109 Years in Prison Sought for Peaceful Speech in America

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109 Years in Prison Sought for Peaceful Speech in America

Postby James Redford » Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:34 am

Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner, age 50 (as of 2006), is a former attorney and current CEO of Cleveland Genomics, Inc., which provides DNA sequencing services, and has doctorate degrees both in law and in pharmacy. Dr. Baumgartner graduated first in her class from the University of Toledo College of Law. She is a Christian and the mother of two adult daughters by her husband, pharmacist Joseph Baumgartner. She is currently facing criminal charges in the U.S. state of Ohio carrying prison sentences of 66 years and 6 months in one case, and 42 years and 6 months in another case, for peaceful political speech. Currently she is free on bail.<br><br>The specific criminal charges against Dr. Baumgartner are intimidation, retaliation, falsification and possession of a criminal tool (the criminal tool being a laptop computer) for her criticizing Ohio government officials and accusing them of corruption, such as against retired Judge Richard Markus. Note that Dr. Baumgartner isn't being accused of making threats to aggress against anyone, but that the intimidation and retaliation charges directly refer to her accusations of corruption on the part of Ohio government officials.<br><br>Dr. Baumgartner previously had served 231 days in jail on the charge of falsification for accusing Ohio government officials of corruption at a Port Clinton City Commissioner's meeting (i.e., a city council meeting). Ten of those days were spent being held incommunicado, having been denied access to legal counsel, visitors, clergy, the opportunity to make a phone call, and not allowed to send mail out or receive mail.<br><br>In 2003, Dr. Baumgartner was permanently disbarred as an attorney for accusing Ohio government officials of corruption in a hearing where she was not allowed to be present and where the sole evidence against her was those who had been accused of corruption denying the charges. In December 2005, Dr. Baumgartner was committed against her will for 39 days to the North Coast Hospital under court order for a mental evaluation, even though Ohio state law requires that a person released on bond, as Dr. Baumgartner is, be evaluated on an out-patient basis. She was found competent. Two times previously she had been psychologically evaluated, and each time found competent.<br><br>A number of critics of the actions taken against Dr. Baumgartner by the Ohio judiciary contend that she is being made a political prisoner in order to silence her and punish her for speaking out on government corruption by the very parties accused of corruption as a means to protect themselves from the legitimate consequences of their crimes and to make an example out of her by creating a chilling effect to intimidate others from speaking out against their corruption. These critics note that she has already been jailed for peaceful political speech and that the Ohio government is currently attempting to imprison her for a total of 109 years for peaceful political speech. Such critics further contend that even if all of her accusations were false that a person ought not be made a criminal or suffer imprisonment for mere peaceful speech (i.e., not threatening to aggress against another), even if said speech is false, and that the ultimate reason for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is precisely so that people can be free to criticize the government and officials in government, and say things which said officals greately dislike, without fear of retaliation by the government.<br><br>References:<br><br>1. Interview of Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner by Greg Szymanski, on the radio program Investigative Journal, March 24, 2006, MP3, first part: <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603/20060324_Fri_Greg1.mp3">mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603..._Greg1.mp3</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> , second part: <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603/20060324_Fri_Greg2.mp3">mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603..._Greg2.mp3</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>2. Interview of Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner by Greg Szymanski, on the radio program Investigative Journal, March 29, 2006, MP3 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603/20060329_Wed_Greg1.mp3">mp3.rbnlive.com/Greg/0603..._Greg1.mp3</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>3. "Ohio Case Showcases Judicial Tyranny At Its Worst," June Maxam, Empire Journal, July 24, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:88k-XRx7EAcJ:www.libertyforum.org/showthreaded.php%3FCat%3D%26Board%3Dnews_constitution%26Number%3D293816553%26page%3D%26view%3D%26sb%3D%26o%3D%26t%3D0">www.google.com/search?q=c...3D%26t%3D0</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>4. "Ohio Attorney Persecuted And Jailed For 232 Days Under Nazi-Like Treatment Right Here In America," Greg Szymanski, Arctic Beacon, March 27, 2006 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.arcticbeacon.com/27-Mar-2006.html">www.arcticbeacon.com/27-Mar-2006.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>5. "EV Investigation: The Baumgartner Chronology," Bryan DuBois, Erie Voices, March 16, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Vd7Ew74yJCIJ:erievoices.com/blog/static.php%3Fpage%3Dstatic050316-191152%26PHPSESSID%3D023a1733be93fec44a880f655ba1a893%26PHPSESSID%3D77bf28310fc1d35bdf6787f0a1ca853d">www.google.com/search?q=c...f0a1ca853d</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>6. "Island Express Chronology," Bryan DuBois, Erie Voices, December 8, 2004 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:II8b-7x1n9IJ:erievoices.blogspot.com/2004/12/island-express-chronology.html">www.google.com/search?q=c...ology.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>7. "231 Days of Maximum Felony Confinement!," Bryan DuBois, Erie Voices, September 9, 2004 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:hxvI_F9UomgJ:erievoices.blogspot.com/2004/09/231-days-of-maximum-felony-confinement.html">www.google.com/search?q=c...ement.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>8. "Trial Monday In Ohio Free Speech Case, More Charges Lodged," North Country Gazette, March 25, 2006 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/032506Baumgartner.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...rtner.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>9. "Ohio Free Speech Trial Gets a Continuance," North Country Gazette, March 27, 2006 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/032706TrialContinuance.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...uance.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>10. "Three Dirty Words--First Amendment Rights," North Country Gazette, March 21, 2006 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/032106ThreeDirtyWords.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...Words.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>11. "Judicial Tyranny Continues In Ohio Free Speech Case," North Country Gazette, October 1, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/100105JudicialTyranny.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...ranny.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>12. "Judicial Tyranny, Misconduct Continue In Ohio Courts," North Country Gazette, October 14, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101405OhioTyranny.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...ranny.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>13. "Ohio Bloggers Charge Prosecutorial Misconduct, Seek Dismissal," North Country Gazette, October 16, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101605OhioBloggers.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...ggers.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>14. "'Blogger Favors Freedom First," an interview of Bryan DuBois by Lady Liberty, The Price of Liberty, September 7, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/05/09/07/ladylib.htm">www.thepriceofliberty.org...adylib.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>15. "Bloggers arrested for exposing corruption," LP News (Libertarian Party), December 1, 2005 <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.lp.org/lpnews/article_898.shtml">www.lp.org/lpnews/article_898.shtml</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p>-------<br><br>"Documentation on Government-Staged Terrorism," September 30, 2005:<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.armleg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2&mforum=libertyandtruth">www.armleg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2&mforum=libertyandtruth</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>"Jesus Is an Anarchist," James Redford, revised and expanded edition, November 9, 2005 (originally published on December 19, 2001):<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.geocities.com/vonchloride/anarchist-jesus.pdf">www.geocities.com/vonchloride/anarchist-jesus.pdf</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--></p><i></i>
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Re: 109 Years in Prison Sought for Peaceful Speech in Americ

