of facility care providers said the demand for their care setting had increased, with more than a fourth saying that demand decreased. This compares with 78% of home care providers indicating that demand for their services had increased. And although a preference for home care is expected to continue among consumers, 67% of survey respondents said they see the demand increasing for assisted living.
Operators also said they anticipate that future residents will have high standards.
“Future residents will continue to look at the same things when choosing a facility — reputation quality of care, access to care, and proximity to their current living situation,” one respondent said. “What will change is how the pandemic affects a facility’s ability to provide those things. The financial constraints providers are going through is going to make it difficult to maintain a higher quality of care.”
The 2020 study results came from about 15,000 surveys completed by key decision makers in assisted living communities, nursing homes, adult day health facilities and home care providers contacted by CareScout, a Genworth Financial company.
I have pointed out previously that diversion is the MO of the miscreants and it is gobbled up with gusto by many of the advocates fighting against ‘ELDER CLEANSING’ and the HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE ELDERLY cottage industry. We are essentially “babes in the woods!” We are mollified when we are offered meaningless legislation that goes unenforced as it is duplicitous of other statutes and the Uniform Legislation enacted by 41 states and has jurisdictional mandates such as 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3. The straightforward words and phrases are ignored. Simple requirements are tortured with deceptive orders and actions designed to deceive. The Sallas is a prime example. The statute states in simple words and phrases, to wit:
Sec. 11a-3. Adjudication of disability; Power to appoint guardian. (a) Upon the filing of a petition by a reputable person or by the alleged person with a disability himself or on its own motion, the court may adjudge a person to be a person with a disability, but only if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that the person is a person with a disability as defined in Section 11a-2. If the court adjudges a person to be a person with a disability, the court may appoint (1) a guardian of his person, if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that because of his disability he lacks sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions concerning the care of his person, or (2) a guardian of his estate, if it has been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that because of his disability he is unable to manage his estate or financial affairs, or (3) a guardian of his person and of his estate. (b) Guardianship shall be utilized only as is necessary to promote the well-being of the person with a disability, to protect him from neglect, exploitation, or abuse, and to encourage development of his maximum self-reliance and independence. Guardianship shall be ordered only to the extent necessitated by the individual's actual mental, physical, and adaptive limitations. (Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
In the aforesaid SALLAS case any due diligence by the Guardian ad Litem, the Court, the Petitioner, the attorney for the Petition, or any other living person in the Courtroom would have revealed that Amelia Sallas was currently married to Dean Sallas and had been for almost ½ a Century at that time. Observing Amelia Sallas would have negated any ability of any competent trier of fact to find by a scintilla of the evidence, much less by CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE that Amelia was even remotely eligible for the appointment of a guardian.
Nevertheless, over the objections of all who were not intimidated, misled, or worse a guardian of Amelia’s person was appointed. This guardian attempted a diversion to obviate the misuse of the Court but he continued to not interfere with the then living arrangements of Amelia and Dean, her husband. This arrangement continued until Amelia felt sick and exercised openly and notoriously her right and signed herself into a hospital. She did not seek the non-functioning guardian’s permission. (It also appears that Dean himself had started to raise the issue of the fact that the plenary guardian’s interference and domination of the family savings was not only Unconstitutional but a felony! Almost a decade after the guardian was appointed by the Court, he actually took control of Amelia – BUT HE COULD NOT SILENCE DEAN.
Dean has not been silenced but he has been harassed. He has even received DEATH THREATS! At this point in time Dean should be suspicious of everything and anything that might smack of one of miscreants doing something that could be believed to be appropriate.
Let me explain. The guardian of Amelia’s person over-reacted to Amelia’s quest at independence and Dean’s recognition of the overt violation of his personal Civil Rights created a major attack on America’s core values.
1) Everyone knew on day one that the marriage relationship (at that point 40 years in duration) created a MARITAL PROPERTY INTEREST in every dollar of savings independently for Dean and independently for Amelia. This interest was vested indefeasibly! No cause or basis of any kind existed or could exist for the devastation or forfeiture of this vested interest[2]. OneDrive
2) As the savings could not be partitioned any action by the guardian authorized by 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b would have a material effect on the interests of Dean and would qualify as a ‘taking’ under the 5th and 14th Amendment. No court could without obtaining jurisdiction and providing Dean with all the clothing of due process have SUBJECT MATTER jurisdiction to execute such an order. This lack of SUBJECT MATTER jurisdiction (and personal jurisdiction) is the basis for Dean’s motions to vacate the guardianships nunc pro tunc.
3) The Guardian’s unauthorized but effective by force domination of the Sallas family savings was made clear when the guardian prevented Dean from refinancing during the ‘great recession!’ This domination (theft) cost the ‘marital estate’ over 8 million dollars. The guardian is still engaged in this clearly criminal conduct as illustrated by the case of ByLine Bank vs. Amelia Sallas 2019 CH 13960.
The cry for the need for more money for the ‘death camp’ ‘sheltered care facilities is a diversion. The weak sister facilities will close their doors forever or be gobbled up by more proficient facilities. There might even be another crisis – their just will not be enough nursing homes UNLESS government subsidies them. Horror of horrors will scream the media. By the time they are done with disseminating the “word” as decreed by the HUMAN TRAFFICKERS in the elderly tears will be shed by every knee jerk bleeding heart including but not limited to many who are appalled by the felonies committed against the elderly and the disabled by public officials such as disclosed herein.
You, I , Dean Sallas and everyone reading this e-mail can be deceived by the very clever scenarios that the miscreants can devise. For instance, on the table – after the guardian of the person quit in terror that he might have to face up to Sallas’ awakening that every court proceeding was designed to deny him his Civil and Human Rights and cover-up the fact that without either the consent of he or his wife an ex-parte, involuntary, and de facto dissolution of his marriage of 50 years had secretly been consummated. Of course, no actual order had been entered – the guardian of the person illegally had accomplished that fact. By placing Amelia Sallas in a ‘nursing home’ she was exposed to Covid 19 and more importantly she was averred to have become infected with it. Dean’s inquiries as to the health of his wife were met with “HIPPA!” As the GAL pointed out Dean did not have standing in his wife’s ‘elder cleansing’ proceeding. He was an outsider.
