Team Prenda Finally Goes To Jail: Hansmeier & Steele Indicted & Arrested

from the shit-gets-real dept

Fri, Dec 16th 2016 2:34pm — Mike Masnick

For many, many, many years, we've been covering the saga of Prenda Law -- a legal operation set up to file tons of shakedown copyright infringement lawsuits in an effort to get as many people as possible to just pay up and settle. The scam got deeper and deeper the more you looked, including forged signatures, clear evidence that the main actors behind Prenda -- John Steele and Paul Hansmeier -- were uploading their own works as a honeypot, while pretending to represent clients that they themselves owned through various shell companies -- which they denied owning. It went on and on and on. And on and on and on. Things really went sideways almost four years ago when Judge Otis Wright in California was the first judge to put much of this together, and called all of them to court, where everyone pleaded the fifth (yes, lawyers were pleading the fifth in a case they themselves brought). In response, Judge Wright referrred the case to law enforcement, leading many people to ask over the past four years how it was these guys weren't in jail (and, in fact, they continued to file lawsuits, reprising the same scheme but with ADA shakedowns.

Court after court after court has slammed Prenda, and ordered Hansmeier and Steele (partner 3, Paul Duffy, died in the middle of all of this) to pay up lots of money. Of course, in response to that, there were further accusations of illegally hiding money, bogus trusts, a questionable bankruptcy claim and more. And, yet, they still were not in jail. Oh, and we didn't even mention the various ethics investigations that recently suspended Hansmeier's license.

Ken "Popehat" White -- who as a former Assistant US Attorney and current criminal lawyer -- has kept saying that the wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn. Back in May, White noted that it appeared that ofifcials were getting mighty close to filing charges against Hansmeier and Steele, based on some evidence he had seen, suggesting the investigation was wrapping up. And the wheels continued to turn... until earlier today when it was revealed that Steele and Hansmeier have both been indicted and arrested in connection with the Prenda scam.

You can read the indictment or Ken White's excellent analysis of it. As White notes, the indictment is incredibly thorough. We've written about a number of indictments in the past in which law enforcement is fairly lax on details. This is not one of those cases. The overview gives a really good summary of everything:

Between 2011 and 2014, defendants Paul R. HANSMEIER and John L. STEELE orchestrated an elaborate scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in copyright lawsuit settlements by deceiving state and federal courts throughout the country. In order to carry out the scheme, the defendants used sham entities to obtain copyrights to pornographic movies--some of which they filmed themselves--and then uploaded those movies to file-sharing websites in order to lure people to download the movies. To learn the identities of the people caught in the trap they constructed, HANSMEIER and STEELE filed specious copyright infringement lawsuits and fraudulently procured permission from courts to send subpoenas to internet service providers for subscriber information associated with the IP addresses used to download their pornographic movies. After receiving this information, the defendants--through extortionate letters and phone calls--threatened the subscribers with enormous financial penalties and public embarrassment unless the subscribers agreed to pay a settlement, all the while concealing their collusion in the alleged copyright infringement. When courts restricted their ability to sue multiple individuals in the same lawsuit, the defendants shifted tactics. They filed lawsuits falsely alleging that computer systems purportedly belonging to their sham clients had been infiltrated by hackers, and then recruited ruse defendants against whom they brought these illusory "hacking" lawsuits. Finally, when courts became suspicious of the defendants' tactics and motives, the defendants began a long process of lies and deceit designed to conceal the truth and deflect responsibility from themselves. In total, the defendants obtained approximately. $6,000,000 made possible by the fraudulent copyright lawsuits they peddled to courts throughout the country

I believe the $6 million number is new. But everything else in there we've covered in the past. The lawsuit names some people by initials only -- but who are easily identifiable if you've been following the saga. M.L. is likely Mark Lutz the "paralegal" who was involved in many of these cases, and was a figurehead owner of some of the sham corporations. You may remember him from one of the earliest Prenda stories we had, where Lutz "appeared" in court as a "corporate representative" of one of Prenda's "clients" and yet knew nothing at all about the company he was supposed "representing." That story also involved an appearance by John Steele who claimed he was there just observing, but which the judge immediately became suspicious about.