Postby StarmanSkye » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:28 am

Abso-lutely In-fucking-credible.<br>But this is the nature of the beast, how deep its tentacles have reached into the body politic and law, left it foul and stinking with judicial abuses protecting confederate scoundrels.<br><br>Thanks for the heads-up on this case, James;<br>More below.<br>Starman<br>**********<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://tyrantinfo.blogspot.com/">tyrantinfo.blogspot.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>From Erie Voices:<br><br>EV writers Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner and Bryan DuBois were secretly charged with 21 felony counts of “extortion,” “intimidation,” “retaliation” and “possession of criminal tools” after a judge DuBois had been writing about complained that DuBois had intimidated him through an email sent 7 months prior to the judge’s complaint to law enforcement – and that Baumgartner had been “intimidating” him for over a year – despite the fact that he stayed on her civil cases while all this “intimidation” was going on. Baumgartner was held on a $360,000 bond and held in isolation for 10 days by order of the prosecutor, and DuBois was held on a $150,000 bond and held in isolation too.<br><br>****<br>I'm utterly flabbergasted that the hapless citizens of Ohio have to bear the infantile self-important tantrums of such a petty bullying fool -- apparantly, the judges criticisms are DAMN well founded for him to be acting with haughtiness for the law in obvious reprisal -- <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101405OhioTyranny.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...ranny.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>Judicial Tyranny, Misconduct Continue In Ohio Courts <br>OTTAWA COUNTY, OHIO--Some public officers seem unacquainted with the U.S. Constitution and in particular, the First and Fourteenth Amendments---freedom of speech, redress of grievances and due process not to mention equal protection under the law and equal treatment. <br><br>Among those public officials who seem to pervasively violate the rights of governmental critics, and in particular the Baumgartner family in northern Ohio, is Ottawa County prosecutor Mark Mulligan. <br><br>Prominent pharmacist Joseph Baumgartner, a former member of the Benton-Carroll-Salem Board of Education, is now being threatened with yet more contempt charges by Ottawa County prosecutor Mark Mulligan who says that Baumgartner, husband of disbarred Oak Harbor attorney Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner, a long-time nemesis of Mulligan, has violated a 2004 agreement that he had signed with Mulligan that provided that Baumgartner would not initiate any complaints, legal proceedings or other actions in Ohio courts for 10 years. <br><br>Such denial to right to redress of grievances in the courts would appear to be a violation of Baumgartner's constitutional rights. <br><br>Baumgartner's wife has been labeled a "vexatious litigator" and is prohibited from filing any legal motions or actions---in fact, she's even been denied her Sixth Amendment right to file an appeal in her own criminal cases. <br><br>But in order to get the issues in front of a federal court, the Baumgartners first have to get out of the Ohio courts and out of the chokehold of Richard Markus who is now serving in the conflicting roles as the complainant, the witness and the judge. <br><br>A contempt hearing for Joe Baumgartner had been scheduled earlier this month at the Ottawa County courthouse but was quickly postponed when issues regarding the disqualification of Mulligan and a jury trial were raised before presiding judge Markus. Because the contempt charges are a misdemeanor and carry a potential jail term, he is constitutionally entitled to a jury trial-a trial by a jury of his peers---something it appears that neither the prosecution nor Markus want to occur. <br><br>Markus is the complaining witness and presumably would testify in the case. Under normal circumstances, that should disqualify him from hearing the case but so far, Markus has not recused himself. <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/100105JudicialTyranny.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...ranny.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <br><br>That contempt charge against Baumgartner was dismissed earlier this month by Markus but now Mulligan is saying that he's going to refile charges against Baumgartner for filing an affidavit of bias and disqualification against Markus in order to attempt to remove Markus from his wife's cases in late February. Mulligan says that action by Baumgartner without being represented by an attorney violated the agreement. Among the allegations in Baumgartner's motion was that two justices on the Ohio Supreme Court have problems with alcohol. <br><br>Even though Mulligan is aware that his prior contempt charges against Baumgartner were dismissed, Mulligan says he's going ahead anyways. Dr. Baumgartner who graduated first in her law class says that Mulligan's action will fail again because "certain clauses of this contract are completely bogus. You cannot keep a person from complaining about a public employee. Mr. Mulligan is saying 'I don't want a citizen to complain about us anymore". <br><br>In essence, it appears that Mulligan is improperly using his public office in an attempt to silence his critics and public review of his actions. <br><br>Markus had presided over a libel trial in December, 2004, brought against Dr. Baumgartner by Kellen Smith, a former member of the Benton-Carroll-Salem Board of Education, the same board of which Joe Baumgartner had been a member. <br><br>Although Elsebeth Baumgartner did not testify in her own behalf and there was no credible proof submitted, Markus found her guilty and assessed a $175,000 judgment against her. <br><br>He later cited her for 34 counts of contempt as a result of her allegedly calling him corrupt. <br><br>Markus also filed a criminal complaint against Elsebeth, claiming that she intimidated him and threatened him before the libel trial by sending him emails but he failed to disqualify himself for the trial and didn't file his complaint against her until months later. <br><br>Markus continues to sit on the case of Joe Baumgartner although he is the complaining witness against Elsebeth in Ottawa County on the contempt charges and on 21 felony counts of intimidation, falsification and retaliation in Cuyahoga County for allegedly sending him emails which charged that he was corrupt and allegedly engaged in improper judicial actions through his private business. <br><br>The Baumgartners say that Markus is biased against them and Elsebeth claims that Markus is engaged in case fixing. She says that after he had entered two judgments against her, he then became the complaining witness in the criminal charges against her. Markus had previously ruled that Joe Baumgartner's eyewitness testimony that his wife had been assaulted by a Benton-Carroll-Salem school official was "preposterous". <br><br>In March, Markus entered a $26,000 sanction against Joe Baumgartner for "frivolous activity" when he attempted to defend himself in the civil proceedings that were being prosecuted against himself and his wife. <br><br>According to Baumgartner, Mulligan's first attempt to plea bargain the case was a sentence of 30 days in jail with all but two suspended with work release which Baumgartner refused. His attorney then raised the issue of Mulligan's disqualification and raised the question if it was proper to use contempt on a breach of contract claim, especially when the contract itself is allegedly illegal. His attorney also told Markus and Mulligan that in view of the fact that jail time was being considered as a sentence in the contempt charge that Joe Baumgartner was entitled to a jury trial. <br><br>Markus, 75, five years past the constitutionally mandated retirement age of 70, said that allegations that Elsebeth Baumgartner made against attorneys and judges, including himself, had disrespected the court and "tended to embarrass, impede and obstruct the court in the performance of its functions". <br>10-14-05 <br><br>© 2005 North Country Gazette<br>****<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.judicialaccountability.org/articles/Baumgartencase.htm">www.judicialaccountabilit...encase.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>Most Recent Events in the Case From Empire Journal<br><br> Bloggers in Ohio Free Speech Case Claim Indictment Forged <br><br>Ohio Bloggers Charge Prosecutorial Misconduct, Seek Dismissal<br>March 25, 2006<br><br>Trial Monday In Ohio Free Speech Case, More Charges Lodged <br> <br>One of the nation’s most important cases dealing in judicial corruption and First Amendment issues will take center stage on Monday, March 27 in Cuyahoga County in northern Ohio. <br><br>Or will it? <br><br>Can Ohio officials afford <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/032506Baumgartner.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...rtner.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> <br><br>October, 2005<br><br>OAK HARBOR, OHIO--Charges of prosecutorial misconduct including use of the office for political retribution have once again been brought before the Ohio Common Pleas Court by judicial whistleblower Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner and Bryan DuBois, editor of a blog which focuses on judicial and governmental corruption in northern Ohio. <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101605OhioBloggers.html">www.northcountrygazette.o...ggers.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>September 9, 2005<br><br>In a surprising and highly questionable move, one day before a pre-trial hearing in the case of the Ohio bloggers arrested for allegedly intimidating a judge, the prosecutor has attempted to withdraw the prior indictment, citing a defect.<br><br>Allegations concerning the alleged forged indictment will now proceed to a full evidentiary hearing on Monday, Sept. 12 after the defendant, disbarred Oak Harbor attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner, refused to allow Kasaris to substitute indictments.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.theempirejournal.com/090805_Bloggers_in_">www.theempirejournal.com/...oggers_in_</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>Ohio_Free_Speech_Case_Claim_Indictment_Forged.html <br><br>Complainant Judge in Baumgartner Case<br> to Preside In Contempt Case<br><br>August 13, 2005<br><br>OHIO--Although retired visiting judge Richard Markus has filed a criminal complaint against former Ohio attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner and has obtained an order of protection against her, claiming that he has been intimidated by her, in one of the most blatant abuses of power demonstrated from the bench, Markus has given notice that he is moving forward Friday, Aug. 12 with a contempt hearing in Ottawa County against Joseph Baumgartner, Elsebeth’s husband and a former member of the Benton-Carroll-Salem Board of Education. <br><br> <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.theempirejournal.com/0813055">www.theempirejournal.com/0813055</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>_Complainant_Judge_in_Baumgartner_Case_to_Preside_In_Contempt_Case.html<br>Complainant Judge in Ohio Case Denies <br>Baumgartner Sixth Amendment Rights<br><br>Whistleblower Attorney <br>Baumgartner Released From Jail<br><br>Baumgartner, arrested and indicated on intimidation and retaliation harges for the exercise of free speech rights in challenging the alleged corruption of public officials was released Thursday from the Cuyahoga County Jail in northern Ohio after posting a reduced $25,000 bond.