Introduction:
This is a true story of malicious prosecution and abuse of legal process by a corrupt local government with nearly unlimited resources. This website was set up to provide documented evidence that was completely ignored by an out-of-control legal system. Evidence that proves our innocence. Evidence of a lying officer that brought phony criminal charges that damaged our lives and drained us financially. Read our harrowing first-hand nightmare and examine the evidence yourself, and draw your own conclusion.
Being a victim and witness of underhanded and malicious tactics has exposed the broken legal system corrupted by malevolent cops and judges at worst, or driven by deliberate ignorance or incompetence at best; but this is only the first half of the story…. for justice to be served, acts of malicious prosecution must be brought to light and dealt with. We are confident there is a legal remedy in a higher court to quash our tarnished records and to have our good names restored. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
When there is no remedy or recourse in the Florida court, our first option is to present our case to YOU, the court of public opinion. Feel free to examine the documented evidence provided herein. Read our account and scrutinize the actual evidence that the cops and judges ignored, avoided or deliberately refused to look at in order to construct a fraudulent case of “Grand Theft of a House” against us. See if you have any reasonable answers for the unanswered questions we still have. Then make your own decision…. and tell us: WHAT WOULD YOU DO NOW IF IT WAS YOU?
Background:
Meet Jim Hebin and Lisa McDonald. We are long-time friends and neighbors who shared a common interest in fixing houses and beautifying our neighborhood along the sunny beaches of Florida. Jim had rehabbed and managed real estate for decades, and in 2006 he began teaching real estate classes on trusts, LLCs, asset protection and vacation property management. After going through several foreclosures between 2007-2011, he used his knowledge and experience to help other Florida homeowners fight their own foreclosures at no charge. He published a number of free YouTube videos sharing research and results. With the legal assistance of real estate attorney Joseph Perlman, Jim gave homeowners a chance to defend themselves from foreclosure, while helping them generate rental income from their properties, rather than abandon their house in despair. Clearly, Jim and Joe Perlman were no friends to the bankers.
The Abandoned House in St. Pete Beach:
In November 2012, Lisa McDonald found an abandoned, deteriorating house in St. Pete Beach owned by Diane McRae not far from Jim’s homesteaded residence in Treasure Island. This abandoned house was in serious disrepair, and neighbors complained about druggies using it as a crash pad to hang out and do their drugs. It was the eyesore of our neighborhood, and it bothered us and our neighbors that nothing was being done about it. Lisa and Jim sent the owner of record, Diane McRae, several letters, offering to buy it, repair it or rent it, but she never responded and our letters were never “returned undeliverable.” The owner was apparently receiving them, but not bothering to contact us. We even offered to move into the house to protect it, and make it habitable at our own expense, but our communications were silently received and never returned or responded to.
Note: At no time did Lisa or Jim act with malicious intent to defraud or damage the property owner
or deprive her of rights or benefits.
We Get An Attorney Involved Upfront:
In early January 2012, we contacted real estate attorney Joe Perlman to see what we could do as neighbors to make contact with the owners and do something about this eyesore. Mr. Perlman notified us that the property was in foreclosure (Case #12-010895-CI, Pinellas County Court), and he offered his professional services to help us to legally and lawfully gain access to the abandoned building, so we relied entirely on his legal counsel from the very beginning. (See Mr. Perlman’s Notarized Affidavit here describing the wide scope of his involvement and legal guidance.) He asked if the property was completely locked up, and we discovered that a rear door was open and unlocked. He told us to stay out of the house, and instead he helped us draft this Agreement to Take Possession and Tenancy covering the scope of our agreement with the owner to care for the property during the foreclosure. Mr. Perlman helped craft this Agreement so that it would not infringe upon the owner’s ability to use and benefit from the property. Mr. Perlman advised we follow a legal process of having it sent to the owner by notary (officer of the court) and wait 30 days for her response; he indicated that a lack of response when one is required constitutes silent assent. We followed his instructions carefully. Notice that in our Agreement, which was later filed into the foreclosure case, Lisa indicated that she would make all repairs at her own cost, and if the owner ever wanted possession of the house at any time, she could simply notify Lisa and she would happily leave.