With the resignation the Guardianship of the person was laid bare on the table for the taking. With Dean’s Motions to Dismiss the guardianships for violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3 criteria and jurisdictional requirements if Dean could be induced to apply for the guardianship of the person of his wife he could be totally compromised. A hearing was scheduled for December 1, 2020. Dean smelled the ‘rat’ and telegraphed that he was not walking into the trap. He wanted the case dismissed for the total lack of the “Court” to comply with the Constitution and 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3.
At the time of the hearing, Dean could not connect with the Zoom proceeding. Maybe this was a co=incidence, but he was shut out entirely. He recognized that mischief was afoot. He called one of the Cook County Public Guardian’s attorneys and made contact with her. In his contact with her he tried to get her to convey to the Court his predicament and the fact that under no circumstances did he want anything to be addressed other than the JURISDICTIONAL question. He was not present at the Zoom hearing, but he would have been if he had not been locked out!
Nevertheless, the order states:
“ this matter coming to be heard before this Honorable Court via Zoom video and telephone conference, Dawn Lawkowsky-Keller and Lisa Casanova appearing for the public guardian, Eve Epstein, Guardian ad litem, appearing, Dimitros Trivizas appearing for Tom Sallas (son), Dean Sallas (husband) present, the Court having jurisdiction and being fully advised in the premises: *** “If the Court were indeed fully advised in the premises or even was concerned as to appropriateness of the proceedings the Court would have noted that Dean not only was not “present”, but he was attempting to let the Court know that he was locked out of the Zoom proceeding. The Guardian’s attorney did take his telephone call and did allow him minimum contact – but it is another material misrepresentation of fact to say he was “present.” No matter how it is sliced he (Dean Sallas) was not present. The Court could not have jurisdiction unless the Illinois and the Federal Constitution were abrogated! In case 07 P 5360 integrity and honor are absent in too many of the Court orders entered!
As reiterated in Dean’s pending Motions before the Court detailing some extremely serious law violations on behalf of the Guardian and the Presiding Judge it is not surprising that another order would be entered that is materially misleading in this guardianship proceeding. Of course, I am referring to the proceedings of July 28, 2020.[3]Included in the package that Dean after the fact received was a 2nd order. This was a form order appointing the very same Public Guardian who has been exposed by Court filings in the case of ByLine Bank vs. Amelia Sallas 2019 CH 13960 – Circuit Court of Cook County, to have engaged in a criminal conspiracy with the ByLIne Bank to violate 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 and in my opinion the Federal Mail and Wire Fraud statutes. The facts are laid out in Dean’s pending Motions. NB Use of a form order that is not based upon substance does nto cure Constitutional violations. It just envokes the need for Grand Jury investigations.
What is significant concerning the Court orders dated December 1, 2020 is that fact that once again the Judge is unconcerned with the obvious and prior overt breaches of Fiduciary Relationship by the Guardian she appointed and who she now appoints as Guardian of person of Amelia Sallas. This Guardian flaunts the RULE OF LAW and any semblance of priority as the Public Guardian of Cook County certainly is aware of the remedial criminal prohibition of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 and the jurisdictional limits of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b. Ditto for the Presiding Judge who signed the orders. The Court acknowledging that she was “fully advised in the premises” acknowledges her disrespect for the Rule of Law and the limitations of the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
Diversion is the not a rare occasion it is the rule. If it were not, Criminal proceedings would be pending in State and Federal Court concerning this overt flaunting of the basic and core principles of American Law. There is absolutely no excuse that the Judges in the Sallas’ cases can put forth for allowing the travesty that has been recorded. Every judge involved sua sponde is aware that:
1) The Guardianship act is by definition a serious invasion of basic Human and Civil Rights.
2) Because of the interference with CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS the uniform act (which is enacted in Illinois) limits very strictly the authority of the Court to invade the 1st, 4th , 5th, and 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and in particular requires the Court
“(b) Guardianship shall be utilized only as is necessary to promote the well-being of the person with a disability, to protect him from neglect, exploitation, or abuse, and to encourage development of his maximum self-reliance and independence. Guardianship shall be ordered only to the extent necessitated by the individual's actual mental, physical, and adaptive limitations. (Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.
This section obviates the gambit of a judge just signing a form order handed to him/her by a miscreant/corrupt party and aiding and abetting the kidnapping of a disabled person such as Amelia Sallas.
3) The First responsibility of a Judge is to determine what, if any jurisdiction he/she might have and to protect not only the litigants but the public. Allow the Public Guardian of Cook County, Illinois to run roughshod over the lives of Dean and Amelia Sallas is clearly wrongful. The exercise of wrongful dominion over the MARITAL ESTATE ½ of which is vested in Dean Sallas is Felony Theft.
The long and short is we as citizens have a responsibility by 18 USCA 4 to report criminal conduct to law enforcement so that they can immediately act to thwart the same. The even longer fact is that we have been doing so and NOTHING occurs. The RULE OF LAW is ignored, and the government makes certain that the miscreants are well funded so as to prey on the elderly and disabled. Indeed – ELDER CLEANSING is the “TESLA” of public officials lacking integrity and respect for the RULE OF LAW and the Public trust.
[1] Net cash flow usually consists of social security, pension, savings income, Medicare, savings, long term care etc.
[2] A guardian can within the authorization of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b spend the assets of his ward – but he cannot interfere with the rights, privileges, and immunities of 3rd party interests.