<br><br>August 10, 2005<br><br>“If a 50 year mother of two can be tortured for 10 days as a result of an indictment that is a forgery on its face and her business partner arrested and abused for reporting her story, then obviously this country is lost”, former attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner told The Empire Journal after being released from an Ohio county jail where she was held for 24 days, 10 days in isolation with no outside contact, for having dared to criticize Ohio public officers. To read further click below:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.theempirejournal.com/08100511">www.theempirejournal.com/08100511</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>_Whistleblower_Attorney_Baumgartner_Released_From_Jail.html<br><br>August 4, 2005<br><br>First the Ottawa County Clerk’s office refused to allow former attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner the right to file an appeal in a criminal case---a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. <br><br> Now they’re denying her the right to defend herself in felony charges against her brought by the judge in her case. <br><br> Officials in Ottawa County are claiming that although she is currently under indictment in both Ottawa County and Cuyahoga County on complaint on retired visiting judge Richard Markus, 74, that she cannot file motions in her own defense unless she has prior approval from the complainant in the case------Ohio visiting judge Richard Markus.<br> <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.theempirejournal.com/0804055_Complainant_Judge_in_Ohio_">www.theempirejournal.com/...e_in_Ohio_</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>Case_Denies_Baumgartner_Sixth_Amendment_Rights.html<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.theempirejournal.com/071905_intimidating_a_judge.html">www.theempirejournal.com/...judge.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Most recent events in the case of <br>Elsebeth Baumgargner from "Erie Voices"<br><br>"<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://erievoices.com/blog/static.php?page=static050316-191152">erievoices.com/blog/stati...316-191152</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.mail-archive.com/thepowerhourflashstats@thepowerhour.com/msg00027.html">www.mail-archive.com/thep...00027.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.erievoices.com/blog/">www.erievoices.com/blog/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://erie%20voices.com/">erie%20voices.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Ex-Oak Harbor Attorney Faces Additional Charges<br><br>Toledo Blade<br>May 26, 2005<br><br>BAY VIEW, Ohio —— More charges were filed yesterday in Erie County against a former Oak Harbor, Ohio, lawyer who was arrested last weekend after allegedly driving away from police.<br><br>Elsebeth Baumgartner, 50, was charged by Bay View police with felony failure to comply, resisting arrest, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, and a stop-sign violation. According to authorities, she fled from police officers who had arrived Friday night at a Bay View restaurant to arrest her on a probation violation warrant.<br><br>Ms. Baumgartner, who has made numerous charges of wrongdoing against local public officials, appeared yesterday in Ottawa County Municipal Court for a hearing on the probation violation.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050526/NEWS03/50526006/-1/NEWS">toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...06/-1/NEWS</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>$175,000 verdict against Baumgartner<br>More contempt of court charges pending <br><br>By Kristina Smith<br>News Herold<br>December 14, 2004<br><br>PORT CLINTON - OHIO - Disbarred former Oak Harbor attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner faces criminal contempt charges after losing a libel case filed against her. <br><br>Visiting Judge Richard Markus ruled Monday that Baumgartner repeatedly defamed former Benton-Carroll-Salem school board member Kellen Smith through libelous letters and must pay him $175,000 in damages. Evidence in the case was presented Dec. 1-3 in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court. <br><br>Markus cited 32 references from court records Baumgartner filed during the case that caused the contempt charges, including accusations of case-fixing and corruption against Markus, Smith, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and other officials. <br><br>"As the fifth and final judge who has been subjected to her disgraceful verbal assaults in this case, this judge believes he has a professional duty to cite her for some of her criminally contemptuous acts during the time that this judge presided over this case," Markus wrote, noting during the case three sets of attorneys withdrew themselves and four judges recused themselves. "If no one seeks to halt this disruptive conduct, she has every reason to believe that no restrictions apply to her advocacy in any court." <br><br>Baumgartner said the decision did not surprise her and that she is talking with the U.S. Department of Justice about her allegations of case-fixing against Markus and racketeering against Smith and Markus. <br><br>"This is a sham judgment," she said by telephone Monday. Markus asked that another judge be assigned to hear the contempt case against Baumgartner because he could be called as a witness, according to court records. A hearing date has not been set. <br><br>Markus ruled that letters Baumgartner wrote to local law enforcement agencies, the Ottawa County commissioners and others seriously harmed Smith's reputation and were malicious, court records show. <br><br>Baumgartner accused Smith of conspiring with other school officials to cover up corruption and harassment against her daughter, Jessica Baumgartner, a former student in the district. <br><br>Smith was not available for comment Monday, but had said earlier that Baumgartner turned on him after he investigated her complaints against other school officials and determined that they were baseless. <br><br>Elsebeth Baumgartner, who lists addresses in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Lambertville, Mich., arrived on the final day of the trial to be a witness, but she did not defend herself in the case. She was not called as a witness. <br><br>There is a warrant for her arrest from the Ottawa County Municipal Court for a probation violation, but Markus said he granted her immunity from it to appear for court. Baumgartner has disagreed with Markus' statement that she had immunity. <br><br>Markus dismissed Smith's libel case against the DNA research company, Cleveland Genomics Inc., of which Baumgartner is the president and chief executive officer, during the final day of the trial. <br><br>E-mail Kristina Smith at mksmith@fremont.gannett.com. <br><br>Email this story <br><br>Originally published Tuesday, December 14, 2004<br><br>The Elsebeth Baumgartner Story<br>by Sallie reporting on radio interview highlights<br><br>Drugs And Corruption At Our Door Step<br><br>Elsebeth Baumgartner’s background was that of a Pharmacist from 1978 to 1994, when she and her husband ran a successful small-town drug store in NW Ohio. During this period she attended the University of Toledo, receiving her law degree in 1994 at the top of her class. She then went to work in the Biotech Transfer Field for major medical institutions and research groups…… only to stumble on one of the biggest rackets in the country: Steering of government contracts and government research. <br><br>While at Cleveland in 1999 Baumgartner decided to blow the whistle. Graft was pervasive and rampant all around her and she was unable to tolerate it any longer. But sounding the alarm has exposed her life to a process of total dismantling, in which she has been targeted for destruction by the Ohio legal mafia. <br><br>Ohio is headquarters of the legal industry, and is a leading industrial complex attracting major Law firms from all over the country. Five out of ten of the largest law firms in the world are located in Cleveland, where they are intimately involved in controlling government contracts and cash-flow, and in representing the world’’s vested money interests. <br><br>While uncovering a conspiracy of corruption that came to be known as the Tied Grant fraud scheme, Baumgartner made the astounding discovery that all cases in the State of Ohio are subject to being fixed through manipulation by the Ohio State Attorney General’’s office, where judges are appointed under the auspices of the Ohio Chief Justice. Special Prosecutors were appointed in the same way…… some times through local prosecutors’’ offices. <br>In January, 2002 Baumgartner filed motions to expose case-fixing against whistle blowers in the Ohio counties of Cuyahoga, Erie and Ottawa along Lake Erie’s north shore. Within a week of her action in filing these motions the Ohio Supreme Court leveled accusations that she was a threat to public safety, stripping her of her Ohio law license and even denying her right to a hearing. <br><br>Although Ms. Baumgartner poses no actual threat to public safety- a ludicrous assertion from the beginning- the ruse that she poses a threat has been concocted by the Ohio legal mafia over their secret concerns that, given Baumgartner’’s background in Pharmacology- coupled with her record in exposing the enormous drug trafficking and money laundering ring lead by the Chief Justice of Ohio and certain other major law firms in Cleveland…… the real threat she poses is obviously to them!<br><br>While serving as a biotech attorney Ms. Baumgartner uncovered and became intimately concerned with several technology transfers stemming from Case Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland. She discovered that there is a deeply entrenched criminal cabal within the Cleveland political-legal clique directly controlling deal-flow for government contracts. The trail of these unholy schemes, she found, leads into Gov. Taft’s office through his science advisor, Frank Samuel, who is not actually a scientist at all. When Baumgartner tried to blow the whistle on all this and even started unraveling corruption in Ohio law enforcement, which seems to especially thrive in rural areas of the state- things began happening in her own personal life at home- where she resides in a rural area 90 miles from Cleveland.<br><br>The law firm Squire, Sampson and Dempsey, Ms. Baumgartner discovered, seemed to play a pivotal role in the crime wave enveloping Ohio’’s political and legal structure in connection with certain highly suspicious pharmaceutical-medical deals. She found multiple levels in which inemoney crimes and massive fraud were commonplace, driven by state officials whose source of funding came from federal tax-payer dollars, elicited through lucrative federal government contracts. Yet the most startling aspect of all this to Baumgartner was her discovery of a role Charles Clark played as both senior partner to the above law firm and husband of Federal Court judge Leslie Brooks Wells, the jurist presiding over the Traficant case. Clark was in an ideal position to receive court-awarded contracts funneled to him by his wife, judge Wells.