Again, at no time did we act with malicious intent
to defraud or damage the property owner
or deprive her of a right or benefit.
On February 18, 2013, after 30 days and no returned mail nor objection nor suggested changes to the Agreement, we contacted Attorney Perlman. We confirmed with him that the same door was still open. We entered the house with Mr. Perlman on the phone and found the insides stripped and in horrible disrepair. Enjoy this video footage of our walkthrough on our initial entry in four consecutive clips:
8039walkthru1.mov
8039walkthru2.mov
8039walkthru3.mov
8039walkthru4.mov
A Second Attorney Recognizes Lisa’s Right to Possess:
We immediately started repairing the house at our own cost, in accordance with the terms of our Agreement. The first thing we had to do was turn on the utilities, and on February 28th, 2013, Lisa and I contacted Pinellas County Utilities who informed us that the owner Diane McRae had abandoned the property leaving a $1500 unpaid water bill. We took the Agreement and brought it to Pinellas County Utilities Attorney Joseph Morrissey. Mr. Morrissey reviewed the Agreement and agreed that Lisa was a tenant with rights of possession. Attorney Morrissey agreed to turn the water service on for Lisa, with the condition that we pay half (about $700) of McRae’s outstanding water bill from our own pockets. Here are the actual Pinellas County Utility Printouts showing McRae’s unpaid account, proof we paid off her unpaid balance, as well as Morrissey’s determination that Lisa was a tenant with rights to occupy the premises.
Fulfilling Our Agreement to Make Improvements:
We immediately began making repairs, entirely at our own cost. We removed the dead brush and resuscitated the plants still hanging on to dear life, and pressure washed the windows and outside of the building. We pumped out the muck in the pool and scrubbed the pool walls clean, and filled it with 16,000 gallons of fresh water at our own expense. We cleaned all the carpets and removed all the paraphernalia left behind by the druggie squatters. We installed a large kitchen sink and installed cabinets and a dishwasher. We installed toilets, fixtures, shelving, appliances, and brought in furniture and personal belongings. The neighbors were delighted with the repairs and improvements we made. We spoke frequently with Attorney Perlman for his ongoing legal guidance and showed him our progress… soon, the house was sufficiently revived and became habitable enough for Lisa to move in. (See the walkthrough video made after the repairs and installations were done: 8039tour.mov).
Even a JUDGE Recognizes Lisa’s Right to Possession!
Soon thereafter, attorney Joe Perlman expressed a concern that there was no one appearing in court to protect McRae’s property interests in the foreclosure case, and he offered to represent Lisa’s possessory interests as the tenant. So, Lisa agreed and hired Mr. Perlman, and on February 4, 2014, Mr. Perlman appeared before Judge Grube overseeing this foreclosure case, and Mr. Perlman filed a Motion to Intervene along with the Agreement into the court to show Lisa’s leasehold interest. Judge Grube acknowledged Lisa’s tenancy and approved the motion with an Order for Lisa to submit pleadings as a Defendant. At that time, Joe Perlman also filed an Equitable Lien against the property for the repair costs spent to date and he continued to represent Lisa’s interests as tenant throughout the rest of the foreclosure case.
Still, at no time did Lisa or Jim ever deny the owner any use and benefit of their abandoned house… the owner never called us, or sent a letter, or even showed up at any court hearings to meet us. No one ever attempted to ask us to leave, and if they had, we would without resistance!
NOW IT GETS EVEN BETTER:
Two Sheriffs Also Recognize Lisa’s Right to Possess!
On April 7, 2014, Pinellas County Sheriffs Sgt. Howard Skaggs and Deputy Jason Jackson paid us a visit to investigate a false claim by Michael Atencio that a bank owned the house and there were trespassers “squatting.” At that time, without malicious intent to defraud or damage, Lisa and I presented these Sheriffs with a copy of the Agreement for Tenancy as filed into the case, copies of paid water bills in Lisa’s name, and one of Perlman’s business cards in case they had further questions. The sheriffs thanks us and left. These Sheriffs then filed this ACISS Case Matter Report #S014-139385 clearly indicating that this civil matter was SOLVED NON-CRIMINAL and they summarily closed the case, instructing the bank representative that this was a civil matter and an eviction would be required.
