PLEASE FORWARD ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO:

JOHN FRANCES

300 BAYOU BOULEVARD #217

PENSACOLA , FL 32503

www.legalfundfrances.org

I want to personally thank each of you who have taken the time and shown interest in reading the story regarding the circumstances behind the “Johnny Frances Legal Defense Trust Fund.” This story is somewhat complicated, bizarre and perhaps not believable. Nevertheless, it is absolutely true and everything written in this letter is verifiable.

Johnny Frances has been a member of the Pensacola , Florida community since 1989. He has also been a member of the Pensacola , Florida business community since 1990, and now he is reaching out to his community and to the entire nation for help.

Citizens of the Pensacola community know John Frances as a person who has brought millions of investment dollars and economic growth to the local home improvement industry. His social conscience also is deeply responsible for the revitalization and continued improvement of the Lincoln Park and Wedge Wood communities. These communities were regarded as areas typically neglected by the financial community and thus property values remained depressed.

From the early 1990s Mr. Frances has quietly educated the members of these and other communities in the value of home ownership and how to increase the value of their homes. Until

now Mr. Frances has kept a low profile and has never sought public applause or recognition for his accomplishments. The gratitude Mr. Frances received throughout the years from his customers was felt in the warm feeling in his heart after seeing the smiling faces of his customers. This feeling was all the thanks Mr. Frances needed. But now he needs your help and support.

On November 15, 2007 Johnny Frances was put on trial and convicted of two counts of burglary and two counts of criminal mischief. The story of his conviction involves Charles Cross and a detective with the Pensacola Police Department by the name of Erik Goss. Many of you may not realize this, but Mr. Frances has been arrested three times while a member of the Pensacola Community. These arrests reach back to 2001. Each time Mr. Frances was arrested the complaint originated from Charles Cross. Each time the case was investigated, it was by the same detective, Erik Goss.

Mr. Frances has lived in Pensacola Florida at the same address for 18 years and has operated a business for 18 years. He has come in contact with thousands of people, and he lives in a condominium complex with 67 other residents. Yet no other person other than Charles Cross has ever filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Frances. Mr. Frances does not even have a speeding ticket in the past 18 years. So what is going on?

Well, this story is really about a man named Charles Cross and a police officer named Erik William Goss.

Back in October of 2001 Mr. Frances was carrying a television set through a doorway at the clubhouse in the condominium complex where Mr. Frances lives. Without provocation Charles Cross intentionally blocked Mr. Frances ’ path and punched Mr. Frances in the face. Initially, the police investigated a complaint Mr. Frances filed for being punched in the face. But the police closed the case and cleared it as unfounded. Approximately three months later in December 2001 Mr. Frances was arrested for striking Charles Cross with the television set.

Charles Cross bypassed the police process and went directly to a judge by the name of Parnham and Charles Cross signed an affidavit and then Judge Parnham issued a warrant for Mr. Frances’ arrest. This was all done after the police had investigated the case and found John Frances had not committed a crime.

Mr. Frances represented himself at the trial and he filed what is known as a “motion to dismiss.” The motion alleged that Charles Cross knowingly filed a false affidavit to have Mr. Frances arrested. The Honorable Judge David Ackerman dismissed the charges precisely on those grounds. Here is the relevant testimony from that hearing.

During the hearing in front of the Honorable Judge David Ackerman, Charles Cross admitted intentionally striking Mr. Frances in the face. The testimony was also witnessed by the detective who had initially investigated the case, detective Erik Goss. The judge asked Charles Cross, “What legal authority did you have to block Mr. Frances’ path and punch him in the face?” Charles Cross’ reply: “I am the president of the condominium association.” This case was dismissed on the grounds Charles Cross knowingly filed a false affidavit to have Mr. Frances arrested. So you would think Charles Cross would then be arrested for filing a false police report and committing a battery on Mr. Frances .