<br><br>Pending before Judge Wells since November 2001 has been evidence filed by Ms. Baumgartner in Cleveland Federal Court exposing the above fraudulently obtained government contracts and the criminal ring of corrupt county prosecutors who abetted in the making of them, including former county prosecutor-cum-Congresswoman Stephanie Tuft Jones, who is implicated in case-<br><br>fixing to protect illegal drug trafficking, along with various other criminal activities in the northern district of Ohio. <br><br>The worst-kept secret in the Ohio Bar Association is that 30-35% of the legal profession is drug/alcohol addicted. Ottawa and Erie county prosecutors are known to suffer drug habits as asserted by eye witnesses who were present while these men were in the act of using controlled substances. Recently, more evidence has come forward indicating that the Cuyahoga County prosecutor is also involved.<br><br>Ms. Baumgartner found that Ohio’s illegal drug trafficking is literally controlled by law enforcement! she has evidence to show that members of the law-enforcement community have consistently and flagrantly involved themselves in improper for-profit handling and use of controlled substances with total impunity. Apparently the don’t look-don’t ask scenario applies in Ohio, as these criminals- who perpetrate their misdeeds in what amounts to a good old boy cop cartel are not prosecuted, and have been known to fabricate crimes against those who try to expose their racket.<br><br>The case that got Ms. Baumgartner in trouble with the Ohio Supreme Court, and which led to the revocation of her law license, was one first uncovered by former attorney Jeffery Keith following the freak death of his stepson. When Keith attempted to enter his son’s estate into the Ohio probate process he butted up against what amounted to a brick wall, called the probate case-fixing cabal. When he tried to advance his stepson’s probate action he was warned by a leading attorney from Western Heard, one of Cleveland’s biggest law firms, that if he went forward with the probate proceedings his life would come unraveled.<br><br>Mr. Keith was threatened that he’d better prepare to take on the world if he persisted…… i.e.- his troubles would be severe. Keith’s connection to a group called CAAMEO- Cleveland Arab America Middle Eastern Organization, where he worked as fund-raiser, may have been one factor in this unusually harsh and abusive treatment. In 1995 Keith attended a meeting where an envoy from then President Clinton, Dr. James Zogby, was in attendance. Zogby was present in what was supposedly an official capacity as head of the Arab-American Institute, and was there to propose that CAAMEO be awarded a $5 million dollar federal grant to establish an African-American Bank in Cleveland. However, as Mr. Keith learned, these funds were earmarked for use in the construction of West Bank housing for Israelis, and were to be administered under the farce of an Arab front group. <br><br>Such things fly in the face of all Americans hold sacred, serving to further exacerbate animosities in the strife-ridden Middle East, not to mention the despicability of profiteering from human misery. Present at this meeting was Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakauer, who was involved in the scam. Keith, whose life had been vividly transformed by the experience with the Ohio probate process in the matter of his stepson’s death, had taken all he was willing to take. Having just learned of the fraudulent misappropriation of the CAAMEO funds he said "This is treason, and I will not be involved with it."" He then walked out of the meeting, and as he departed he was told, "We will destroy you." Shortly afterward, Mr. Keith was indicted on 96 fabricated counts of arson by then- prosecutor Stephanie Tuft Jones, who saw to it that Keith was convicted and sent to prison. <br><br>However, six years later many of the agents who had been paid to fabricate the criminal case against Mr. Keith have come forward and given sworn affidavits, which were filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in January, 2002, asking that a new trial be ordered for Mr. Keith. These affidavits were instrumental in exposing recently-elected Congresswoman Stephanie Tuft Jones’’ involvement in case-fixing and fabrication of evidence. It was shortly thereafter that Ms. Baumgartner’’s law license was stripped from her.<br><br>The second case filed in January, 2002 involved an African American woman from Sandusky Ohio, one Christa Harris, who was sexually enslaved by Erie Co. prosecutor Kevin Baxter for nearly five years under threat of false criminal charges. Mr. Baxter was one of the Ohio good ‘‘ol boys intimately involved in drug trafficking in the county. Ms. Harris found the courage to swear out affidavits in the months of December, 2001 and January 2002 in a effort to gain her freedom. Yet rather than address any of Ms. Harris’ concerns she was, instead, brought up on false charges over a probate case she was exposing, tried, sentenced and imprisoned in Marysville Women’s Prison. <br><br>Since that time two things have transpired: 1) Ms. Baumgartner has filed a motion in Erie County for a special prosecutor to look into allegations of criminal activity there, and has filed all evidential materials pertaining to the above and other allegations with the US District Court, where 2) She has put in a request for a special grand jury and special prosecutors. She has been contacted by citizens all over Ohio who complain that officials are virtually never held accountable for crimes of theft and other illegalities, and that Ohio citizens are being denied constitutional access to the courts. It falls as highly coincidental that Ms. Baumgartner was assigned the courtroom of Federal Judge Leslie Wells in the grand Jury proceeding, the very judge presiding over the Traficant case. <br><br>At about this same time Baumgartner had gone public with her allegations at a town council meeting held in Port Clinton, Ohio based on sworn affidavits from eyewitnesses who spilled the beans on Kevin Baxter’s involvement with organized crime. Additionally, eyewitnesses (former associates) confirmed that Baxter is employing his ferry boat company,"Island Express Boat Lines," which he owns and operates, for illegal federal and state contracts…… and using the ferry boats for drug smuggling and gun running. Ohio has islands that have a known history as drug and weapons-smuggling drop points. <br><br>Ms. Baumgartner’s public announcements failed to curry favor with the entrenched Ohio clique. She had spoken on behalf of several clients, of whom one’s mother was believed murdered because she was getting ready to blow the whistle on the cabal’s activities. When Baumgartner spoke publicly in her official capacity as an attorney she found herself strapped with criminal charges. No one looked into the evidence that her clients had presented, or the fact that there were eyewitnesses to the alleged criminal conduct. True to form, the cabal trumped up an immediate assumption that she was lying, without even bothering to look at the evidence. She was charged with "Falsification" for her indiscretion of exposing the good old boys’ unconscionable behavior. Baumgartner goes to trial this Thursday and Friday 7/25 and 7/26 in Port Clinton, Ohio.<br><br>Keep in mind regarding the above that in a 1964 case titled Garrison vs. Louisiana it was specifically stated that a citizen cannot be criminally charged- especially when that citizen happens to be an attorney- for standing up at public meetings and calling for an investigation, or criticizing a public official.<br><br>Chief Justice Moyer who, it is said is……"owned by the drug cartel," has assigned a visiting judge from 150 miles away to preside in the Baumgartner coal-raking, despite death threats that have been made against Ms. Baumgartner, her clients, and witnesses as recorded in filed affidavits. People don’t receive death-threats unless they pose imminent danger to someone. Yet this FIX-IT judge, John Adkins from Circleville, Ohio is going forward with the Baumgartner prosecution (persecution). Adkins, like his fellow jurists, has all the earmarks of a dishonorable judge. Also being brought in is a special prosecutor named Tim Brawn from Lucas County, Toledo, Ohio, who is to prosecute the case against another female victim named Elsa. He just happens to be the brother of a Sandusky, Ohio police officer and rides comfortably ensconced in a hip pocket (where the money’s kept) of Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter of Sandusky, Ohio.<br><br>In summation, all these rotten members of the Ohio good old boys’ political-legal clique are in collusion and sharing the proceeds of their criminal acts! The case against Ms. Baumgartner clearly becomes one of sour grapes when keeping in mind that she and her clients were all victims of these corrupt law enforcement officers. The tragic murder of a woman who was the mother of one of Ms. Baumgartner’s clients and the false imprisonment of another client, Christa Harris, who was forced to serve as a private sex-slave to Erie Co. prosecutor Kevin Baxter for reporting his involvement in drug trafficking and probate fraud…… are only the "tip of the iceberg." <br><br>Baumgartner didn’t make any friends when she stood up during a Port Clinton, Ohio Council meeting urging that the members not enter into a public contract with Mr. Baxter’s Island Express Boat Lines, as he uses same for criminal activities. It’s the old sweet-sop where a public entity- government- enters into contractual arrangements with a member of the private sector to operate a concession for profit. Within the context of this scenario lies an enormous conflict of interest.<br><br>The case against beloved Congressman Jim Traficant who is also a victim of government steering contracts was under the hawkish scrutiny of the same Republican Congresswoman Stephanie Tuft Jones who’d sat on an ethics committee before judge Leslie Wells- the same rotten judge who saw to Rep. Traficant’s ushering into prison. He said he had been railroaded; he was right.<br><br>The case of attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner is an outrageous attempt to muzzle an attorney at law who is attempting to bring forward evidence of serious criminal activity, including several cases of murder. But, grim though the appearance of things may be for her, truth is a defense, and she has many witnesses.<br><br>These statements are not my opinion, but were derived from a partial transcript drawn up by Ms. Baumgartner in explanation of her feelings over being disbarred and to make known the long legal ordeal she has been made to endure for her courage in speaking openly of the matters addressed in this article. The content of this narrative was made public in a broadcast radio interview, paraphrased only for proper tense and congruence. <br><br>I disbelieve the fact of drug-trafficking and corruption is a problem only in Ohio. There was another case on public radio in Kalispell, Montana involving drugs, which had been covered up by the Kalispell sheriff, a local judge and the FBI. Last year a man with some knowledge of the preceding is known to have met with FBI personnel at a secluded area to furnish evidence of the above, but never returned home. This year, another local citizen investigated the situation in Kalispell and was arrested on trumped up charges, then physically abused while in custody. His mother, a retired Army Captain, is very worried he may not live to go to trial. The attorney she had hired to defend him was threatened with disbarment. Sounds very familiar!<br><br>As the Bible says…… in the last days, evil is called good, and good will is called evil.<br>Above Essay - Words 2576<br><br>Source: <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://arc3.m2ktalk.com/p235678/072202.ram">arc3.m2ktalk.com/p235678/072202.ram</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> (starting at 1<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 109 Years in Prison Sought for Peaceful Speech in Americ