Unknown to Lisa and myself, the property owner Diane McRae had died approx. two years into the foreclosure. Her widower, Richard McRae, was never on title but he claims to have taken over ownership without probate. If Mr. McRae was following the details of the foreclosure case (as he claimed to a sheriff later on), he would be fully aware that Lisa was in possession (the Tenancy Agreement was filed into the foreclosure case) and would also know Judge Grube ordered Lisa to be added as a Defendant; however, Mr. McRae never once contacted Lisa, by phone, mail, nor in person, nor did he ever start an eviction process, or even kindly ask if she would leave. NEVER.
We did find it curious that a third Pinellas County Sheriff dropped by once or twice alone to ask about our Agreement… we politely informed him that we were represented by counsel and asked him to call Attorney Joe Perlman for more information. More on him in a moment…
The Foreclosure Finally Ends, and Lisa Moves Out:
When the foreclosure ended and the bank took title at sale, Lisa was asked to evacuate the premises. In accordance with the bank’s request, Lisa and Jim moved out all personal belongings just as she agreed to.
Not once did Lisa or Jim ever deny the owner any use and benefit of their abandoned property. NOT ONCE.
MONTHS PASS AND WE THOUGHT THIS PROJECT WAS BEHIND US….
Suddenly, in Sept. 2015, we were both arrested for Grand Theft of the HOUSE:
Florida Statute 812.014 defines THEFT as follows:
1.) A person commits theft if he or she knowingly obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or to use, the property of another with intent to, either temporarily or permanently:
a.) Deprive the other person of a right to the property or a benefit from the property.
QUESTION:
Did we ever show any INTENT to deprive an owner
of any property rights or benefits?
NEVER.
We fixed it up while they remained silent…
if they said they wanted to use it we would leave!
NOW THINGS START TO GET SHADY…
Sheriff Lies Under Oath and Omits Critical Evidence:
This is when we began to notice strange inconsistencies that no one seems able to explain with terms other than “laziness” or “malicious.”
Apparently this third sheriff, Officer Karl Gwynne, was sent back by the Sheriff’s office to investigate the same reported information that was determined to be “CLOSED NON-CRIMINAL” by his fellow Sheriffs Skaggs and Jackson. Why would they send back another sheriff? Was the bank’s agent dissatified with the conclusions filed by the previous Sheriffs in ACISS Case Matter Report #S014-139385? Why did Gwynne conspicuously exclude all reference to their previously closed investigation? Was Gwynne “redeployed” on a separate mission to manufacture a crime where they found none before?
More Signs of Official Abuse of the Legal Process:
Instead of swearing out one affidavit to obtain a warrant for Jim and Lisa, Officer Gwynne made duplicate affidavits, one for Jim and the other for Lisa, making us separate Defendants in separate cases, effectively doubling our legal fees and making it twice as expensive for us to defend. That’s uncalled for, unless the objective is to pit us against each other or to quickly drain our finances. Why do you think they would be unnecessarily malicious by doubling our financial damages in this spurious lawsuit?
There are a number of other peculiarities about Officer Gwynne’s duplicate affidavits that raise lots of questions and suspicions of malfeasance or misfeasance:
1.) Sheriff Gwynne’s sworn affidavits make no mention that Jim and Lisa were represented by Attorney Joe Perlman, and although the Sheriff was presented with Attorney Perlman’s business card, Mr. Perlman reported to us that Sheriff Gwynne’s office never tried contacting him. Not once. Why would Sheriff Gwynne exclude our attorney from his investigation? Would he still try to prosecute Lisa and Jim if he found out they were following their attorney’s legal instructions from the very beginning? Or would he have to arrest Attorney Perlman as the “ringleader”?