Well, when Mr. Frances attempted to file a complaint against Charles Cross, the reply from Detective Erik Goss to Mr. Frances was, “You need to be a little more careful and not put yourself in

these types of situations.” Mr. Frances was so frustrated with this response he decided to write a letter to the chief of the Pensacola Florida Police Department, John Mathis. The chief was kind enough to respond in writing to Mr. Frances .

The chief wrote in his letter that Mr. Frances’ complaint was more of a civil complaint and not criminal. Can you believe this! It was criminal when Mr. Frances was merely innocently carrying a television set and being punched in the face intentionally by Charles Cross. But it was a civil complaint when Charles Cross punched John Frances and filed a false police report. Mr. Frances still has the letter written on the chief of police’s letterhead. I personally think the chief of police should not be serving in the position of chief of police, if he does not understand how to interpret the law.

Then in August 2003 Mr. Frances was viciously attacked at the Bayou Breeze Condominium complex by the maintenance employee Jeff Simpson. Here is the story behind this incident. Mr. Frances recently had sold one of his rental properties to Lillie Robertson. Lillie Robertson had been a tenant of Mr. Frances in one of his other properties, but she was seeking home ownership. During the time Lillie Robertson was a tenant she was experiencing a lot of harassment from Charles Cross. Charles Cross was going up on the roof above her unit and disconnecting her air conditioning unit in the middle of the night. The police were called, but they said they could not do anything about it because Charles Cross claimed he was the manager.

The truth of the matter was that John Frances owned and managed Lillie Robertson’s unit. Shortly after that incident Claudia Abrams, the condominium association manager, made a comment to Mr. Frances that the “Association” was going to do whatever it took to get rid of that “Nigger” in Mr. Frances’ unit. (This was a racial comment directed at Lillie Robertson.) Mr. Frances was then kind enough to sell one of his properties located in the same complex to Lillie Robertson, making Lillie Robertson an owner in the condominium association.

Shortly after Lillie Robertson purchased her new home, she began to experience problems with the roof leaking. She asked Mr. Frances for assistance in taking pictures so she could bring them to the insurance company.

Mr. Frances witnessed Charles Cross and Jeff Simpson, a maintenance employee for the condominium, on the roof above Lillie Robertson’s unit at approximately 1:00 PM on the afternoon of August 5, 2003. Mr. Frances was then involved with the condominium association in a pending civil lawsuit regarding the numerous leaks from the roof above his rental units in this condominium building. So he decided to videotape from inside his home and unbeknownst to Cross and Simpson, what they were doing above Lillie Robertson’s unit.

Later that same day Mr. Frances was exiting his home that is located in the same complex as Lillie Robertson’s and he noticed that her door was open. So Mr. Frances went upstairs to her unit, but she was not home. But Jeff Simpson was inside cleaning up water that was pouring through the ceiling from a rainstorm that had occurred after Cross and Simpson were on the roof earlier that day. Simpson told Mr. Frances that Lillie Robertson was not home. Now keep in mind that Simpson was well aware that Mr. Frances is one of the owners at this condominium. Mr. Frances was no stranger to Simpson.

Mr. Frances then walked back to his unit and retrieved his video camera, thinking it would be a great opportunity to preserve on video what is going on with the roof above Lillie Robertson’s home. Mr. Frances then walked back up to her apartment, opened the door and raised his video camera toward the ceiling. At this point Jeff Simpson charged at Mr. Frances yelling, “No! NO! NO.! You can’t be in here!” The video is quite clear as to what happened. Despite having the video of the attack, Mr. Frances was arrested for videotaping the roof leaking, while he was being attacked and assaulted by Jeff Simpson. So you would think the State Attorney’s Office would have enough sense to dismiss the case and charge Jeff Simpson with filing a false police report and assaulting Mr. Frances. No that is not how it works here in Pensacola , Florida .