Postby FourthBase » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:43 am

W. T. F.<br><br>This needs to be a major thread here <p></p><i></i>
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lessons

Postby blanc » Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:13 am

I keep thinking that we westerners need advice from ordinary iraquis on how to survive under an evil dictatorship. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Ahh Yes- The Criminals have long been known to wear

Postby OnoI812 » Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:57 am

White masks along the banks of the crooked river.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>UPDATE:<br>Ohio Attorney Jailed Again Over Trumped-Up 'Paper Terrorism' Charges</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Former attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner, released Tuesday posting bail, is being treated like a political prisoner for speaking out at a city council meeting, sending emails to a judge and running a highly critical, anti-neocon web site.<br>30 Mar 2006<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.arcticbeacon.com/30-Mar-2006.html">www.arcticbeacon.com/30-Mar-2006.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>By Greg Szymanski<br><br> <br><br>The Ohio attorney, persecuted by the Illuminati for uncovering deep rooted scandals leading to the White House, was jailed again Monday on new charges related to her highly critical web site recently dismantled by authorities.<br><br> <br><br>Treated like a political prisoner with Nazi-like tactics, Elsebeth Baumgartner, 50, was taken into custody Monday after appearing in court in a related criminal case, carrying a maximum sentence of 66 years and 6 months.<br><br> <br><br>The well-respected Ohio bio-tech attorney, who graduated from the University of Toledo Law School first in her class, has already spent approximately 244 days behind bars on a first time misdemeanor charge, including 10 days "locked in a hole" without the right to counsel, clergy or even phone calls.<br><br> <br><br>Ohio authorities decided to lash out at Baumgartner for merely speaking out at a local city counsel meeting after presenting highly documented and substantiated evidence of corruption leading to the doorstep of the White House and the highest levels of Ohio government.<br><br> <br><br>Since being released from jail on the original misdemeanor charge, Baumgartner started a web site to expose "the criminals in government," a move that she claims "has led to two more trumped up charges being leveled against me," carrying a maximum of 109 years and 6 months in jail.<br><br> <br><br>Regarding the most recent case, Baumgartner was released from jail Monday evening after posting bail on charges of Intimidation related to statements made to her business partner's wife after she claimed the couple was intimidated by authorities and turned state's evidence.<br><br> <br><br>"It happened just like I said it would," said Baumgartner Wednesday in a telephone conversation from her Ohio home, referring to statements made last Friday on Greg Szymanski's radio show, the Investigative Journal. "That's why I wanted to be on the show because I knew they were going to put me in jail again after being notified of the new charges on Thursday.<br><br> <br><br>"They know they can't go to trial on this case as a jury would be appalled at what is happening to me. So their plan is to keep me in a legal matrix as I know face over 100 years n jail on the two outstanding cases and even heard they are planning to charge my husband and I again with new charges related to illegal prescription drugs in my house.<br><br> <br><br>"These charges, of course, are bogus as my husband is a licensed pharmacist and we have done nothing wrong."<br><br> <br><br> "They just twisted the law and I was jailed. As a lawyer, respected in my community, I never thought this could happen in America, but I am living proof it can and it's not over yet," said Baumgartner last week on the Investigative Journal radio broadcast.<br><br> <br><br>To listen to the entire broadcast, go to www.rbnlive.com and turn to the archives page and for the original print article go to the archives of The Arctic Beacon at www.arcticbeacon.com. "As a lawyer, respected in my community, I never thought this could happen in America, but I am living proof it can and it's not over yet."<br><br> <br><br>As a bio-tech attorney representing influential clients, Baumgartner's original troubles also began when she notified state and federal authorities about sensitive bio-tech information being hi-jacked, information which could have been used to wage bio-tech warfare against the U.S.<br><br> <br><br>But instead of receiving cooperation from the feds, she claimed any serious investigations were stonewalled, as she became the brunt of harassment and illegal surveillance for reporting the alleged bio-tech misappropriation of information.<br><br> <br><br>Besides the bio-tech and ferry boat matters, Baumgartner also tried to save her local school district $1.5 million involved in a contract scam she uncovered, a scam involving top officials and only the tip of the ice berg, leading to how money may have ended up in the coffers of George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign as a for return on political favors.<br><br> <br><br>"I think they wanted to contain the scandal brewing to the state and local levels and this why they came down hard on me," added Baumgartner.<br><br> <br><br>Facing more jail time after being released Monday on the new chargesm in a recent letter directed to family and friends, Baumgartner tries to explain what's now unfolding in her battle against government corruption:<br><br> <br><br>"A 15 county indictment was issued for me today with a warrant in Cuyahoga County. These charges relate to my alleged intimidation of my former business partner Bryan DuBois and his wife Mandy DuBois related to Erie Voices in Erie County while I resided in Ottawa County. It appears Cuyahoga is trying to boot strap the case to the current case in Cuyahoga in order to keep the case there to complicate my defense and deny me a fair trial. Those of you who have followed the story know that while I was held in the State Mental Hospital, Bryan and Mandy stole Erie Voices from my family and turned it in to a Baumgartner bash and disinformation site.<br><br> <br><br>"When I got out and started aggressively publishing the truth of what happened including the fact that over $35,000 had been misappropriated from us or our company exclusive of equipment and the value of the contents of the website itself; (well over $50,000 invested) the DuBois felt the truth intimidated them. It was at this point that the site was shut down by the DuBois at the government's urging in order that all the evidence necessary to my defense, the public good and of their own intimidation of my family and me was not available. This was also the reason for the raid on my home. To obtain all my computer records related to pay to play, and evidence gathered related to the website.<br><br> <br><br>"I do not understand the need to issue a warrant. Perhaps it is yet another example of their desire to degrade me and see me in chains at the start of trial on Monday when Bryan DuBois will enter his plea and turn state's evidence against me.<br><br> <br><br>"I still believe Bryan has been coerced into this plea by his wife, his attorney and Kasaris.<br><br> <br><br>This action follows closely increasing revelations of pay to play in Ohio and testimony adduced at my contempt hearing that clearly showed Judge Markus filed the citations out of a desire to obstruct inquiry into criminal actions in the courts. I firmly believe this to be a desperate ploy to avoid trial on Monday and continue to drag out my proceedings so as to discredit me and inhibit my advocacy and activism.<br><br> <br><br>"My lawyer indictated Kasaris was inclined to agree to let me be arraigned on Monday before Judge Saffold. This would indicate that the while the warrant issued it was not transmitted to Ottawa authorities. I will try to confirm this statement.<br><br> <br><br>"Please include the DuBois family, my family, me and most of all our nation in your prayers at this difficult time."<br>----------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>unrelated criminal activity on the north coast<br> <br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Lawyers, Guns & Money</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Prosecutor Tom Longo was close to the mob -- much too close.<br>By Joe P. Tone<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.html">www.clevescene.com/Issues...ature.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br> <br> <br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.1.gif" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office<br><br>Longo's sex case was the least of his worries.<br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.2.gif" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office<br><br>Friends say Skip Williams dragged Longo down with him.<br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.3.gif" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Longo couldn't see that prosecutors and Detective Mike O'Malley (pictured) were cutting his son slack.<br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.4.gif" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office<br><br>Dominic Longo shared his dad's penchant for drugs and crime.<br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.5.gif" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Bob Reid was friends with Longo -- until he went down in Buffalo.<br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.clevescene.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.6.gif" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><br>Who / What:<br>Tom Longo<br>In this wooded swatch of north Solon, where the road falls fast and the long, low ranch houses hide among the trees, no one has seen the prosecutor in months. The families on Cannon Road don't know where their jolly, longtime neighbor is.<br><br>They just know he's gone.<br><br>There used to be poolside barbecues, crowded family dinners, yardwork, and horseplay by the ponds. Now the place looks lifeless. A gray, January freeze hangs in the air, and everything is still: the trees, the frozen pond, the Italian and American flags hanging proudly from his three-car garage.<br><br>With a knock, the house comes alive. But only barely -- and briefly. The door opens, just enough for eye contact. A woman pushes her face into the cold.<br><br>It's a sweet face, motherly in every way. But it looks tugged on, weighed down by a son's conviction, a neighbor's accusations, a husband's disappearance.<br><br>She doesn't know where he is, she says. And she's tired of being asked.<br><br>"There's no story here," she mutters, and gently shuts the door.<br><br>The day things fell apart, the woman at the door was across the country at a wedding. Her husband was home alone. It was a sun-broiled Saturday in July 2004. Always up for a party, Tom Longo made plans with his next-door neighbor. Both men were retired. Their families had been friends since the early 1970s, when Longo, then a recent Cleveland State law grad, moved his family in next door. (Longo's neighbors spoke with Scene on the condition that they wouldn't be named.)<br><br>Over the years, their kids played together, scooting back and forth between the two ponds that separate their homes. The parents traveled together, dined together, drank together. The dads shared the secrets of their hobbies -- pickle-making, wine-making, and gardening.<br><br>That afternoon, Longo invited the neighbor and his 30-year-old daughter over. The sun poured onto Longo's backyard deck as the three drank, jarred pickles, and talked. As evening arrived, the neighbor went home. His daughter, a pretty, curvaceous woman with wavy red hair, stayed poolside with Longo. She drank from a pitcher of margaritas. He sipped booze from an insulated cup, the big kind you get at gas stations. They ordered pizza.<br><br>As the sun fell, they moved into the house. Eventually, the woman went home.<br><br>Not long after, her mom called the police.<br><br>A cop showed up around 11 p.m., and the daughter told him a story: Sometime after pizza, Longo pulled out a plastic baggie of "blue blues," she said. Longo got them in Mexico, he told her. They're like Valium. Want one?<br><br>She gulped one down.<br><br>Only then did Longo 'fess up, she said. The pill was actually Rohypnol -- a roofie, a date-rape drug. She started to feel heavy, dizzy. They moved into the house. Friends stopped by, but left quickly, leaving her and Longo alone again.<br><br>And that's when it happened, she said: "Longo sat down beside her and suggested she lay down on the couch . . ." a Solon police report reads. "The next thing she knows, he leaned over and started kissing her. He also put his hand down her shirt touching her breast . . . She told him to stop but he continued down toward her pants. . . . He had her pinned to the couch using his body weight so she couldn't get up. She started to cry and Mr. Longo told her to relax and maybe a massage would help. . . . She was finally able to get away after becoming hysterical and ran home."