2.) Gwynne’s affidavits also make no mention that the Tenancy Agreement filed in the foreclosure case stipulates that we would vacate if the owner decided they didn’t want us there. BUT WAIT: doesn’t the definition of grand theft require that we knowingly obtain or use the owner’s property with INTENT TO DEPRIVE them of a right or benefit to the property? Doesn’t the Agreement on the public record refute Jim’s and Lisa’s alleged intent to deprive?
3.) Gwynne’s affidavits makes no mention that City Attorney Morressey also approved Lisa as a tenant, in order to turn on the utilities. These documents are publicly available and should have been looked into by Officer Gwynne. Why did he omit this evidence from the investigation?
4.) Gwynne’s affidavit also makes no mention of Judge Grube’s determination that Lisa had a possessory interest as “tenant,” or that Judge Grube himself ordered Lisa to be included as a Defendant in the foreclosure case. These facts are also readily available on the public record. Why would Officer Gwynne omit Judge Grube’s Court Order and make no mention of Lisa as a named Defendant?
Did Officer Gwynne overlook these facts by his incompetence, or did he deliberately omit this evidence from his sworn affidavit to initiate malicious prosecution with fraudulent warrants?
Introducing the Curious Mr. McRae:
We are curious how and why the owner’s widower Richard McRae was silent and absent during the entire foreclosure, but then chose to come forward after the foreclosure ended and only then he claimed to be deprived of the use or benefit of the property. This raises many more questions:
1.) First, Mr. McRae’s standing in the foreclosure case is questionable, as he was never actually named on title, and it was his wife’s property, not his. What are HIS rights and benefits in the property, and where did they come from? How can he actually acquire those rights prior to the probate of Diane McRae’s estate?
2.) If Mr. McRae had been closely following the foreclosure case as he claims, why did he never object to Judge Grube’s legal recognition of Lisa’s rights to possession as a tenant, and he also never objected to Lisa being ordered as a Defendant in the case? If he remains silent when he has an obligation to raise an objection, doesn’t his silence indicate his consent?
3.) If he was actually following the case like he claimed, Mr. McRae surely would have read the Tenancy Agreement, which was delivered to his wife by notary (officer of the court) AND filed into into the foreclosure case, right? Then why wouldn’t Diane nor Richard McRae reach out and ask Lisa to leave, not even by phone or mail, nor did they initiate the eviction process? So if they were both actually following the case closely (even though they NEVER showed up in court) they had to know of Lisa’s presence in the house and standing in the foreclosure case, then why did they both remain silent until after title transferred at foreclosure sale? Again, the maxim of law says Silence is Consent.
Now It Really Starts Getting Weird:
Any reasonable mind would struggle when faced with these unexplainable and contradictory facts that don’t add up. Could there be something else going on behind the scene that we don’t know about? How is it Officer Gwynne be so incompetently reckless or maliciously underhanded with pursuing arrests for such a serious crime?
Congressman Bilirakis
Liz Hittos Drops a Bombshell:
The oddities of this case compelled me to turn to my long-time friend and Attorney Elizabeth Hittos, who currently serves as Chief of Staff for Congressman Gus Bilirakis. Liz and I had been friends and acquantenances for nearly 15 years, and we both attended the same Greek Orthodox Church for some time, so she knows of my character. Liz Hittos was shocked to hear our story, our felony arrests for following Perlman’s legal advice, and she too was puzzled by these unanswered questions. Liz offered to make a few phone calls to her “friends” in the Pinellas County court system to see if she can find out what’s really going on. Three days later, she called me back and reported that Lisa and I were on some type of informal “list that doesn’t really exist” and then asked me, “Who did you piss off?” I was speechless! Liz was not able to give me any more details of her informal conversation, but she did later made a brief court appearance on our behalf, perhaps to boost my credibility and to “calm the turbulent courtroom waters,” … but one thing was now crystal clear: the legal system seemed to have a hidden agenda to take us down, no matter what.
Hidden Enemies in High Places?