[3] The proceedings of July 28, 2020 were replete with statements of the Court and the Guardian’s attorney that clearly shed light on the intentional violation of the 5th and 14th Amendment rights by Court, counsel, and the guardian in these proceedings, and the total breach of Fiduciary responsibility by the guardian. It is my understanding that no order of Court was entered as to the July 28, 2020 proceeding. It is further my understanding that subsequent an ordered was entered and stamped July 29, 2020 and that order made no reference to the July 28, 2020 proceeding. OneDrive
It is time for the American People to rise up and demand that the RULE OF LAW actually mean something AND BE ENFORCED in accordance with the first paragraph of the 14th Amendment. More laws are un=necessary when they are not going to be enforced!Government spends a fortune on setting up agencies and commissions to study problems. Then we get bureaus such as the CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU whose mission appears not to protect consumers but create the illusion of doing so. We have all sorts of agencies to protect the elderly – BUT THEY ARE ALL MISSING IN ACTION! The human trafficking in the elderly (elder cleansing) is one of the fastest growing industries in America. It is fueled by the savings of the elderly, social security, medicare, obama care etc – and our elected officials, media, law enforcement, et talking up a storm BUT DOING NOTHING!Covid 19 is eliminating the need for Gas Chambers! Grandma needs action – not more talk and more legislation. Herein in Illinois rests the vehicle for action! The Amelia Sallas case 07 P 5360 is a perfect vehicle for CRIMINAL PROSECUTION! All the elements are present, to wit: 1) The orders of Court ignore 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3 (the enablement). The actions of the guardian provide proof beyond any reasonable doubt. Amelia was placed back in her home under the same conditions as before without anything but token supervision. Her ultimate removal from the home – almost a decade later – was due to the fact that she signed herself into a hospital without notifying her guardian. 2) In direct violation of the 5th Amendment the Guardian a lawyer unlawfully without any authority whatsoever exercised dominion over the lawfully vest property of Amelia’s husband (Dean). This is pure felony theft! The Court orders required by 755 ILCS 5/11a – 3b were silent – indicating beyond a shadow of a doubt that both the guardian and the Judge knew of the criminal action. 3) The guardian’s conspiratorial violation of 755 ILCS 5/11a – 22 and 18 USCA 1341 are disclosed in the mortgage foreclosure law suit entitled ByLine Bank vs.Amelia Sallas 2019 CH 13960 pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Talk is cheap! The time for action is now! Criminal prosecutions of political and judicial criminals sends a strong message! Amelia Sallas was reported to have been infected by Covid 19. HIPPA was used by the miscreants as an excuse to keep her lawful husband out of the loop. Let me be candid – the miscreants were so anxious to obtain control of Dean and Amelia Sallas’ savings and divert it to themselves that they ignored Illinois Law and in particular the fact that under Illinois Law a long term marriage – such as the 50 plus year marriage of Sallas = has legal boundaries designed to protect both spouses. One is MARITAL PROPERTY. The guardian and the Court have no legal authority to forfeit the property of Dean Sallas – no matter how you slice it, IT IS THEFT! AND A VIOLATION OF THE 5TH AND 14TH AMENDMENT. There is no excuse for any prosecution to be delayed! Unless the United States of America and the State of Illinois under our present leadership is disinterested in EQUAL PRORECTION OF THE LAW for the elderly! We need enforcement of the RULE OF LAW – not more meaningless legislation. Ken Ditkowsky
This case is where Miriam S and her siblings inserted themselves into an Estate where there is no real evidence any of them were related to Irving (Isaac) Fisk (Faskowitz) but they filed two affidavits stating they were related to this individual in order to claim over $500,000
Please note that that Isaac Mordecai Faskowitz was conveniently forgotten in not one but two affidavits of heirship, and in the deposition the mother remembers that daughter Miriam has an Isaac (didn’t recall who he was named for) and she forgot her son Mordecai Isaac. Of course, none of this lines up.
Here is a table of contents for this file:
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOIA FROM FLORIDA ATG