<br><br>She looked drunk, definitely out of it, the officer wrote in his report. He told her to get blood tests, to see if there were drugs in her system. She said she would. And she would give a formal statement later, when she was feeling better.<br><br>The drug tests came back a week later: negative. Over time, the woman's story would change, and new witnesses would come forward, throwing stones at her tale.<br><br>But for Longo, it was too late. Two days after his neighbors called the cops, detectives showed up with a search warrant, looking for the pills. When they found two large safes in the basement, they asked Longo to open them. He refused. He said he didn't know whose they were. Didn't even know how they got there.<br><br>The cops took the safes to the station. It took a few days, but eventually, the guys from the fire department came to break them open. And though the cops didn't find what they were looking for, the safe's contents appeared to answer questions about Longo. Questions people had been asking for years. Questions Tom Longo really didn't want to answer.<br><br>Eight years before, in 1996, finding Tom Longo at the pool was not nearly as common as finding Tom Longo at the office.<br><br>In his two-plus decades as an attorney, Longo built a thriving general practice, anchored by his reputation for being tough and cunning, no matter whose side he was on.<br><br>Friends say that as a personal-injury lawyer, Longo earned a bundle -- perhaps more than $1 million -- when he sued a power company on behalf of an electrocuted worker.<br><br>He also had a burgeoning career in public service. In 1977, when he was 33, Longo took a part-time job as the assistant law director and prosecutor for the community of Bedford. He later took on extra prosecutor gigs in Solon, Highland Hills, Warrensville Heights, and Chagrin Falls. And in every city he worked, he earned respect by going hard after bad guys.<br><br>Through it all, Longo was a defender of thugs. In the '70s, after starting his career as a federal public defender, Longo shared an office with Elmer Giuliani, the famed lawyer who represented organized crime powers like Anthony Liberatore and Danny Greene.<br><br>Longo himself defended murderers, mafia drug runners, kiddie-porn distributors, and the rest. He later would open his own office on Chagrin Boulevard. But in the early years, Longo commonly joined other battle-tested defense lawyers -- guys who earned their chops during the mafia wars of the '70s -- at downtown's Theatrical Grill, where they licked their wounds over bourbon and Winstons.<br><br>Over the years, Longo didn't just defend criminals; he also befriended them. He was close to his cousin, Chuck Sinito, a convicted money launderer and the brother of mafia leader Tom Sinito. He also was good friends with alleged mafioso Sam Vecchio.<br><br>Then there was Skip Williams. Longo defended Williams in the mid-1980s, when Williams was convicted for his role in a mafia-financed cocaine-and-marijuana ring. When he emerged from prison in 1989, he and Longo went into business together. They opened the Wizard's Inn, a bar in Richmond Heights, and invested in other property. Friends of the Longos came to know Williams as "Uncle Skip."<br><br>It was a relationship bound for trouble. "You could see that was a train wreck," says Bill Summers, Longo's friend and former lawyer.<br><br>Williams was, according to police and court records, fully entrenched in the mob's lucrative business of importing coke and weed to the streets of Cleveland. And after he got out of the joint in 1989, he didn't stop.<br><br>In March 1996, Williams and a friend, Bill Cope, arranged to buy 1,000 pounds of pot from a dealer near Buffalo. They hitched a trailer to Cope's Dodge pickup and drove to Cheektowga, New York. At a Holiday Inn, Williams strip-searched the dealers to make sure they weren't cops. Cope then drove with one dealer to pick up the load, while Williams stayed behind to make the down payment: $146,000.<br><br>As Cope was loading the pot and Williams was counting out the cash, there was a knock at the hotel door. It was the DEA.<br><br>Williams' instinct to strip-search the guy was right; he just didn't find the carefully hidden bug. He'd been set up by a friend from prison -- and now was surely headed back there himself. He wasn't going alone.<br><br>A month later, Williams was out on bail when he showed up at Longo's office on Chagrin. But he wasn't looking for representation.<br><br>"What do you want to yell at me for?" Williams asked.<br><br>"For not having the normal street sense to know what's going on," Longo said.<br><br>Williams knew he was in for a dressing-down, because this time it wasn't just his ass on the line.<br><br>A year before, the Wizard's Inn had burned down. Investigators suspected arson, but they never could nail down who torched the place. So in January 1996, $130,000 in insurance money was deposited in the partners' bank account, according to the feds.<br><br>A month later, Longo's legal secretary cut two $65,000 checks, one for each partner. The two men flew to Atlantic City, checked into Caesar's, and deposited the money. They took out the cash the next day and headed back to Cleveland, each with $65,000.<br><br>But the next month, Williams showed up at the law office to pick up Longo's cut. Williams now had a total of $130,000 -- almost enough for the down payment on the pot. A few days later, he and Cope left for New York, to meet up with Williams' old buddy from prison.<br><br>"I told you, don't do this with this guy," Longo said.<br><br>"We had a deal, OK?" Williams fired back. "If you had felt that strong, you wouldn't give me the money. I mean, you're just as greedy as I am."<br><br>Longo knew the insurance company's deposit, the withdrawal in Atlantic City, and his longtime relationship with Williams spelled trouble. He peppered him with questions about what the feds knew. "Do they mention . . . my name?" Longo asked. "Whose name do they mention?"<br><br>But Williams seemed more worried about himself -- about paying back the money, about going back to prison. And about surviving. The feds believe they were planning to sell the pot to seasoned drug dealers -- including Sam Vecchio, the alleged mafioso. (Vecchio, who the feds say invested $8,000 in the Buffalo deal, would later be convicted in a separate money-laundering and weapons case.)<br><br>"I have dreams that my doorbell rings, and . . . I open the door and one of Sam's nutty kids like Jimmy's there, OK," Williams told Longo, referring to Vecchio's son James. "Ready to blow my brains out."<br><br>"Think about taking a bus ticket?" Longo asked him.<br><br>"Yeah, but Tom, where would I go? . . . It's just a different form of incarceration."<br><br>"What about the Unabomber?" Longo asked. "I mean, look at how long he . . ."<br><br>They talked briefly about getting fucked up together; Longo had a soft spot for booze and blow, and had been known to go on multiday benders, court records show. But they decided against it. "I wanna get fucked up so bad," Longo said, "but you know I . . ."<br><br>"So do I," Williams said, "but I can't." His wife was pissed about the arrest. "When this is all over, you'll still be on Chagrin Boulevard, and I'll be somewhere else."<br><br>"Hopefully," Longo said. "Hopefully, I'll be on Chagrin Boulevard."<br><br>Eventually, they said goodbye, and Williams left -- to take off the transmitter hidden beneath his clothes, and to tell the feds what they wanted to hear about his friend Tom Longo.<br><br>If Longo was nervous about his future, fear didn't trump his ambition. A year after the Buffalo deal went south, he declared himself a candidate for judge in Bedford. With a stockpile of well-to-do friends from every corner of law enforcement and government, he had a shot.<br><br>But the company he kept made the feds even more suspicious. Not only did he run with known wise guys, but his list of campaign contributors looked like an Evite to a crime-family picnic.<br><br>Salvatore Scalish, nephew of former mob boss John Scalish, kicked in. Edward Flask, a convicted felon and associate of Carmen Policy, the Youngstown mob lawyer turned NFL executive, wrote a check too. So did relatives of Sinito, Vecchio, and former Cleveland mafia boss Angelo Lonardo.<br><br>Friends insist the largesse was merely the fruit of Longo's tireless work as a defense lawyer. "Did I think he was a mafia wannabe? Hell, no," says Summers. "Absolutely not. He wanted to be a husband, a lawyer, and a father."<br><br>But the connections made Skip Williams' story -- and his taped chat with Longo -- all the more believable. With a felony drug conviction already on his record, Williams was facing serious time. If he could deliver a public official to prosecutors in Buffalo, he'd spare himself time in the joint.<br><br>Longo's role in the 1,000-pound marijuana buy wasn't a one-time affair, Williams told them. The prosecutor had been investing in mafia-financed cocaine deals since the 1980s. Couriers would buy 7 to 10 kilos from Florida suppliers, then transport them back to Cleveland to be distributed by the mob, Williams said.<br><br>According to Williams, Longo also had a stake in the major coke-and-weed ring that, when busted by the feds in 1986, took down several reputed mafiosi, including Carmen Zagaria, Lonardo, and Tom Sinito. It was the same case that landed Williams in prison -- the case Longo worked as a defense lawyer.<br><br>And Longo dealt in more than drugs, Williams alleged. He told the feds that they also bought two MAC semiautomatics and three custom-made silencers from a weapons dealer, then sold the two guns and two of the silencers to Vecchio. Longo kept the third silencer for himself, Williams said.<br><br>By that time, court records show, Vecchio had been caught trying to sell MACs and silencers to an undercover agent in Cleveland, making Williams' tale more believable.<br><br>Longo never talked to the feds. But his lawyers claimed he was set up by Williams, who used his knowledge of Cleveland's underworld and Longo's family ties to sell out his friend. Did he give him the money? Sure. But how was he to know Williams would use it for dope?<br><br>"I will go to my grave believing that's . . . typical Tom, thinking he's doing a favor for someone," Summers says. "It's so bizarre to think that he would be involved. He had made money, he had a good investment strategy. He had a lovely home, a lovely family. Some people like to act out. Some people like to walk the line. None of that's Tom Longo."<br><br>But it was hard to deny what was said on the tapes, and the feds found Williams' tales credible. So in September 1997, two months before the election in Bedford, a grand jury indicted Longo on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges. If the case went to trial, they'd have Williams on the stand. And as long they had Williams, they had a case.<br><br>It was the kind of phone call a homicide detective lives for: In October 1997, a month after the indictment in Buffalo, Cleveland Detective Gary Garisek got a phone call.<br><br>"We've got some information about an old unsolved murder," Tom Longo told him. "Are you interested?"<br><br>Garisek met Longo and his attorney, Bill Summers, at Slyman's, a popular corned-beef stop east of downtown.<br><br>The tip was about the 1985 murder of Ralph Barone. In the late 1970s, Garisek recalls, Barone told a group of mafia-connected drug dealers that he could bring planeloads of drugs from Florida to Cleveland. He convinced the dealers to front him cash -- as much as $400,000, according to one account -- and went to Florida to buy the plane.<br><br>Then he disappeared.<br><br>He hid out for years, spending the money. Eventually, Garisek says, the dealers were able to contact Barone. It's OK, they told him. Come back to Cleveland. "The dumbass believed them," Garisek says.<br><br>On November 11, 1985, Barone was ambushed outside a downtown bar. A bullet thrashed through his stomach and out his back. He tried to run. But more bullets came, tearing into his back, his shoulder, and his head. The killer dragged his body into a rental car, then dumped the car in a parking garage at East 52nd and Prospect.<br><br>The case had been cold for years. Though the cops had always suspected a hit, they couldn't figure out who did it. But Longo said he knew the killer: Lester "Skip" Williams.<br><br>Williams had confessed to it years before, Longo said. Williams also said he wasn't alone at the time: Bill Cope drove the getaway car.<br><br>When you spend your life among criminals, you know what it takes to weasel out of trouble. Williams knew he could keep his prison time short if he ratted out Longo. Longo knew that if he wanted to save his career -- and stay out of jail -- he needed to destroy Williams and Cope's reputations. Pinning them for a contract killing was a start.<br><br>"Tom did what he wanted to do," Summers says. "He said, 'Fuck him, if he's gonna do this to me.'"