Her words echoed through my head… “WHO DID I PISS OFF?” Remember, this all happened before the term “Deep State” was a term used in common parlance. I starting to recall how several court officials indicated they were familiar with and visibly upset by my free YouTube videos that teach winning foreclosure strategies, like demanding the foreclosing bankers produce the original note to proceed (they often don’t have it), or to understand the required criteria of a bonafide signature and how the banks lose standing if you can prove that they don’t have your signature on their paperwork. Could I be freely spreading powerful information that “they” consider dangerous to our fractional fiat banking system? Did my free instructional videos actually represent an existential threat to the lending markets? Maybe so… It then occurred to me that these financial “Powers That Be” (aka: Deep State) probably dislike that I was educating the ignorant public (for FREE) about how to win foreclosure cases. Perhaps what I thought was dangerously close to “flipping the tables of the moneychangers,” and you know how they got back at Jesus for doing that… No thank you!
A Judge Secretly Slanders Lisa:
But why did they attack Lisa with such hostility? She is one of the most gentle, peaceful people I know. I think I found the answer in researching her court records. Lisa knows herself to be an Ambassador of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:20), and found a place where she could get an ID for the Kingdom of Heaven, instead of using a state-issued ID. She used it once in a traffic stop and hearing, and we later found that Judge Overton put a handwritten letter on court letterhead into her file declaring her to be a “sovereign citizen.” A WHAT? One is either a sovereign or a citizen, but one can’t be both. Apparently, it is derogatory legal slang for a domestic terrorist. Did this judge commit slander against Lisa? Did it sway the legal system to handle her with such aggression and hostility? Does she have recourse against this judge for slander? How can we get his slanderous comment stricken from the public record?
Who Are the Public Defenders Really Working For?
To make matters worse, the court-appointed Public Defenders refused to enter any evidence from Attorneys Perlman or Attorney Morressey, Judge Grube, or the two investigating sheriffs whose evidence could expedite the dismissal of this matter. Public Defenders Andy Rippeon and Brian Pingor refused to coordinate resources between us, they would not take statements or schedule depositions I requested for Richard McRae, Sheriff Gynne, other pertinent witnesses, or the investigating officer who took Mr McRae’s statement. In fact, Brian Pingor told me plainly that he had no interest in helping me win this case! If the courts pay his salary, then who is he actually working for? Obviously, I fired him.
Forced to Accept a No-Contest Plea:
Ultimately, Jim hired Attorney Bruce Plesser on a personal referral to handle Jim’s case. The prosecution was threatening 35 years of prison time for each of us (Reality Check: convicted murderers and pedophiles in Florida are jailed for a fraction of that.) When Prosecutor Joshua Riba was promoted, his replacement Adam Ross offered a short informal probation for a plea of no contest (I refused to plead guilty when I did nothing wrong), with the condition that I remove all my free YouTube instructional videos for helping homeowners fight foreclosures. Completely drained of money to continue fighting, Attorney Plesser convinced me to accept the plea. Why do you think that was so important to them that I remove my training videos? Hmmm….. In any event, I was able to help Rippeon negotiate the same plea deal for Lisa.
End of Round One:
Thousands of dollars and grey hairs later, Jim and Lisa are done playing defense, and the ball is in our court. The legal system is clearly broken and corrupted, and our public reputations are severely damaged and wrongly tarnished. As I stated at the outset, malicious prosecution and institutional abuse of process by law enforcement and the court system is NEVER ACCEPTABLE and must be exposed. Much information was ignored, avoided and disregarded in order to construct a fraudulent felony case of “Grand Theft of a House” against us, and now we intend to investigate to get to the bottom of this matter and hold the malicious instigators in the legal system accountable for the damages they have caused us. Time to go on the offense… but where is our remedy? How shall we proceed?
Looking Forward:
The evidence provided herein with this narrative shows conclusively that Sheriff Gwynne and his co-conspirators in the legal community deliberately, with malfeasance or misfeasance, excluded publicly available facts and documented evidence to the detriment of Jim and Lisa. A fraudulent affidavit lead to false warrants, and people got hurt. Wrongs must be righted, errors must be corrected, and justice must be served.
Good Faith Reliance Upon the Advice of Counsel:
According to Joe Perlman’s own affidavit, Jim and Lisa had a good faith reliance upon the advice of counsel from the very beginning and charges should have been dropped:
1.) we sought the advice of counsel in good faith;
2.) we made a complete disclosure of all known relevant facts; and
3.) carefully undertook a reasonable reliance upon and in fact following the received advice.