This is how it works in Pensacola, Florida. Mr. Frances was put on trial. During the trial Jeff Simpson testified that Charles Cross told him to go down to the police department. Mr. Frances also learned during the trial that the first call to the police was made from the home of Charles Cross. Now, how did Charles Cross know what had occurred? Charles Cross was not present when Simpson was attacking Mr. Frances. In fact Charles Cross was in his home four miles away. Charles Cross had Claudia Abrams (the same condominium manager who was trying to get rid of, as she put it, The “Nigger,” Lillie Robertson) make the 911 phone call to the police.

Mr. Frances was lucky he had a videotape that showed exactly what happened. Despite all this evidence, Mr. Frances was put on trial not once but twice for the same alleged crime. I did not think you could do that in America. But then again this is Pensacola, Florida. Mr. Frances was eventually acquitted by a jury.

Then Mr. Frances went to the City of Pensacola City Council to try and resolve this problem of being falsely arrested. The City Manager arranged a face-to-face meeting with the Chief of Police John Mathis. Prior to the meeting the chief sent Detective Goss over to Mr. Frances’ home. Detective Goss watched the video of Simpson attacking Mr. Frances and told Mr. Frances , “Tough luck.” That Mr. Frances cannot go around videotaping water destroying property he has a mortgage on while he is being assaulted. Detective Goss told Mr. Frances he needs to be a little more careful of the situations he gets into. Mr. Frances was trying to help Lillie Robertson, he is attacked, and he was the one arrested. Unbelievable!

Now once again it is a crime for John Frances to be holding a video camera while Jeff Simpson attacks Mr. Frances. But it is not a crime to attack John Frances and then file a false police report, unless you live in Pensacola, Florida. Mr. Frances was told by the city manager, “I know Charles Cross and I know he has a temper but we are not going to arrest him.” When Mr. Frances asked the chief what he intended to do, the chief replied, “Nothing. I don’t see where any crimes have been committed against you, it sounds civil to me.”

Now during the time from 1999 through 2003 Mr. Frances had purchased a number of units at the same Bayou Breeze Condominium complex, and Charles Cross did not like that. So

Charles Cross started levying fines against Mr. Frances’ units. Charles Cross then conducted illegal association meetings to give the fines a false credibility. Several other owners became suspicious about Charles Cross’ conduct and they filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Charles Cross.

Charles Cross and the Bayou Breeze Condominium Association were also being investigated and were being sued by the State Attorney General’s Office and then Attorney General Charlie Crist. This lawsuit was for discriminating against a family with children. According to court records, Charles Cross was harassing the small children and trying to prohibit the children from accessing the common elements of the condominium.

During a condominium homeowners’ meeting Charles Cross made some damaging remarks to his legal position concerning the lawsuit with the Attorney General’s Office. This meeting was recorded on audiotape. A duplicate of this audiotape was forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office by another owner, Ida Nissen. Shortly after this occurred, Charles Cross reported a

burglary to the Pensacola Police Department. Charles Cross claimed in the report that the condominium association clubhouse was broken into and the audiotape was stolen. Well, Charles Cross was accusing owner Ida Nissen of breaking into the condominium office and stealing the audiotape and then giving the tape to the State Attorney General Charlie Crist. Now Mr. Frances has known Ida Nissen for quite some time and let’s just say Ida is an elderly lady who previously served on the board of directors for the same condominium. Ida Nissen does not appear to possess the characteristics necessary to carryout a burglary.

Unless you are Detective Erik Goss.

Yes, Detective Erik Goss was the investigator and Ida Nissen was arrested. Mr. Frances was kind enough to assist Ida Nissen in preparing and filing a motion to dismiss the case. Shortly after the motion was filed, the local State Attorney’s Office realized that if they were going to prosecute this case, they were also going to need to file charges against then Attorney General Charlie Crist for being in possession of stolen property. Needless to say, but I will say it anyway, the case was dismissed very quickly.