PAGE DATE DESCRIPTION 1-45 Misc. Emails 46 Per curiam order re ½ of estate to be held with county clerk 53 to 87 not Fisk Docts 91 to 97 not Fisk 99 Per curiam order Fisk 169 Bev Cooper calls Fla ATG repeatedly 183 Ken Ditkowsky calls ATG repeatedly 194 Ken Ditkowsky letter/memo to ATG 218 Fisk docket 236 ATG states affts are false 245 details/history of case by ATG 247 Braverman does not believe false affts 262 assertions Faskowitz aka Foskowitz 267 False afft of heriship stipulation leaving out Mordechai 278 Census page listing Faskowitz family: Harry Husband, Annie wife, Irving, Samuel and David as sons 294 Passport copy of Isaac Faskowitz 295 Sophia Cortes Faskowitz from Puerto Rico, DOB 10/14/1902 and 10/2/14; Parents of Isaac F were Harry and Annie 308 no proof Irving Fisk is Isaac Faskowitz 319 Birth Certificate of Irving Faskowitz NY 333 Braverman Genology Report 336 Marriage Cert Harry and Anna 4-1-14 346 Passport App for Isaac Fisk Faskowitz; Father Harry Faskowitz, Mother Annie Schacker, 100 Harmony Ave, Lake Placid 367 Miriam Greenfiled afft. Harry had sister Miriam? 4 children claimed, Belia, Chiam, Mordecai and Breina, Notary Gladys Medina 378 Afft of Rose, born in Kiev Russia in 1924. Para. 9. decedent’s father is not Isaac 382 Death Cert Chaim Faskowitz. Born 8/31/16 in Poland, died 8/1/98; Mother Miriam Faskowitz; Father Moshe Aron Faskowitz 383** need translation hebrew synagogue announcement 432 update family tree, new bs affidavit 515 Marriage cert Harry Faskowich and Annie Solomon 4/26/14 541 Decedent had brother Sam Faskowitz, died 8/20/47 at age of 40; Uncle Willaim Faskowitz died in Brooklyn on 6/11/59, age 65 439 Affidavit of Braverman including Sam Faskowitz, 96 Pitt St, NYC 551 Willie Faskowitz, brother to Harry but wife Charone says they had no children 594 Death Cert Sam Faskowitz; DOB 4/7/17, 90 Pitt St, DOD 8/20/57, says he is SINGLE; Parets Harry and Anne Faskowitz 619 Death Cert Annie Faskowitz. Father Henry Schecker 9/3/73, age 80, 91 Pitt St, Widow 661 David Faskowitz, court order for birth cert 670 Annie F’s parents are either Schacker or Solomon; Mother Betty Fried and Father Harry Schcker 678 Mother to oppose finding David F’s birth certificate 688 Order granting David F’s birth certificate DOB 12/2/25 709 Birth Cert for David or Arthur Foskowitz, DOB 12/2/25 parents Harry Foskowitz and Annie Solomon 716 Appln for SSN Parents Harry F and Annie Schkar 735 Death Cert David Forskowitz. DOD 7/23/81, age 56 years, says “never married”; DOB 12/21/24 747 Harry F; USCIS records, says he came to US circa 1905 with mother Minnie Faskowitz, age 16 or 18 755 Harry F alien registration. DOB Aug 1883 762 Annie F; Appln for SSN; FASKOWITCH, Father Harry Sochen; Mother Sarah Pritt 764 Braverman Afft; more maiden names for Annie F: Schack/Soloman/Pritt. Braverman suggest discrepancies are because Harry and Annie were illiterate and the form fillers they used were likely not much more literate than they were; Annie could be Hanah or Anne or Annie 819 list of names of spellings 866 Robert Livingston appointed GAL to rep interests of “unknown heirs” (can they spend any more money on this?) Blank pages 914-924 1059 Petition re homestead status and why home has not be sold yet 1063 yet another family tree chart adding in Harry Soloman (or Schneck) and Beckie Fried 1065 another Braverman Report did anyone check the phone books, PI databases? What the freak? What about the phone books in Warsaw Poland 1143 7/10/2002 deposition of braverman; she is not a certified genealogist, she just watched youtube videos. Has a degree in psych; a masters in psych; a masters in “health care planning”. Not certified, has not even started the process of certification as a genealogist. This is actually a fairly decent deposition. Amazing. 1179 Braverman blames the fact that Irving F was not part of the Solo group because he may have been an apostate and apostates in the Orthodox community are shunned. What a load of horse manure/gross speculation. Even if a relative is shunned, there must be detailed documentation and other relatives will know what is going on. Nonsense. Even Braverman states this is gross speculaton. 1193 case docket 1207 record on appeal index 1223 opening brief appeal 1282 response brief by appellee 1319 reply brief by appellant 1367 reply brief appellant 1379 Assuming an appropriate search was done for maternal heris, and there is no reason to doubt this…..yeah right 1389 page missing? Where is page 1? 1394 depn of Braverman, again? She said she searched for passenger manifests of Harry and Louis but what about Minnie Faskowitz, the mother, Harry said he came with his mother 1441 Depn of Rose Faskowitz
moral of the story: if you throw enough incompetent people at an issue and spend a lot of money on “professional fees” and service, the probate court will rubber stamp any BS nonsense.
Please note that this case is related to the Madoff cases as news articles show:
The new COVID-19 surge is hitting Illinois’ most vulnerable residents harder than ever, with a record 480 deaths recorded in the past week among people living in long-term care facilities.A Tribune analysis found the surge in deaths was particularly steep outside the greater Chicago area, underscoring the challenges of keeping the virus out of nursing homes and assisted living facilities when infections are spreading in the surrounding communities.Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered a deep sigh Friday when asked what more could be done to tamp down the surge in long-term care deaths.“This is frankly the same challenge that exists in all the other populations, and even more so, when we’re at the highest levels of the pandemic,” he told reporters.The latest weekly death tally was nearly double that recorded in the prior week, part of a sizable increase in deaths from earlier in the fall. The latest toll was slightly more than the number seen in the previous worst week for such deaths, during the spring surge, in early May.