<br><br>It was a lot for Longo to juggle. While his lawyers traded 100-page motions with government lawyers -- buying time for the cops to build a murder case against Williams -- Longo kept working as an attorney. He also remained the centerpiece of his family, visiting his mom in Florida and his son Tom Jr. in Italy.<br><br>But in the spring of 1998, it was Longo's other son, 26-year-old Dominic, who would fill out Dad's to-do list.<br><br>Dominic was a bright but troubled kid, family friends say. He'd spent time at Columbia and other universities, planning to become a doctor. But like his dad, he also had a penchant for drugs and crime.<br><br>That spring, Dominic was running a racket of his own. For months, his girlfriend had been house-sitting for a rich, elderly Hunting Valley couple who were out of the country. Dominic got hold of the couple's checkbook. He enlisted jobless guys from a downtown temp agency, dressed them in khakis and sports coats, and sent them to banks to deposit the checks, thousands of dollars at a time. Then they withdrew the cash, gave it to Dominic, and took a small cut for themselves.<br><br>But when a teller at the couple's bank got suspicious, the scam fell apart. The cops caught up with one of Dominic's pawns, 30-year-old David Williams, who unveiled the scheme.<br><br>Dominic probably wouldn't have gotten much time. The rich couple wasn't making much of the theft, says Cleveland Detective Mike O'Malley, who worked the case. But when Dominic found out that Williams had squealed, he told his girlfriend he'd have to "get rid of him."<br><br>So he drugged Williams, sliced his abdomen so he wouldn't float, and dropped him in the New River in Fayette County, West Virginia.<br><br>Police were still building their theft case against Dominic -- and didn't even know about the murder -- when Dominic was jailed for writing himself false prescriptions. Then Williams' decomposed body washed ashore. Cops found out that Dominic had bragged up the killing to fellow inmates. Their case was rock solid.<br><br>Longo hired Summers to represent Dominic, and Summers eventually got prosecutors to knock the aggravated murder -- which carries a possible death sentence -- down to murder. Considering the gruesome nature of the slaying, his sentence -- 15 years to life in prison -- was a gift. But Longo had become more father than lawyer, Summers says, "forgetting everything he's learned in the trenches all these years."<br><br>He couldn't resist working the case himself, and he didn't even want his son to take the deal. "Tom was absolutely uncontrollable," Summers adds. "It made no sense . . . He couldn't see that we were saving the kid's life."<br><br>In the end, Dominic took the deal. He'll be up for parole in eight years.<br><br>Says Summers: "We couldn't have asked for a more fair resolution."<br><br>If there was a way out of his own mess, Tom Longo was going to find it.<br><br>In September 1998, he contacted narcotics Detective James Mendolera and asked the detective to meet with him.<br><br>Mendolera's nerves revved as he arrived at Longo's office and found him waiting outside. Knowing Longo was under federal indictment, the detective imagined FBI agents hiding in nearby vans, watching his every move.<br><br>"Can't we just go up to your office?" Mendolera recalls asking.<br><br>But Longo didn't want Summers, who shared the office, to see them. They stayed outside.<br><br>"Everyone is out to get me," the prosecutor said, his eyes darting nervously around the parking lot.<br><br>The two knew each other well. As a member of a regional drug task force on the East Side, Mendolera had worked with Longo on drug cases in Bedford. The detective's dad had also married into Longo's family. They saw each other occasionally at family functions. Just three months before, Mendolera and his wife had cut Longo a check at a fund-raiser for his judicial campaign.<br><br>The detective was investigating a drug dealer named Matt Gentile, who happened to be a former client of Longo's. Longo shared what he knew about Gentile, basically confirming that Gentile was, in fact, a dealer.<br><br>Then Longo told a story: A few years back, he had owed his business partner, Skip Williams, a large sum of money. Williams wanted Longo to invest in a pot deal in Buffalo. Longo didn't like the sound of it; he said no.<br><br>Williams then asked Gentile to invest in the deal, but Gentile also thought the deal sounded fishy, Longo said.<br><br>It was a Hail Mary. Longo knew that Mendolera eventually would have to interview Gentile for his own investigation. He hoped Gentile could back his story -- their story -- and tell the detective they had nothing to do with the pot deal.<br><br>Which is exactly what happened. Mendolera wasn't thrilled about the meeting; he sensed that Longo was trying to use their relationship to help his defense. But the detective had a drug dealer to take down. When he found Longo's name in Gentile's phone book, he figured he'd at least ask why.<br><br>Gentile repeated Longo's story, saying that Skip Williams had come to them about a dope deal. Both turned him down, Gentile said. Then Williams pleaded with Gentile not to tell Longo he was going through with the Buffalo deal.<br><br>Mendolera filed all this in a report, which Longo later tried to use to clear his name. But the taped conversation between Williams and Longo made it clear that Longo not only knew the dope deal was going down; he knew who the dope was going to: Sam Vecchio and Matt Gentile.<br><br>All the stalling and ratting couldn't save Tom Longo. The prosecutor's murder case against Skip Williams eventually fizzled; he copped to one count of tampering with evidence and remained ready to testify against Longo in Buffalo. The conversation between Mendolera and Gentile couldn't overcome Longo's own taped admissions.<br><br>But the feds knew their case was in the hands of an ex-con, that any jury would know Williams wanted to save his own hide. And while they wanted Longo behind bars, their first priority was to get Longo out of public office.<br><br>"A guaranteed conviction would remove him from public office," says prosecutor James P. Kennedy Jr. "And, like it or not, our witness did have a prior felony." By that time, his other witness, Bill Cope, had bled to death during routine surgery.<br><br>So they cut a deal. In February 2000, Longo admitted that he knew a crime was taking place and didn't report it. That fall, a judge sentenced him to three years in prison and fined him $20,000.<br><br>The court allowed Longo to spend the holidays with his family. When he finally reported to prison in 2001, he was housed in a medical center in Massachusetts; he's been battling bladder problems for years, friends say.<br><br>Five months later, he was transferred to a medium-security prison in western Pennsylvania, where he spent less than a year before moving to a halfway house. He emerged in October of 2002 -- on probation, under supervision, subject to drug tests, but out.<br><br>Time had taken its toll. The Supreme Court quickly disbarred Longo after his conviction. Friends turned on him. Bob Reid, then Bedford's police chief and a cop's cop to the core, urged the city council to remove Longo from the payroll even before he was convicted. Reid also wrote the government with information he thought would help their case.<br><br>"When you lay down with pigs, you come up smelling like garbage," says Reid, now Bedford city manager. "You're violating the public trust. I felt absolutely offended by it."<br><br>For Longo, the days of the big-shot attorney arguing law over drinks at the Theatrical were dead.<br><br>"He used to have a lot of friends in town," says Irwin Frank, Longo's family attorney. "When he got in trouble and named for different things, basically they all abandoned him. Very few people want to talk about him now. I hate to see someone who works their entire life, diligently and professionally, come to this kind of end."<br><br>Longo still traveled -- he visited his son in Italy and made frequent trips to Florida. Other than that, he kept to himself in Solon, friends say, and stayed close to his neighbors. They'd watched out for his wife while he was locked up and had remained supportive to Dominic, who wrote and called from prison. The dads shared wine- and pickle-making stories, and got together on Saturday afternoons by the pool.<br><br>"He went away and he came back, and I thought that was it," says friend Edwin Vargas. "It was the straight and narrow. If there was any hesitancy to walk the straight line, I thought it was cleared up."<br><br>To Ed Skok, the call came as no surprise. He'd met Longo years earlier, when Skok was having trouble with permits for his contracting business. Prosecutor Longo helped him out. They'd been friends since, getting together occasionally to fish or hang out.<br><br>So on July 31, 2004, after he was done making pickles with his neighbors, Longo called Skok. He had some people over, he said. Why not stop by?<br><br>Skok was out fishing. He'd be over shortly.<br><br>When he got there, he was greeted by Longo's 30-year-old neighbor. She was soaking wet, fresh out of the pool. She threw her arms around him, Skok recalls. "She was hammered."<br><br>Longo and the woman were guzzling shots. She slammed into a wall on the way to the bathroom. She even flashed his son-in-law and grandson, who had come with him, Skok says. That was his cue to leave.<br><br>When Skok told this story to police a few days later, it looked like a last-ditch effort to save a friend from prison. The woman says she had only two margaritas over the entire day. She never flashed anyone, she says.<br><br>But in the 18 months since that day, other parts of her story have changed.<br><br>Every police and court document related to the case says the woman thought she was taking Valium, but later found out it was Rohypnol. As she tells the story on a gray Saturday morning in January, sitting in her parents' kitchen across the ponds from Longo's, the details change. Now she says that when Longo gave her a pill, he told her it was Xanax. She has a prescription for Xanax, she explains, and needed to take one anyway. When asked about the change in her story, she says she considers Valium and Xanax, both anti-anxiety medicines, to be "basically the same."<br><br>But mixing up Valium and Xanax -- especially for someone with a prescription -- is hard to do.<br><br>The case "was a joke," says Frank. "Here's a girl who claims she was given roofies by Tom. He wouldn't lay a hand on her in a million years."<br><br>Prosecutors charged Longo with gross sexual imposition. The case was disposed of quietly, with Longo pleading guilty to one count of sexual imposition. It was another felony on his record, but he received a 30-day suspended sentence and wouldn't spend a night in prison.<br><br>The conviction, however, was the least of Longo's worries. When the fire department cracked open the safes from his basement, police found evidence more damning than any bag of pills. Longo's basement, it turned out, was stocked with enough firepower to last a month in Baghdad.<br><br>The contents: 17 guns, including several semiautomatics, 2 Uzi 9-millimeters, and a .45 caliber machine gun. There were also three silencers and dozens of boxes of ammunition.<br><br>Solon police quickly contacted the feds.<br><br>In October, a federal grand jury indicted Longo, now 61, on three counts of federal firearms violations -- charges that could land him in prison for a decade.<br><br>No one's speculating what all that weaponry was for. The prosecutor won't say a thing, and Longo's attorney, Michael Hennenberg, did not return Scene's calls. But suddenly Skip Williams' story of Tom Longo as the gun- and drug-buying friend of the mob doesn't seem so far-fetched.<br><br>Maybe he was holding them for someone. Maybe he just had a thing for guns; people collect stranger things. But even Summers -- a loyal friend who has a rebuttal or denial for every one of Longo's indiscretions -- has trouble rationalizing the arsenal.<br><br>"Tom, what the fuck are you doing?" Summers asks. "You mean to tell me you don't know you're not supposed to have guns?"<br><br>Whatever Longo's explanation, he knew it wouldn't stand up in court. He didn't show for his November 2 arraignment. The judge immediately issued a warrant for his arrest. But Longo was gone.<br><br>The feds say they've amassed plenty of leads. They know he has ties to Italy -- he's traveled there for years -- and Japan, where his son now lives. But they haven't found him. For now, they're left looking for answers, just like everyone else.<br><br>"It's a plot made to order, that none of us really knew Tom Longo," Summers says. "But I would bet everything I'm about that that's just not the case."<br><br>But in the next breath, even Summers sounds ready to hedge his bet: "Maybe there was a sinister side that none of us ever knew."<br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=onoi812>OnoI812</A> at: 4/3/06 7:13 am<br></i>
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Re: 109 Years in Prison Sought for Peaceful Speech in Americ