Back to the illegal liens signed and recorded by Charles Cross against Mr. Frances’ condominium units. Charles Cross did not like the fact that Mr. Frances was purchasing units that had been participating in a rental program operated by Charles Cross and the condominium association. In 1994 John Frances caught Charles Cross for misappropriation of condominium funds. A county judge by the name of G. J. Roarke had previously rendered a judgment in the favor of Mr. Frances against this same condominium association for illegally using Mr. Frances’ condominium dues to operate a rental program.

So Charles Cross began to use the power and the umbrella of the association to carry out a personal and vindictive retribution attack against Mr. Frances. Charles Cross started this retribution by threatening to knock Mr. Frances out. He assaulted Mr. Frances at Mr. Frances’ front door. But the police would not arrest CharlesCross. Then Charles Cross began levying $1,000 fines on all of John Frances’ units. Charles Cross also claimed the condominium association did not receive payment from John Frances for condominium dues. The condominium account record was clear that the association management received the payments via certified mail and Charles Cross’ own attorney Lisa Minshew acknowledged that she was in possession of the checks a year after the payments had been received by the association.

So what was the attorney Lisa Minshew doing with John Frances’ condominium dues when the dues were supposed to have been deposited into the condominium associations’ account? Well, Lisa Minshew could not pursue a lawsuit and charge legal fees if Mr. Frances was current on his payment of the condominium dues. So Lisa Minshew and Charles Cross attempted to conceal this fact from the court. Luckily for Mr. Frances , there is a wise judge in Escambia County by the name of Kim Skievaski. Judge Skievaski has since been promoted to tchief judge in Escambia County, Florida .

Charles Cross’ attorney Lisa Minshew was trying to foreclose on Mr. Frances’ property with illegal liens signed and recorded by Charles Cross. Mr. Frances proved to Judge Skievaski that Charles Cross could not sign the liens, and after several months of lengthy review by the judge, the judge concluded that Charles Cross was not an owner of any of the property at the Bayou Breeze Condominiums. Therefore, Charles Cross did not have the legal right to be the president of the condominium, and therefore, could not legally execute and sign the liens against Mr. Frances ’ units. Charles Cross and his attorney Lisa Minshew had perpetrated a fraud against the court and the other owners of the Bayou Breeze Condominium Association. But the State Attorney’s Office refused to investigate this crime, as is true with other condominium frauds in Florida. This fact can be verified through Jan Bergemann, President of Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc., a Florida Corporation at [email protected].

A criminal complaint was then filed against Lisa Minshew for her failure and refusal to record a satisfaction of one of the liens recorded against Mr. Frances ’ property. This is a crime in the State of Florida. So Mr. Frances contacted the State Attorney’s Office. Mr. Frances spoke with an assistant state attorney by the name of Greg Marcille. Mr. Marcille told Mr. Frances it was a crime and that he should file a complaint with the City of Pensacola Police Department.

Mr. Frances filed the complaint and guess who was assigned the case. Yes! Detective Erik Goss. Detective Goss contacted Lisa Minshew. Lisa Minshew admitted committing the crime. She then corrected the crime by recording the satisfaction. She was not arrested for the crime, that the assistant state attorney Greg Marcille told Mr. Frances to report. In other words, if you rob a bank in Pensacola, Florida and you get caught but you return the money and Detective Goss is investigating, you will not be arrested. Lisa Minshew’s conduct was also reported to the Florida Bar. But the Bar Association viewed it as a first-time offense, and no action against her law license was taken.

Meanwhile, Charles Cross was still trying to steal Mr. Frances’ eight rental properties. Now you are probably wondering how someone could steal a condominium unit. Well, this is not an ordinary theft, as if someone came up to you and picked your pocket. This crime is a white-collar sophisticated crime. Here is how it worked.