P.H. is likely to be Peter Hansmeier, Paul's brother, whose name has appeared at times in connection with the Prenda scam and had been described as the technology person tracking down who was downloading the files in question. The indictment also mentions P.D. who is obviously Paul Duffy, the official owner of Prenda Law, but who was always sort of the third wheel of the operation before dying just as all the mess was unfolding. A.C. is clearly Alan Cooper, named here as "an acquaintance of Steele," but who was a caretaker for some Steele properties, and whose signature Steele forged on documents pretending to own AF Holdings, one of the bogus shell companies he set up. B.G. is almost certain Brett Gibbs, a California lawyer who filed a bunch of Prenda lawsuits early on, but was one of the first to reveal details once judges started to catch on.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the indictment is it details multiple lies that Team Prenda told under penalty of perjury or under oath to various courts. It's a pretty long and detailed list. It includes filings by Mark Lutz and Brett Gibbs, which the indictment claims were all done, under penalty of perjury, at the direction of Steele and Hansmeier -- so they don't even get off for trying to keep their names off these documents.

Based on all this, they're facing a bunch of charges, for mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering (involving the transactions to hide money from courts) and conspiracy to commit and suborn perjury.

As White rightly reminds us, an indictment is just a bunch of allegations, not yet proven, but having followed Team Prenda and all these actions for many years, the feds seem to have clearly figured out what was going on, and appear to have the evidence to back up many of those claims. Things don't look good for Steele and Hansmeier. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, US Attorney Andrew Luger called a press conference to announce all of this and call out the actions of Steele and Hansmeier.

"The defendants in this case are charged with devising a scheme that casts doubt on the integrity of our profession," Luger said in prepared remarks. "The conduct of these defendants was outrageous — they used deceptive lawsuits and unsuspecting judges to extort millions from vulnerable defendants. Our courts are halls of justice where fairness and the rule of law triumph, and my office will use every available resource to stop corrupt lawyers from abusing our system of justice."

Turns out that when you abuse the judicial system to shake people down... people aren't going to be too happy about that. Of course, now we have to wonder if the other giant copyright troll, Malibu Media, may be facing similar issues going forward...

Hansmeier Indictment (PDF)Hansmeier Indictment (Text)

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: arrested, indictment, john steele, mail fraud, mark lutz, paul hansmeier, perjury, peter hansmeier
Companies: af holdings, guava, ingenuity 13, livewire, prenda, prenda law

67 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 2:42pm

Finally the Prenda gang is starting to feel some real pain. Their torrent litigation was using legitimate content producers as plaintiffs to sue people, that was until they discovered how easy money this was to get and then started to loathe having to give those porn producing plaintiffs their cut.

I dont know whether it was Hans or Steele that thought of creating their own offshore companies and using them as plaintiffs to sue for so they could keep all the profits, but the fact that they did so, and then thought to use people like Alan Cooper and Salt March and stooge Mark Lutz as the face of these entities just shows how they thought no one would look closely at the threads that were holding this scheme together.

There were a lot of people in the Anti troll community that made this happen, because they knew this was a scam and they slowly started assembling the facts and putting all that information out there to educate people about what the Prenda gang was up to.

I would have loved to have seen the looks on Hansmeier and Steele's face when the cars came screeching up and men in blue jackets came running up the driveway and for once it wasn't the Dominos guy, but the FBI coming to slap the wrist bracelets on both of them

Both are well deserving of this, I cant wait to see who the witnesses will be that are going to want to save their own asses and cut deals already. Gibbs? Lutz? Who knows, but it should be interesting to see these guys squirm while they are under indictment.

Will the Prenda gang stop with the ADA lawsuits while they are under indictment? I would bet not, they see ADA lawsuits as easy money and as we have all seen, that easy money is way too hard to walk away from
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Canuck, 16 Dec 2016 @ 2:48pm

Yee Haw!
Haven't read the full story yet, but damn folks, this calls for the mega popcorn bowl. Dunno if it's going to fit in the nuker...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 2:49pm

Re:
Hansmeier is out of jail as we speak, he didnt have to post bail and was represent by Atty Joe Friedberg

https://twitter.com/LydenFOX9/status/809865057760841728

No word yet on if Steele is still rattling the bars in his cell.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Donnicton, 16 Dec 2016 @ 2:51pm

I'm going to be telling my family to return all of the Christmas presents they've bought for me, because this is already the best Christmas I've ever had.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Stephen T. Stone (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 2:58pm

As a longtime Techdirt reader and someone who has waited for this day to pass, I have no problem with saying the following: This moment is more satisfying than I ever thought it would be.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:01pm

If I were in the bit torrent litigation game after hearing what occurred today with The Prenda gang I would be seriously concerned whether the FBI & USDOJ are looking at their litigation because there are a lot of similarities in the litigation strategy with the exception that these plaintiffs exist, but IMHO opinion the evidence is suspect at best.