Weekly long-term care deaths at highest-ever level
Each week, the state releases updated figures of deaths of residents at long-term care facilities. The latest statewide tally was the highest weekly figure recorded in the pandemic.The Illinois Department of Public Health culls the figures each Friday from a database that local health departments add to throughout the week, and at times there can be delays in reporting by local officials, particularly around weekends and holidays. The department did not immediately respond to questions Friday about whether lags connected to the Thanksgiving holiday affected the new number.Regardless, it is clear that the second COVID-19 surge has been ripping through long-term care facilities again this fall. New case counts have risen dramatically for these facilities, with roughly 4,500 new infections noted among residents in the past week — another record. That’s about 500 more new cases uncovered than in the worst week of the spring surge.Researchers have pointed out how difficult it can be to stop the virus from entering facilities when it’s raging in nearby communities, especially with a disease that can leave people infectious without showing symptoms. The virus can then wreak havoc not only on elderly and frail residents but also at times on the workers who care for them.Early in the pandemic, state officials split Illinois into four regions for tracking purposes. The northeast region, which includes Chicago and its suburbs, initially had the highest rate of deaths relative to its population size; in the spring, the region saw nearly five weekly deaths of long-term care residents per 100,000 people in the general population.That rate dropped in the summer and then crept back up to nearly two long-term care deaths per 100,000 residents. But the more massive increases have been elsewhere, the Tribune found in its analysis of state data. In the past week, the rate for the southern region topped six deaths per 100,000 residents; for the central region, it was more than seven; and for the north-central part of the state, more than eight.While researchers and advocates blame much of the problem on the prevalence of the virus near these facilities, there are also questions about government oversight.Those issues surfaced most recently with a state Senate committee hearing and a state investigation into an outbreak at the state-run veterans home in LaSalle last month, where as of Friday the virus had infected 209 veterans and staffers, and killed 30.But the question of state oversightgoes beyond state-run facilities; some nursing homes run by for-profit firms have also seen cases in the triple digits. At a dozen of these homes, the death toll exceeds the number seen at LaSalle, with one facility recording more than 50 COVID-19 deaths. AARP Illinois, which has called for broader public hearings on what went wrong in those facilities, said Friday that not enough is being done to protect residents and staff. “The loss of life is appalling and unacceptable. After nine months of dealing with COVID-19, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities should have been better prepared for this second wave,” Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois’ state director, said in a statement. “Seniors remain in grave danger as the virus reenters these facilities at an alarming pace.” As the virus raced through facilities this spring, IDPH cut back inspections that are required by state law. Four months ago, IDPH forced out two top administrators and announced it had hired a consulting firm to conduct a “top to bottom review” of its oversight practices. The agency has yet to release records related to that review. The Tribune filed a public records request for them Sept. 4. IDPH has yet to respond, and the Tribune has appealed to the attorney general’s office for assistance. Asked what more the state could do now to limit the virus’s spread in long-term care facilities, Pritzker on Friday told reporters that the state had stopped allowing outdoor visits, that it is mandating more testing and “certainly infection control is better overall now than it was at the very beginning because there’s a greater understanding of what needs to be done.” Representatives of long-term care facilities have said they need more government aid, while advocates and a union representing the largely low-wage workforce has portrayed the industry as focused more on profits than care. The latter complaints became a flashpoint in a strike at 11 facilities that lasted 12 days until the workers reached a tentative deal Friday with the chain’s owner, Infinity Healthcare. Among the chain’s facilities is Niles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, which leads the state in the number of COVID-19 deaths, with 54 during an earlier outbreak. The home is now enduring another outbreak with 12 cases, according to state data.jmahr@chicagotribune.com https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-long-term-care-deaths-break-record-20201205-ptvgynri3bfvdp36tsxsuqndg4-htmlstory.html#rt=chartbeat-fltAttachments area
Florida woman escapes guardianship using secret phone and Facebook to contact media
Senior tells story after release from dementia unithttps://assets.scrippsdigital.com/cms/videoIframe.html?&host=www.abcactionnews.com&title=Florida%20woman%20escapes%20guardianship%20using%20secret%20phone%20and%20Facebook%20to%20contact%20media&kw=adam%20walser%2Cflorida%20guardianship%20advocacy%2Cflorida%20guardianship%20advocate%2Cflorida%20guardianship%20death%20of%20ward%2Cflorida%20woman%20escapes%20guardianship%20%2Cflroida%20guardianship%20%2Cguardianship%20%2Ci%20team%2Ci%20team%20investigation%2Cprice%20of%20protection&autoplay=true&m3u8=https://content.uplynk.com/95199791f5ed49fa8e70038ccda01543.m3u8&mp4=https://x-default-stgec.uplynk.com/ausw/slices/951/45bf940c346f431c9be273b8942ab6eb/95199791f5ed49fa8e70038ccda01543/95199791f5ed49fa8e70038ccda01543_g.mp4&purl=/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/florida-woman-escapes-guardianship-using-secret-phone-and-facebook-to-contact-media&dtrack=1&story=1&mute=1&tags=The%20Price%20of%20Protection%2CLocal%20News%2CNews%2CNewsletter%20Showcase%2CHomepage%20Showcase%2CI-Team%20Investigates&cust_params=temp%3D%26weather%3D&s=wftsA Florida senior citizen speaks out after she was released from court-ordered guardianship and had her rights restored.
By: Adam WalserPosted at 8:03 AM, Nov 16, 2020 and last updated 5:42 PM, Nov 16, 2020
LONGWOOD, Fla. — A Florida senior citizen speaks out after she was released from court-ordered guardianship and had her rights restored.
“It’s very scary to think that we’re in the United States, and this is happening to us,” said Jan Garwood, who was placed in professional guardianship in 2017 after she was involved in a car crash while grieving the death of her son.
Garwood, 70, was found to be incapacitated and stripped of her rights. That included her right to vote, choose her home and social environment, and control her money and property.
In Florida, a court can appoint someone to make decisions for another person if that person is found to be incapacitated by a panel of medical professionals.
Anyone can file a petition seeking to place another person under guardianship. Usually, those cases are brought by family members, social workers or guardians themselves.
Guardians are compensated at a rate of up to $95 an hour and are paid from the assets of those under guardianship. Guardians’ attorneys can be paid more than $400 an hour.
“All our rights. All our privileges, all the things we’ve worked all these years to keep. What’s going on?” Garwood said.
Reaching out on social media from dementia unit
Garwood first contacted the I-Team in April from the locked-down dementia unit of the Palms of Longwood Assisted Living Facility in Seminole County.
She first contacted us via Facebook with follow-up calls using the Facetime app on her secret cell phone.
“It’s hard to put a word on it. Heartbreaking, frustrating, challenging. Trying to get past people. Hiding my phone so I can get out and call people and try to get help,” Garwood said.
Her son snuck a cell phone into her room, which Garwood kept hidden from her guardian.
“There shouldn’t be anybody that should be able to have 100% control over anybody’s life,” she said.
A judge initially appointed disgraced former guardian Rebecca Fierle to care for her.
Fierle resigned from her cases after state investigators alleged she was responsible for the death of a man under her care. Fierle was later charged with two felonies and is awaiting trial.
A new guardian took over Garwood’s case. Garwood said when the woman wouldn’t help her get her rights restored, she took to social media.
“I put my ad on Facebook and said ‘somebody help me,’” Garwood said.
