SIX CHARGES, FIVE FELONIES DISMISSED !!
CASE DROPPED AGAINST INNOCENT MAN !
In State of Florida v. WJS, Okeechobee County Case No.: 472008CF000009A, WJS thought he had bought into a piece of the “American Dream”. With his knowledge of heavy equipment and land development, and given the heady ecomic days of 2004-2007, development was rampant in and around Florida’s Treasure Coast—one just needed to have the requisite “start up capital” to take advantage of a vibrant, exuberant economic climate.
When WJS ran into LH, who had the much needed capital, WJS thought he’d met the perfect “partner”. The deal they structured was simple. LH would provide close to 1M in start-up funds, and WJS would utilize his years of land clearing/development/heavy equipment knowledge to provide land clearing services to the multitude of land-developing- would-be-millionaire success stories that were ubiquitous in South Florida at that time.
And the the plan worked.
After only two (2) years, the partnership generated substantial revenues. WJS was paid handsomely, and LH continually represented the partnership “agreement” would be drafted and signed soon enough.
LH had other plans. The lion’s share of the revenues from the “partnership” went into LH’s pocket, and the promised “partnership papers” just never seemed to materialized.
WJS was guilty. Guilty of being trusting. Guilty of believing a person’s word is their bond. Guilty perhaps, of being a bit too trusting of people.
As the economy worsened, and jobs became fewer…. creditors of the parntership stopped being paid. (The structure of the small company was that WJS ran the “operational” side of the business, while LH handled all financial dealings).
LH then did the unconscionable. He went to law enforcement, and invented a story that blamed WJS for the failure of the company; the failure to pay bills; the failure to pay employees; the unauthorized use of heavy equipment that allegedly had been purchased by LH. LH essentially took his own fraud and embezzlement scheme, and attempted to displace the blame (and the substantial losses of capital) onto WJS.
Rather than conduct a full, fair and thorough investigation of the facts, the gendarmes instead chose simply to believe the tall tale LH spun—-and proceeded to seek and obtain arrest warrants for WJS.
WJS was charged with five (5) felonies and 1 misdemeanor, potentiallly subjecting him to over twenty-five (25) years in State Prison.
WJS came to JJK/LLC in desperation. He had cooperated fully with the police “investigation”, and now HE, the VICTIM of this fraud, was being charged with multiple counts of fraud himself.
Jay Kirschner, Esq., assembled a team of talented professionals to plan and conduct their own “investigation. Interviewing the witnesses who should have been questioned but never were; tracking down the documents that no one in law enforcement ever had bothered to locate and identify; interviewing the witnesses who could confirm that LH in fact had been representing himself as WJS’s partner for years. The team assembled a “book” of investigative results, that was over a year in the making. The evidence was then presented to the Office of the State Attorney, who conducted their own investigation, confirming all the evidence JJK/LLC had assembled throughout the previous year of diligent, thorough, painstakingly detailed research.
The result?
On April 6, 2009, all charges against WJS were dismissed by the State Attorney’s Office. WJS was free of the frustration, anger, humiliation, time and costs that are an unavoidable result of being an innocent man, wrongfully accused in the American Criminal Justice System.
WJS is not done however. He still wants returned his good name and reputation. That is why he intends to engage JJK/LLC to represent him in a civil suit against LH.
And he’ll win again.
Not all cases are “won” due to courtroom theatrics. [in fact….few ever are]. To dismantle a prosecution instituted by some governmental entitity that simply does not exercise the level of diligence and detail that is absolutely required when a citizen’s life, liberty and property are at stake— takes time, money, patience, and a relentless dedication to focused, thoughtful detail. Few law firms provide that kind of service.
This one does.