Charles Cross recorded in the public records of Escambia County, Florida illegal liens against the property owned by Mr. Frances. Then Mr. Frances tried to sell his property. Charles Cross and the condominium management interfered with each sale. In other words, the association and the association’s attorney Lisa Minshew deliberately delayed and then provided the title companies hired to close Mr. Frances’ property sales with false account information. Charles Cross and the condominium management also told the potential buyers that they were not approved by Charles Cross to buy the units. Additional false information was provided to the title company from Charlene Busbee, the manager’s assistant for the condominium association.

Charlene Busbee had created dual account logs to keep track of Mr. Frances condominium payments. One log was a legitimate log and the other log was used to provide false information on the status of the accounts. Therefore, the closings on the property never occurred. This was also reported to the Pensacola Police Department and Mr. Frances was told by the responding Police Officer that it was not a crime to make false entries into the corporate books. A quick review of Florida Statutes clearly states that making false entries into corporate books is a crime.

Then Charles Cross went to Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and asked him to levy against John Frances’ property. The sheriff of Escambia County conducted what is known as a Sheriff’s Sale. Guess who was the only bidder at the auction? Out of about six billion people in the world Charles Cross was the only bidder. He purchased four of Mr. Frances’ properties

worth an estimated $350,000 for $1,000. Now what is interesting about this transaction is that the buyer, no matter who it may be, would be required to pay all outstanding property taxes, mortgages, and yes the outstanding judgments Charles Cross received from Judge Frank Bell.

Oh! I forgot to mention! After Judge Skievaski made his finding of fact that Charles Cross was not an owner, and therefore, could not have signed those illegal liens recorded against Mr. Frances’ property, this is what happened.

Judge Skievaski ruled and denied the summary judgment case Charles Cross was seeking against Mr. Frances. Then Charles Cross and his attorney Lisa Minshew went to a different judge by the name of Frank Bell. Without getting into a lengthy detail of the trial Judge Bell did not allow Mr. Frances to have a jury. He denied Mr. Frances from showing any of his videotape evidence he had collected for his defense. Then the judge awarded the Bayou Breeze Condominium Association a judgment for condominium dues that were eventually paid by Mr. Frances and a separate $75,000 personal judgment for absolutely nothing.

Then Charles Cross and the association claimed Mr. Frances violated the judge’s judgment order of $75,000. The judge subsequently awarded the condominium association an additional judgment in the amount of $25,000. The reason was because Mr. Frances asked one of the condominium board members why the association was interfering with the sale of his properties. Imagine you want to sell your home and you talk to someone and a judge says that will cost you $25,000. This is exactly what happened to Mr. Frances .

So now we have one Judge Kim Skievaski ruling that Charles Cross is essentially a fraud and another Judge Frank Bell rewards Charles Cross and the condominium association with a $100,000 judgment that has absolutely no merit.

Now after Charles Cross made a personal purchase of the four condominium units for $1,000, he was required to pay all outstanding property taxes, mortgages and yes any outstanding judgments. Except in this case, Charles Cross used the association funds to employ the attorney Lisa Minshew to dispute the mortgage balances. Charles Cross claimed the mortgage balances owed by Mr. Frances to his mortgage company were not accurate. Charles Cross then threatened the mortgage company with a protracted lawsuit using the association’s money. This is ILLEGAL and prohibited by Florida Condominium Law. Charles Cross used condominium funds for his own personal property litigation. The mortgage company was so frustrated with the shenanigans of Charles Cross and the lengthy and costly court procedures that it was cost effective to reduce the mortgage balances to settle the case. But whatever happened to the judgment in the amount of $100,000 owed to the association?

Well if anyone else in the world had purchased these four properties, that person would have been required to pay the association over $100,000. But Charles Cross simply released this judgment against the four properties he had just purchased, thus stealing the units and defrauding the other owners of the association. Because whether the judgment was legitimate or not, it was still owed to the condominium association, and it was not paid.

But this story is just beginning. After the Sheriff’s Sale was conducted at 10:00 AM on the morning of December 6, 2006, Charles Cross filed a police report on December 7, 2006 alleging that Mr. Frances had burglarized two of the four properties after the Sheriff’s Sale. This is the testimony from the trial.