Guardianship reform advocate Hillary Hogue responded and visited her at the assisted living facility where her guardian had placed her. Believing Garwood didn’t belong in guardianship, Hogue helped Garwood get in touch with attorney Vito Roppo.
Lawyer and doctor help get rights restored
“I filed a motion to be appointed as her counsel at her request, and I put in there that I thought she should be re-examined,” said Roppo.
Garwood’s guardian’s attorney fought back, demanding that Roppo withdraw his motion. He also threatened to seek financial sanctions against Roppo, quoting a Florida statute intended to prevent frivolous lawsuits.
“I was being threatened personally. My own individual finances were at stake,” Roppo said.
A judge granted Roppo’s motion and ordered a doctor to evaluate Garwood’s mental capacity.
The doctor gave Garwood a nearly perfect score, writing in his report, “She is fully capable of handling and executing her own personal, medical and financial day-to-day affairs.”
The judge released Garwood from guardianship in late August.
“I never gave up that eventually, sooner or later, something would have to happen that I’d be able to get away from her,” Garwood said.
Home sold to ALF employee, belongings nowhere to be found
After her release, Garwood couldn’t return to the home where she raised her children and cared for her elderly parents before their deaths.
Her guardian had sold the house to an employee of Palms of Longwood, the facility where Garwood lived.
“It was sold for substantially less than the other homes in the area were going for, and we know that the house was never placed on the market for sale,” Roppo said.
“When you lose a house like that, you lose your memories,” said Garwood.
The proceeds went into a family trust Garwood can’t access, which was set up by her late uncle to benefit Garwood and her 103-year-old aunt.
Roppo is currently trying to help her access the money.
What happened to Garwood’s belongings that were in the home remains a mystery.
“I had or have… over $300,000 worth of old furniture, jewelry, collectibles,” Garwood said, adding that she’s “still keeping my fingers crossed.”
Missing items include multiple signed original oil paintings Garwood bought while working at a high-end art gallery, she said.
Records show the guardian billed Garwood to pack and store her items.
“At this point, we’re told they have no personal property of hers at all. No pictures. Nothing. They have zero,” Roppo said.
We contacted the guardian and her attorney each twice, but neither responded.
Getting food from charity, living in a garage
Garwood, who lived in a 2,735 square foot home before guardianship, now lives in a friend’s garage.
“We went to the food pantry and stood in line for four hours to get a couple of boxes of old food, and that’s what we’ve been eating,” Garwood said a short time after her release.
Roppo has now arranged for Garwood to receive her Social Security check instead of her guardian.
“You lose more rights in a guardianship, in most guardianships, than you do if you go to federal prison,” Roppo said.
If you have a story you think the I-Team should investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com.
By Dr. Terri Kennedy, ContributorPresident, Power Living Enterprises, Inc.09/13/2016 01:25pm EDT | Updated September 13, 2017This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
As the 71st session of the General Assembly of the United Nations begins this week to discuss international issues that affect the lives of millions throughout the world, the United States needs to step up its commitment to safeguard human rights and promote the rule of law in its own backyard — specifically, escalating abuse in the U.S. Elder Guardianship system.
It’s legal, but is it right?
Imagine you’ve worked hard all of your life and suddenly you are deemed incapacitated and are stripped of your dignity and basic individual rights. You have been abducted from your home, isolated from your family, and “placed” somewhere to be medicated while your assets are being pillaged. The authorities that should be protecting you are the ones committing these heinous acts. It sounds like Nazi Germany, but this is happening in the United States today.
The victims are seniors. The partners in crime are financial predators and agents of the Elder Guardianship system — attorneys, professional guardians, medical experts, and others who are paid out of the senior’s assets. There are some good judges but many are overworked and some are actively aiding the exploitation. Anyone can file to deem you incapacitated. The entire process from filing an incapacity petition to plenary guardianship where all rights are removed can happen within days. Yet, once you’re caught in the web, it’s almost impossible to break free… AND you are forced to pay your abusers in the process.
A 2013 AARP report gave a “best guess” estimate of the number of adults under guardianship nationally at 1.5 million. Idaho and Minnesota are the only states that track the amount of money being controlled by guardians or conservators; the combined total for just two states is over $1 billion. Guardianship is supposed to protect older citizens. However, what happens when the system is broken? A 2010 federal study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified hundreds of allegations of physical abuse, neglect and financial exploitation by guardians in 45 states and the District of Columbia between 1990 and 2010. In 20 cases, the GAO found that guardians stole or improperly obtained $5.4 million in assets from 158 incapacitated victims.THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TAKING CARE OF YOUR MIND AND BODYSubscribe to HuffPost’s wellness emailSuccessfully Subscribed!Wellness delivered to your inbox
The Abduction of Lillie
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 was Lillie’s 88th birthday and her family didn’t know where she was. A week earlier, on August 30, the court-appointed Emergency Temporary Guardian abducted her from a doctor’s office while her niece was in the other room filling out papers. Although Lillie was happy and safe in her Palm Coast home of twenty years, the guardian “placed” her into assisted living and refused to tell her family the location. Lillie was not in danger and there was no emergency situation or other credible justification of such extreme and deceptive action. Video of Lillie from July 30, 2016 — just a month before — shows a vibrant African-American woman enjoying her home and family, and vocal about her financial affairs and this case. In fact, she does not seem incapacitated at all.
Since the case started in 2012, three good doctor’s reports that could have given Lillie her rights back went stale through a legal shell game of loopholes, frivolous objections and unethical behavior. Now, while she is sequestered and possibly sedated, they are pushing hard for plenary guardianship, which would take away her last two remaining rights: the right to vote (she is a registered Democrat excited about voting for Hillary Clinton) and the right to choose with whom she socializes. Over a dozen attorneys and others have been invoicing against Lillie’s assets, while the temporary guardian has not paid Lillie’s basic bills or given her a penny of her own money for food or personal living expenses. The temporary guardian has been neglecting her fiduciary responsibilities and violating standards of practice, but Lillie’s sister and over 50 nieces and nephews are the ones being shut out.