Postby divideandconquer » Wed Feb 03, 2016 9:37 pm

Baumgartner spent over five years in jail. Click on the link and scroll down for interesting interview

The story of Elsebeth Bumgartner's battle for her First Amendment rights is one that stretches back about 20 years.

Read the story about Elsebeth's fight for her First Amendment rights.

1991: Elsebeth's husband, Joseph, starts working for the Benton-Carroll-Salem school board.

1995: Elsebeth starts asking questions about financial irregularities within the school district.

1999: She claims to see a clear discrepancy with the money being spent between boys and girls sports.

2000: The Baumgartner family is harassed with death threats and vandalism. Elsebeth presses charges related to the harassment in Judge Frederick Hany's court in November.

June, 2001: Elsebeth travels to Washington, D.C., to discuss the harassment case with federal officials.

October, 2001: Grievance filed against Elsebeth.

January 2002: Elsebeth charged with falsification.

July 2002: Elsebeth placed on probation and was told she was not allowed to file complaints against any private citizens, among other restrictions. She starts to fight the probation requirements.

September 2002: Elsebeth arrested for violation of probation. Judge Hany testifies against her.

2003: She is incarcerated for most of the year for probation violations.

Early 2004: Elsebeth moves out of state.

Fall 2004: Elsebeth starts her website, erievoices.com, to tell her story.

May 2005: She returns to northern Ohio to visit her business partner. Police attempt to arrest her for an alleged probation violation. Elsebeth drives in her friend's car to Huron County to seek a "fair hearing." She was arrested and taken back to Ottawa County and charged with fleeing and alluding.

June 2005: Elsebeth indicted on grand theft auto, fleeing and alluding charges.

July 2005: She is indicted on intimidation charges for internet postings.

February 2006: Her website erievoices.com is shut down.

November 2006: Elsebeth pleaded no contest to intimidation charges, sentenced to eight years in prison.

2007: Elsebeth is out on an appeal bond, but served 120 days for contempt of court.

May 9, 2008: Elsebeth sent to prison for the intimidation charges.

Aug. 30, 2013: Elsebeth released early on judicial release.

Dec. 17, 2013: She is barred from Ottawa County Municipal Court.

July 2014: Elsebeth finishes serving probation.
'I see clearly that man in this world deceives himself by admiring and esteeming things which are not, and neither sees nor esteems the things which are.' — St. Catherine of Genoa
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