Charles Cross testified that he received a call from Charlene Busbee, the condominium office manager, on the day of December 6, 2006. According to Mr. Cross, Charlene Busbee told Charles Cross he should go over to Unit 120 which is in the same building as the other units, and Charles Cross should talk with Jeffrey Panella. According to Charles Cross, Jeffrey Panella was remodeling Charlene Busbee’s unit and according to Charlene Busbee, Charles Cross might want to hire Jeffrey Panella to remodel Charles Cross’ units.

Now Jeffrey Panella had recently rented a unit from John Frances and had been evicted from the unit for nonpayment of rent. According to the testimony of Charles Cross, he arrived at the doorway of Jeffrey Panella’s Unit 120 some time between 7:00 and 8:00 PM on the evening of December 6, 2006. Charles Cross knocked on the door of Unit 120. As Charles Cross was waiting for Jeffrey Panella to come to the door, Charles Cross testified he glanced over his shoulder (this would have been 180 degrees from the direction facing the door of Unit 120) and he claims he saw John Frances enter Unit 310. When asked if he called the police upon witnessing this, Charles Cross responded that his attorney Lisa Minshew advised him not to confront John Frances. But Charles Cross could have called the police and let the police confront John Frances. The real reason why the police were not called is because Charles Cross was not at the door and thus the incident did not occur. Otherwise, Charles Cross simply could have called the police and the police would have caught Mr. Frances in the act of burglarizing the property.

However, there was a second “witness,” Nicholas Petkovic. Nicholas Petkovic is the son of Kathie Petkovic, the registered agent for this condominium association and a business associate of Charles Cross. Nicholas Petkovic testified that he was standing approximately 60 feet away from Charles Cross and he saw Charles Cross at the door of Unit 120. Nicholas Petkovic testified that at the same time he saw Charles Cross at the door of Unit 120 he also saw John Frances entering Unit 319.

Well, Well, Well. If you could see this property, Unit 310 and Unit 319 are on the opposite sides of the building and each witness testified that he didn’t see John Frances walking toward the units. Cross and Petkovic both only conveniently glanced up at the doors just at the opportune time as Mr. Frances supposedly entered the units. Now Mr. Frances does not have a twin, and he is not a magician. So it is physically impossible to be in two places at the same time. So the police were not called that night and the witnesses did not confront John Frances.

There is a simple explanation. Mr. Frances had an alibi. In fact, it was a very well-documented alibi provided to the Assistant State Attorney Kelly Simon. But I will get back to the alibi in a minute.

According to Charles Cross, Jeffrey Panella went to Units 310 and 319 the next day on the morning of December 7, 2006. Mr. Panella testified he discovered the units had been damaged. This is when the police were called at approximately 10:00 AM on December 7, 2006. Charles Cross’ statement to the police officer and it is written in the police report: Charles Cross stated he witnessed John Frances entering Unit 310 at approximately 17:32 hours or 5:32 PM on the evening of December 6, 2006. Charles Cross also stated that two other witnesses saw John Frances enter the units. But these witnesses were not named in the police report.

Nicholas Petkovic testified he was present when Jeffrey Panella was in the condominium office reporting the damage to the condominium manager at approximately 10:00 AM on the morning of December 7, 2006. This would have been a perfect time to report to the police officer what Nicholas Petkovic allegedly had seen the night before. The problem was Nicholas Petkovic did not see John Frances the night before because John Frances was seven miles away from these properties.

After Mr. Frances was initially arrested he decided to represent himself as he had done in the prior cases against Charles Cross. Mr. Frances obtained sworn affidavits from his alibi witnesses and provided these affidavits along with his telephone records and a number of receipts from stores where he had been a patron that day. It was quite clear that at 5:32 PM when Charles Cross first claimed John Frances entered Unit 310, Mr. Frances was on his home telephone at exactly the same time. So at trial Charles Cross then changed his time to some time between 7:00 and 8:00 PM.