The sudden manner by which Lillie was involuntarily placed in an anonymous location and isolated from her family and support system was likely traumatizing to her particularly given her past victimization. The initial evaluation for incapacity happened in 2012 when she was held captive for eight months at the home of a family friend. She eventually called 911 and escaped. Now, after five years of systemic abuse, Lillie is being violated again — this time by the temporary guardian who is supposed to be her advocate. Getting old is not a crime, yet Lillie is being treated like a criminal. Tonight, she is somewhere alone in assisted living probably wondering why her family has abandoned her.
Captors use social isolation to torture prisoners of war. Social isolation of otherwise healthy, well-functioning individuals eventually results in psychological and physical disintegration, and even death. Nevertheless, the Emergency Motions filed in court to get Lillie returned to her home and family have been ignored.
Florida’s “Liquidate, Isolate, Medicate”
In Florida, there are 5 million people age 60 and older and that demographic is expected to account for most of the state’s population growth in the next 15 years. Yet, seniors who have come to this retirement haven are actively being deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law. The guardianship system oversteps constitutional rights and goes against the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment that forbids states from discriminating invidiously against some of their citizens.
Professional guardianship is considered a “growth business,” with the number increasing from 12 registered professional guardians in 2003 to 456 in 2015, according to the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. The abuse is so rampant that the process itself has been called “Liquidate, Isolate, Medicate.” With 40 hours of training and a modest background check, a professional guardian can start earning $85 an hour and have control over a ward’s property, finances, medical decisions, housing and social relationships. In other words, the guardian has the ability to: liquidate your assets by selling your home, car, etc.; isolate you from your family as guardian of “your person;” and put you in a nursing home to medicate you until you die. All of this is supposed to be in your “best interest.” An ABC13 Investigates report dubbed it “The Grey Prison.”
For example, 89-year-old Marie, featured in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune‘s Elder guardianship: A well-oiled machine, had her rights removed at the request of her stepson-in law. The court ordered a trust company to pay out some $635,000 to attorneys, guardians and other involved in her case. She survived wartime Poland and said even Hitler’s Germany failed to prepare her for this travesty. Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives Larry Ahern said, “In extreme cases, the wards are sometimes prevented from regaining their competency and remain, in effect, prisoners of guardians.” How many seniors, like Lillie and Marie, are being exploited in this cruel and systemic manner?
Due to a string of horror stories and rising complaints, on March 10, 2016 Governor Rick Scott signed into law Senate Bill 232 creating the Office of Public & Professional Guardians to replace the Statewide Public Guardianship Office within the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. In April, they initiated rule making procedures to address the regulation of professional guardians, including standards of practice and disciplinary guidelines. These are expected to be in place October 2016. While these necessary changes are underway, what happens to seniors, like Lillie and Marie, who are being victimized this moment in Florida? Will they get a pardon and be set free?
A New Form of Human Trafficking?
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”
Trafficking involves psychological coercion to render someone a slave. To do this, perpetrators employ “tactics that can lead to the psychological consequence of learned helplessness for the victims, where they sense that they no longer have any autonomy or control over their lives. Traffickers may hold their victims captive, expose them to large amounts of alcohol or use drugs, keep them in isolation, or withhold food or sleep. During this time the victim often begins to feel the onset of depression, guilt and self-blame, anger and rage, and sleep disturbances, PTSD, numbing, and extreme stress. Under these pressures, the victim can fall into the hopeless mental state of learned helplessness.”
An argument can be made that the “Liquidate, Isolate, Medicate” Elder Guardianship process in Florida at its worse is a form of human trafficking. On the basis of the definition, it is evident that trafficking in persons has three constituent elements: a) The Act (What is done) — In this case, the transfer and harbouring of a person, b) The Means (How it is done) — Abduction, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, and c) The Purpose (Why it is done) – In the case of guardianships, the purpose is financial exploitation — a form of servitude. Seniors are sedated in locked assisted living facilities while their assets are spent down.
The Right to be Protected & Respected
Probably the most famous case of financial elder abuse is that of one-time New York socialite Brooke Astor when she was more than 100 years old. Her grandson Philip C. Marshall testified against his father and helped put him in jail. In his 2015 testimony to the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, Mr. Marshall said, “To be complacent about elder justice is to be complicit in elder abuse.”
Given demographic trends, elder financial abuse is expected to grow dramatically unless we do something. The baby boom generation is reaching retirement age at a rate of 10,000 people per day. Those 65+ will make up 20% of the population by 2050. The 2015 White House Conference on Aging has made “elder justice” one of its four tracks. There is now a federal home for Adult Protective Services and a new Elder Justice website called a “one-stop shopping site for victims, families, prosecutors, researchers and practitioners.” President Barack Obama declared June 15, 2016 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
Awareness is good, but immediate action is needed. If states are not doing their jobs, the federal government needs to step in. It’s time to reform the Elder Guardianship system in the U.S., prosecute predators and hold legal agents — judges, attorneys, evaluators, professional guardians, etc. — to a higher standard. As Vice President Hubert Humphrey said, “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life — the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
Just as we continue to make strides with human rights issues around the world, we need to shine a brighter light on elder abuse on our soil — particularly this type of vicious and systemic financial exploitation. To be an elder is a privilege, not a condition causing you to be tossed aside and abused. Our elders need to be protected and respected. If we’re lucky, we will all get old. Let’s create a society where we can age with grace and dignity.
Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy is a Harvard Business School-trained strategist and President of Power Living Enterprises, Inc. Her mission is to raise the consciousness of the planet and create a more sustainable world by releasing the potential in individuals. A seasoned life coach/speaker and founder of the first yoga studio in Harlem, she has been featured on the cover of Yoga Journal, in Oprah’s book, Live Your Best Life!, and was selected as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. An early Internet pioneer and TV executive, she has advised billion-dollar companies on their multi-platform engagement strategies. Her latest award-winning book — co-authored with her mother Columbia University-trained journalist Janie Sykes-Kennedy — is Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master on her teacher/mentor 98-year-old yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch.
On June 20, 2016, Kennedy moderated a conversation with Tao Porchon-Lynch at the United Nations for International Day of Yoga on “Yoga for the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.” On October 3, 2016, for International Day of Non-Violence, she will facilitate a conversation with Ms. Porchon-Lynch on Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hosted by the Indian Consulate in New York. On November 19, 2016, she will moderate another discussion with Ms. Porchon-Lynch at the United Nations for Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.
Note: Kennedy is the niece of Lillie featured in this article. As of September 13, 2016, Lillie’s family still does not know where she is and the temporary guardian refuses to tell them. For more, go to www.elderdignity.org. Watch the video and let us know what you think. For specific questions or suggestions, email elderdignity@hotmail.com.
Just when you thought corruption in probate in Cook County could not get worse, along comes another case
attorney creates “estate planning” for Grandma Marlynn. POAs for property and health care name long term care taker Pier Hopkins as grandma’s agent and named her to be guardian if one is to be appointed. The successor POA? the attorney’s wife
Kidnap grandma and put her in Symphony Beverly, LLC nursing home on a ruse. Grandma needs rehab. Synphony Beverly, a for profit nursing home, promises rehab. No rehab is provided after one month and grandma wants to leave. she signed herself in, she should be able to sign herself out. Symphony Beverly comes up with excuse after excuse as to why grandma cannot leave. For many long months.
In Feb of 2020, Symphony Beverly files a Petition for Guardianship. Judge Jesse Outlaw is assigned to the gship case. Illinois Probate law says that Symphony Beverly cannot serve as guardian because it’s not a Not for Profit, but the case continues and the Judge does not dismiss or strike the peitition.
Symphony then (falsely) alleges Pier Hopkins, a long term caretaker of Grandma is stealing from the estate and attaches copies of bank statements. Where did they get those? Either grandma is competent and she can give them permission to get those, or as the nursing home alleges, she is incompetent and they must get a subpoena from the court. No subpoena issuance is shown on the docket for the case. The other grandchildren are very pleased with the way Pier has knocked herself out to care for grandma and they are behind Pier 1000%.
Symphony does not notify any next of kin (5 grandchildren, Grandma has no living siblings or children) and appears to know nothing about the family in their pleadings. Symphony must legally provide Grandma with a copy of all their pleadings, and esp. their Petition for gship.
Granddaughter alleges she has spent thousands on caring for Grandma in her pleadings, grandma paid one $1500 bill for granddaughter’s gas bill to avoid a shut off. Grandma insisted and presumably was competent. Grandma uses an I phone and can talk, text ad use other complicated cell phone features. She does not appear to be incompetent.
GAL files report the allegations of incompetency (in form CCP 211) are thin at best. When asked, other litigants refuse to turn over CCP 211 to Granddaughter Pier when requested. They say she needs a court order, but that is not in the Illinois Probate act. what are they covering up?
Grandma writes her own checks and pays her own bills, bank statements attached to a Petition to Revoke Granddaughter’s POAs shows bank statements with Grandma’s own utility bills on them, but nothing else. Apparently Pier and other relatives have in fact been paying for grandma’s food, clothing and other essentials.
A reverse mortgage was put on Grandma’s home and that appears to be highly suspect. Who was involved in that? What was the fair market value of the property? Who arranged for that?
Judge O holds a hearing on Nov. 4, 2020 regarding Granddaughter’s Motion for Substitution as a Right. Strangely, the GAL cites a case. Judge O says that “Pier does not like him “because he suspended her POA and it’s too late.” This is despite the fact she just recently filed her appearance, has not been served by the sheriff with a summons and complaint, but her POAs were already suspended. How did that happen? Why does Judge O want to hold onto this case if a litigant does not want him? What is going on here.
If anyone has any information regarding the following individuals involved in this highly suspect case, please call me and I will pass on information to Pier Hopkins. Thanks
Tracey B. Johnson, wife of attorney Ziegler, GAL Ellen Douglass, Symphony Beverly, LLC, Petitioner Daniel Johnson (“Petitioner”) administrator of Synphony Beverly LLC, his attorneys Stone Pogrund & Korey LLC
-If using Zoom and they ask who you are – you’re just an observer.
-If on Zoom, you must mute yourself. If you wish, you can use a pseudonym as your log -in name and turn your video off.
***HOWEVER, If you are a victim of Pasulka, you may wish to use your real name and turn on your video so that Pasulka knows and sees that you are following his case. Let him sweat.
-For Zoom, do not make any gestures, flip-off the camera when Pasulka is up, etc. Well, if your camera is off feel free to make any gesture you feel you would like to display.
-If kicked out of Zoom, go to the YouTube Channel.
I hope to see you all there. Even if you do not have the time to watch, but can have your computer on, sign in to be counted as the number of people watching.
I leave you with a few points of interest:
For the lawyer that worked for Pasulka and Pasulka raped, he told her that he could make or break her career based on his connections with judges.
For the case where Pasulka was GAL and asked for sex in exchange for custody, he had her sign a general release barring her from suing him for “any ‘inappropriate activity’”
And that is the type of scum the Domestic Division put in charge of the Committee that determined who gets to be a GAL.
Even if you do not have time to watch, log in so the court knows that they have a large viewing audience. Pass onto to your friends. This is court – taxpayer funded … You watching public officials doing their public duties.
One of the two buildings of Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center, in Andover, New Jersey.
MaryGSykes.com 