There are issues that have been raised before with the so called evidence, the German monitoring firm and the so called people who signed some of the affidavits from Darren Griffin who may be like Prenda's version of Alan Cooper and I wont even bring up expert Patrick Paige being booted from the police department disgracefully.

Then there is all those shelf corporation set up and used by the trolls and the fact that the trolls are loathe to have their evidence analyzed and expert give testimony in a jury trial.

I believe we will see more dominoes fall yet, the trolls are loathe to walk away from that sweet sweet easy settlement cash, but as we see with the Prenda gang, it is fraught with danger for those who chase it
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:05pm

Re: Re:
According to Ken White from Popehat Hans got out on a 25k signature bond

https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/809896258760540160
[ link to this | view in thread ]
streetlight (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:15pm

Has Mike been harasssed by these guys?
I've followed this fascinating tale for some time on this site and was wondering if Mike has ever seen any legal action or other harassment from these guys. I can't remember if he's reported such in the past. Techdirt is probably not read by "normal" people so maybe these guys ignored it as not worth the effort since other activities were more profitable.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pixelation, 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:26pm

So long fellas and thanks for all of the entertainment. Can't wait to see your story on American Greed...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:27pm

"Of course, now we have to wonder if the other giant copyright troll, Malibu Media, may be facing similar issues going forward..."

If the term "barely legal" comes to mind then someone should start investigating the real ages of those that took part in those films. If "underage" is uncovered then there will be some explaining to do by Malibu Media.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:42pm

Swamp or a marsh?
Their salty tears will be enough to fill up a marsh.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 3:46pm

Re: Re: Re:
You would think that someone involved in a conspiracy that involved hiding assets would need more than a signature.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:03pm

Re: Has Mike been harasssed by these guys?
Well not openly, but there are posters here who believe that either Steele or Hans may have posted here bitching how mike hates copyright defenders and when their posted get down voted bitched about how they got down voted, and it would fit with some of the temper tantrums Steele has thrown around
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:05pm

It's about time! *applauds*

Don't forget about charging Hannsmier's wife I think it was, maybe Steele's too, that was helping them with the ADA lawsuits and attempting to hide money.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:19pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Especially when that someone formerly claimed they didn't have the money to pay the court sanctions. Or was that Steele? Or was that one of the made up participants in the scam? Sometimes in this case it is hard to keep the players, both fictional and real, straight.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:22pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
They both declared they couldn't pay because they were broke, but Steele had just installed a new deck, pool and some other renos to his Florida home and this was after they were supposed to submit their financials.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:28pm

John's wife Kerry Steele did some work for john and helped John form a new company after the bar complaint was filed against John using that Lincoln Road address in Miami. Rumour has it she was working for John In Chicago.

Hansmeier's wife Padigrin Browne is now the new face of ADA lawsuits in Minnesota, apparently Paul consults in a non legal capacity at this firm ~wink wink~ and as of up to today she was filing ADA cases in her name
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:33pm

Re:
Here is a quick glimpse of John and Kerry on their wedding night ( I know your thinking dude! Gross I dont want to see John doing the horizontal mumbo.. relax I wouldn't torture any of you like that! It's like a picture collage.

If you pause the video at 24 seconds you will see Hansmeier was there as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZH0fCXAnHo
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:36pm

Forget the popcorn.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:37pm

Re: Forget the popcorn.
*pops open champagne*
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anon E. Mous (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:41pm

Re: Re:
Oh and at 6 seconds Hans and his wife Padgrine Browne
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:41pm

Re: Re: Forget the popcorn.
*launches Popcorn Time*
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:51pm

Re: Re: Re: Forget the popcorn.
Danger, danger Will Robinson!

Make sure you are launching the app, and not the malware.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/12/new-ransomware-victims-popcorn-time-malwa re
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Kronomex, 16 Dec 2016 @ 4:55pm

Coming soon:
Prenda the Movie, Part Something-or-other: Pleas of Innocence.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ben S (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 5:11pm

A couple minor typos
"...we've been saga of Prenda Law..." and the name "Anderw Luger"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 5:26pm

This isn't Christmas just yet. This is just the presents under the tree that are the right size and shape of what you wanted, and sound just right when you shake 'em. But you can't open them yet because it's not Christmas morning. That will be the convictions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 5:34pm

This is just the DOJ charges. Does the IRS do their's separately or does the DOJ do tax fraud, too?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
trolleater, 16 Dec 2016 @ 6:46pm

Re:
i hope they drop the soap!

hey lipscum, your next!

yes virginia, there really is a santa clause!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
jibber, 16 Dec 2016 @ 6:49pm

chicago law
They got away with this in Cook County and thought they could get away with it everywhere else.

cook county court had a chance to shut these guys down years ago, but didn't want to.