Evidence Shows Absence of the Required Intent:
The crime of theft requires an intent to “deprive the other person of a right to the property or a benefit from the property.” The Tenancy Agreement that Joe Perlman helped construct specifically refutes that intent, offering to make repairs and improvements with no cost to the owner, and expressing our willingness to evacuate the house should the owner ever contact us to enjoy her rights and benefits of that property. The owner NEVER contacted us. NOT ONCE. And the owner’s widower who was not named on title has a questionable claim to the owner’s rights and benefits in the property prior to probate of her estate. But how did Sheriff Gwynne determine Mr. McRae had ownership? Or did he just assume the bank had a title interest before foreclosure sale?
Evidence of Lisa’s Right of Possession as a Tenant:
Documented evidence shows that TWO ATTORNEYS, A JUDGE AND TWO SHERIFFS AGREED UNANIMOUSLY that Lisa had a right to possess the property as tenant! All this evidence was documented and readily available on the public record; again, why would Sheriff Gwynne ignore and omit this evidence from his investigation and affidavit?
Either Sheriff Gwynne was criminally negligent in his failure to conduct a thorough investigation, or he spearheaded a campaign against us of malicious prosecution and a gross abuse of the legal process. He is either horribly incompetent as an investigator and should be fired, or was soaked in evil malevolence with no regard for destroying the lives and reputations of two peaceful, honest people. There is reason to suspect that Officer Gwynne may have been provoked by covert co-conspirators (maybe the bank, or the DeepState?) seeking to punish Jim and Lisa for helping dejected homeowners fight and win against the bankers who are hungry to foreclose. We seek to start an investigation into these possible allegations to find out Sheriff’s Gwynne’s actual motives and those of his co-conspirators that drove him to do these evil deeds.
Desired Outcomes:
1.) We seek to file criminal charges against the Pinellas County Sheriff Office for Abuse of Process and Malicious Prosecution.
2.) We seek to specifically press charges against Sheriff Gwynne for violating his sworn oath of office in signing and submitting an affidavit for a warrant based on information that was untrue, incorrect, incomplete and thoroughly misleading.
3.) Civilly, we seek to be compensated for over $40,000 that we spent on repairs, the McRae’s unpaid utility bills, our legal fees to fight the foreclosure, our legal fees to defend the frivolous grand theft charge, and the costs associated with sentencing and community service served to satisfy fines. In addition, we seek reasonable compensation for unlawful conversion of our time spent dealing with this unwarranted malicious prosecution; according to Trezevant v. Tampa, we feel $15,000,000 is reasonable compensation for our time spent being unlawfully charged and incarcerated (see TREZEVANT v. CITY OF TAMPA, 741 F2d 336 (11th Cir. 1984).
4.) Finally, Lisa and I demand that our court records be expunged, our bogus felony convictions are vacated, and handwritten letter of apology is written by Sheriff Gwynne for the hell he wrongfully put us through.
How Can You Help?
Do you have superior knowledge of the law and experience going on the offense in a higher court? Where do we turn for our remedy? How and where do we file a criminal complaint for malicious prosecution and gross abuse of legal process? If you can help us formulate and implement a strategic process where there’s a possibility our remedy might be realized, we want to hear from you.
Pressing civil and criminal charges against this host of evil conspirators hiding behind their badges and robes is costly and time consuming, and honestly, enduring their nightmarish attacks has sapped our energy and thoroughly depleted our financial resources. We welcome and appreciate your moral support and generous donations of any size to support our efforts. Thank you very much.
Thank you for reading our first hand account.
If a broken, corrupt and power-hungry legal system could brutally attack us and damage our lives like this, tomorrow they could do the same to you and your loved ones. This must be fixed before its too late. We pray this is a wake up call to those of you who don’t yet recognize that our sovereign rights are quickly eroding as the corrupt state grabs more and more power to use against us all with impunity. We stand at a critical point in history and it is up to each of us to take a stand and keep evil in check.
God bless us everyone.
