Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
- Local time
- 10:43 PM
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2012
- Messages
- 7,644
- Reaction score
- 7,817
- Location
- Orange Park, FL
I was just contacted by the Assistant State's Attorney (ASA) who's been prosecuting the low-life shop owner who thought he could rip me off, and was informed the low-life has pled guilty to a second degree felony of Schemes to Defraud, and will get between five and 15 years in the gray bar. He also has to return all my parts, and pay an additional $2,300 or so in restitution.
I spent a couple of hours with my ASA yesterday discussing the case and ramping him up for a trial, and he told me that the low-life's lawyer had told him he could beat the cases brought up by the other ten or so victims, but he was afraid he couldn't beat mine. That was because I had maintained a log of every contact we had, every discussion that was had, what was agreed to, dates, locations, the works. My ASA asked me why I had done that, and I told him I had learned over the years that during long-term efforts like this, it always starts out with a work order that states the vendor will do this and that, and the cost will be "X". Then a month or so later, something goes awry, and there's a call or meeting where a subsequent agreement is made, but that agreement rarely ever makes it back to the work order. It becomes a series of verbal contracts, and you have to be able to document those contracts. He told me that was the best case of documenting he had ever seen.
Another issue he had was he's not a car guy, and low life's lawyer kept trying to make arguments that these should all be civil cases and the ASA said he didn't know how to communicate this was a criminal case to the jury. I asked him if he was married, and he said yes. I then said imagine you decided to give your wife a nice anniversary gift of getting her engagement ring cleaned up, the stone remounted, etc. So you go to a jeweler, and he takes the diamond out and accidentally drops it and loses it. Then he tells you since it was an accident, he won't pay for a replacement. That would be a civil case. He agreed.
Then I said imagine the jeweler looked at your ring and said "that's a nice diamond! I know a guy who will give me $2,000 for that stone." So he sells her diamond to his guy, then puts a $3 cubic zirconia of the same cut and size into the ring, and gives it back to you because he figures you can't tell the difference. And when you do, he tries to convince you the ring had a cubic zirconia when you brought it in. That is a criminal case, and that's what he did. My ASA looked at me and said "that I can sell!" and typed out everything I had told him.
So lessons learned...
1. Document everything you say or do with a vendor. If you want a copy of my log, IM me your email and I'll send you a copy in Word.
2. If you have a Smart Phone (and who doesn't these days), use the Record ap and record every meeting you have. Be sure to state that you're recording at least once and use those recordings to make your written notes. The low life tried to say I never told him I was recording him, but the ASA found numerous instances where I said "I have you on tape saying...", so that lie died a quick death.
3. Don't waste time talking to cops. Contact your State's Attorney Office and start a criminal case through them. Be sure to see if they have a Business or Economic Crimes Unit that specializes in these cases.
4. DO NOT trust the Better Business Bureau! We're still looking into how at least three complaints that were registered about this guy were deleted from their database.
5. Take a high-res photo of the raised pad or inspection markings on your engine. This was a critical element of my case. Lots of blocks have the same casting number, lots have the same casting date, but those inspection marks are as unique as fingerprints.
I spent a couple of hours with my ASA yesterday discussing the case and ramping him up for a trial, and he told me that the low-life's lawyer had told him he could beat the cases brought up by the other ten or so victims, but he was afraid he couldn't beat mine. That was because I had maintained a log of every contact we had, every discussion that was had, what was agreed to, dates, locations, the works. My ASA asked me why I had done that, and I told him I had learned over the years that during long-term efforts like this, it always starts out with a work order that states the vendor will do this and that, and the cost will be "X". Then a month or so later, something goes awry, and there's a call or meeting where a subsequent agreement is made, but that agreement rarely ever makes it back to the work order. It becomes a series of verbal contracts, and you have to be able to document those contracts. He told me that was the best case of documenting he had ever seen.
Another issue he had was he's not a car guy, and low life's lawyer kept trying to make arguments that these should all be civil cases and the ASA said he didn't know how to communicate this was a criminal case to the jury. I asked him if he was married, and he said yes. I then said imagine you decided to give your wife a nice anniversary gift of getting her engagement ring cleaned up, the stone remounted, etc. So you go to a jeweler, and he takes the diamond out and accidentally drops it and loses it. Then he tells you since it was an accident, he won't pay for a replacement. That would be a civil case. He agreed.
Then I said imagine the jeweler looked at your ring and said "that's a nice diamond! I know a guy who will give me $2,000 for that stone." So he sells her diamond to his guy, then puts a $3 cubic zirconia of the same cut and size into the ring, and gives it back to you because he figures you can't tell the difference. And when you do, he tries to convince you the ring had a cubic zirconia when you brought it in. That is a criminal case, and that's what he did. My ASA looked at me and said "that I can sell!" and typed out everything I had told him.
So lessons learned...
1. Document everything you say or do with a vendor. If you want a copy of my log, IM me your email and I'll send you a copy in Word.
2. If you have a Smart Phone (and who doesn't these days), use the Record ap and record every meeting you have. Be sure to state that you're recording at least once and use those recordings to make your written notes. The low life tried to say I never told him I was recording him, but the ASA found numerous instances where I said "I have you on tape saying...", so that lie died a quick death.
3. Don't waste time talking to cops. Contact your State's Attorney Office and start a criminal case through them. Be sure to see if they have a Business or Economic Crimes Unit that specializes in these cases.
4. DO NOT trust the Better Business Bureau! We're still looking into how at least three complaints that were registered about this guy were deleted from their database.
5. Take a high-res photo of the raised pad or inspection markings on your engine. This was a critical element of my case. Lots of blocks have the same casting number, lots have the same casting date, but those inspection marks are as unique as fingerprints.