Inept & corrupt as usual. And the DOJ finally got off its monkey ass on this? 4 years later?

Where were the feds to investigate the judge payoffs.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Unanimous Cow Herd, 16 Dec 2016 @ 6:58pm

Proof!
There is a Santa Claus!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Norahc (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 7:00pm

The best part
The best part is yet to come...

When Steele and Hansmeier respond to these charges in writing. I can't wait to see how they're going to try and weasel out of it by blaming other people.

And yes, I have 24 bags of popcorn just waiting for that time.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 7:42pm

Re: The best part
What makes you think they'll respond in writing? This isn't a civil case. It's a criminal one. They have the right to remain silent.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 16 Dec 2016 @ 7:47pm

Re: Re: Re:
Six million dollar fraud and extortion racket according to the indictment, run by two people with a long history of lying to the courts including financials, and the judge figures that a promise to show up in court is good enough?

Even when they get arrested they get the silk-glove treatment, really brings respect to the legal system, no? /s
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 8:24pm

Is this 2016's apology or 2017's pity?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2016 @ 8:49pm

Re: Yee Haw!
There I was sitting on the can reading this great news.
After taking the browns to the superbowl I was overcome with the craving for popcorn.

I made my way into the kitchen and started searching when I finally came to the realization that I'm out of popcorn!

When will I be able to order the Techdirt Tasty Troll Popcorn?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
OldGeezer (profile), 17 Dec 2016 @ 2:08am

Re:
So far these are the least of their problems. They are bound to face much more prison time for tax evasion than all other charged combined. Remember when the feds couldn't touch one of last century's most ruthless gangster and mass murder Al Capone? One ledger book was all the IRS needed to lock him up until syphilis fried his brain.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sam, 17 Dec 2016 @ 2:28am

Is Ken really a current criminal?
Better call Ken!

> Ken "Popehat" White -- who as a former Assistant US Attorney and current criminal lawyer --

Or maybe it should be criminal *defense* lawyer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2016 @ 2:46am

"They will appeal, and they will win." Right, Whatever/horse with no name/My Name Here/Just Sayin'?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2016 @ 6:22am

Re: Re:
No flight risk?
Hahahaha, bet he runs.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jim, 17 Dec 2016 @ 6:56am

But, it's not over yet
Dont worry, there are three others to watch. Until July, I had my Google news include search terms and other extended warnings. One of their report pages, in their analytics groups, there is an group out of Hollywood, Colorado and Washington state. They use push technology to promote porn. And then use the warnings to get money. You don't even have to see their images. And its done thru search engines. The Java, HTML strips that the search engine produces? Have you ever gone to the last pages in a search for angels, or some other innocuous term? Some times, it was in the search for a definition, in foreign languages. Most interesting, I haven't seen Minnesota listed, I remember some warnings from there also.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Steele, 17 Dec 2016 @ 9:02am

AND I WOULD HAVE GOT AWAY WITH IT IF NOT FOR YOU KIDZ!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 17 Dec 2016 @ 9:11am

Should have demanded a pinky promise too
Nonsense, people accidentally book passage out of the country all the time. Why just last week I woke up only to realize that I'd sleep-booked-a-flight-out-of-the-country the previous night(thankfully the airlines were understanding about a refund, it being such a common problem).

I'm sure that if he finds himself on a plane or boat heading to a country without extradition to the US it will be as much of a shock to him as it will be to the judge.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2016 @ 10:54am

Re: Forget the popcorn.
Yes, let's make chips! 😍
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2016 @ 11:07am

Over forty comments, and NOBODY has yet greeted these two outstanding litigators with "Welcome to the _genuine_ Big League"?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That Anonymous Coward (profile), 17 Dec 2016 @ 12:36pm

From - https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/attorneys-indicted-multimillion-dollar-scheme-fraudulently-obtain -settlements-victims-who

“The FBI remains committed to uncovering fraud such as this to protect the integrity of our civil justice system.”

I pointed out on Twitter, I have a list.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That Anonymous Coward (profile), 17 Dec 2016 @ 12:39pm

Re: Has Mike been harasssed by these guys?
Not directly, that's been mentioned, but several posts & comments from TD were prominently featured in submissions to various courts.

Steele felt more comfortable coming for the 'Scooby's' figuring we'd back down in the face of lawsuits... whoops.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mark, 17 Dec 2016 @ 1:00pm

Re: Re: The best part
They have the right to remain silent. I don't believe that they have the ability to do so.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Shawn, 17 Dec 2016 @ 2:36pm

This week in the pool
So who had this week in the pool for these fine gentlemen to be arrested and served with the indictment they so richly deserve? For that mattter does anybody remember what the pot was up to?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2016 @ 2:53pm

Re: Should have demanded a pinky promise too
Affluenza strikes again
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Norahc (profile), 17 Dec 2016 @ 7:22pm

Re: Re: Re: The best part
Exactly...given the chutzpah they've shown so far, I highly doubt they can keep their mouth shut. Or at least I hope they don't.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
trollificus (profile), 17 Dec 2016 @ 11:09pm

Re: Re:
Are you suggesting a similar fate be arranged for Mssrs. Hansmeier and Steele? Coz I'm pretty sure that's cruel and unusual.

Cruel, unusual and tempting.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2016 @ 3:35am

Re: Is Ken really a current criminal?
Damn, I wanted to post that, beat me to it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Eldakka (profile), 18 Dec 2016 @ 3:39am

devising a scheme that casts doubt on the integrity of our profession

hahahahaha

I'd suggest it confirms the lack of integrity generally in the profession.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2016 @ 4:45am

B-b-b-b-b-u-t_p-p-iracy!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
art guerrilla (profile), 18 Dec 2016 @ 5:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"...but Steele had just installed a new deck, pool,..."

you know why ? you can 'hide' assets in your primary residence in la florida... in other words, as a state resident, your primary residence is pretty much immune from being sold to pay the proceeds of judgments won against you...
(or from being taken by creditors, bankruptcy, etc, if i remember correctly... AND while i might dislike that this apparently benefits prenda-scum, i think it is a good law for us 99%, too... one reason you have rich pukes here with zillion dollar mansions...)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
art guerrilla (profile), 18 Dec 2016 @ 5:16am

Re:
you know why ? ? ?
because it is all too rare the slime who game the system and stick it to the little guy get their comeuppance...
*that* is why it is so (sadly) satisfying: it only happens one out of a hundred+ times...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 18 Dec 2016 @ 12:02pm

Re: Should have demanded a pinky promise too
Correct me if I'm wrong, but requirement to surrender one's passport is a common part of criminal indictment.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2016 @ 4:37pm

Re:
I thought it would have been best if somebody could have said that to them when they were walked out in handcuffs.
"Welcome to the REAL big leagues!"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2016 @ 4:40pm

How long does it take till they get a court date and how far out will that date likely be? Another 6 months to a year of waiting?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Frozen Njal (profile), 19 Dec 2016 @ 3:51am

Re:
As long as at least one of them is waiting in prison, that's good. And maybe the other will find plenty of rope in his spare time...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 19 Dec 2016 @ 4:15am

After several episodes of furious popcorn eating and tension the ending unveils. And it's exactly what we predicted much to our joy. As a reader said before, early Xmas!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 19 Dec 2016 @ 8:55am

Re: Re: Should have demanded a pinky promise too
Could very well be, I don't know myself, but given Hans, a member of a group well known for lying, got out on what amounts to a pinky promise to show up, it wouldn't surprise me much if they didn't require or remember that particular bit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wendy Cockcroft, 20 Dec 2016 @ 7:45am

Re:
At times like this I pine for the likes of OOTB and Whatever to show up in the comments, if only to squeal that cases like this are anomalies and that copyright needs to be firmly enforced...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Scornedwife (profile), 21 Dec 2016 @ 5:57am

So where's Dan Voelker in all of this. He was Paul Duffy's partner at Freeborn and Peters and could not seem to make the funeral but popped into the wake to make sure the body was cold. Maybe he knows where the money is at. Perhaps the Feds should pay him a visit in River North.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 21 Dec 2016 @ 6:58am

Re:
Despite that Voelker is a superlaywer, I doubt he knows anything about the loot. Duffy did not know everything either to begin with. I'm more surprised that Adam Urbanczyk didn't appear in the indictment, even by initials, although the collusion and faux defendants were mentioned.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2016 @ 4:57pm

Re:
I concur. Voelker was a longtime friend of Hansmeier way before his Prenda days. I find that relationship worth looking into, at least.

On another note, Voelker did say that Steele and Hansmeier wanted their day in criminal court.

Be careful for what you wish for, buffy!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sophisticatedjanedoe (profile), 29 Dec 2016 @ 12:54pm

I OCRd the indictment, and added some links for those who is new to this saga.
[ link to this | view in thread ]