But how would Charles Cross and his partner in crime Nicholas Petkovic know when and what times to change their stories to? Well, during the past year Mr. Frances filed with the court what is known as a Notice of Alibi. This notice specifically outlined each and every witness Mr. Frances intended to call at trial and exactly where each witness would testify concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Frances for the entire day of December 6, 2006.

Well, Mr. Frances’ alibi ended after 7:00 PM, and Charles Cross’ testimony changed from 5:32 PM in the initial police report to some time between 7:00 and 8:00 PM during the trial. So either Charles Cross lied to the first police officer the morning of December 7, 2006 or Charles Cross lied during the trial.

So you are probably wondering how a jury could have found Mr. Frances guilty after all of Mr. Frances’ alibi witnesses testified he was somewhere else other than where Charles Cross initially claimed Mr. Frances was.

Detective Erik Goss. Yes, Detective Goss. See the investigation was turned over to Detective Erik Goss with the City of Pensacola Police Department. Detective Goss testified that he spoke via telephone with Mr. Frances four days after the alleged incident. According to Detective Goss, Mr. Frances first denied knowing anything about the burglary, but that during a second phone call, according to Detective Goss, Mr. Frances admitted burglarizing the property.

See how convenient that was? Charles Cross makes a false report, but learns that the times don’t match up with Mr. Frances’ alibi. Charles Cross changes his story during the trial and Mr. Frances gets convicted.

On November 15, 2007 John Frances was put on trial and convicted of two counts of burglary and two counts of criminal mischief. Mr. Frances is facing 7½ years in a Florida State Prison because of allegations made by Detective Erik Goss and Charles Cross.

Now this story has what will probably not be the final chapter. Here is what happened after the verdict.

The judge immediately put Mr. Frances in jail pending a sentencing hearing on January 2, 2008. Mr. Frances then employed me to look after his business and personal obligations while he was in jail pending sentencing for a crime he did not commit. Mr. Frances contacted me from jail one day and I told him I thought someone had broken into his home. He told me that the wind had probably opened his door and that he had lived here for 18 years and no one had ever broken in before. Then I started to open his mail. Mr. Frances had received a notice from his bank notifying him a check in the amount of $420 was paid but he was being charged a $30 fee. Mr. Frances asked me to look in the checkbook to see to whom the check had been written. This is when I discovered that three checks and the check stubs were missing from the checkbook. Mr. Frances had pre-signed these and several other checks so it would be easier for me to conduct his business. I then realized that a spare set of car keys and his wallet with 15 $100 bills were also missing. Mr. Frances was in the process of getting out of jail pending his sentencing hearing. So we waited to file a police report.

Mr. Frances went to his bank on December 3, 2007 to look at the front and back of the check. Shockingly, the check was written to Jeffrey Panella in the amount of $420. Jeffrey Panella signed the back of the check along with his driver’s license number.

Within six days of Mr. Frances being incarcerated Jeffrey Panella, a State Witness who falsely testified against Mr. Frances , broke into Mr. Frances’ home, stole his wallet, his car keys, and wrote a check to himself. Burglary and Grand Theft and now Jeffrey Panella is on the run.

Mr. Frances needs your help to clear his name. This is a true story about crimes that need to be exposed. Because this terrible injustice has occurred, Mr. Frances needs the help of the community, the State of Florida and the nation.

Charles Cross and Charles Cross’ employees have stolen most of Mr. Frances’ property and most of his money. Please! John Frances desperately needs your help.

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE WHATEVER AMOUNT YOU ARE ABLE TO AFFORD. MR. FRANCES THANKS YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY, AND MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE FOR THEIR KINDNESS.

Sincerely,

Angelina Berzett

Trust Fund Manager

The Johnny Frances Legal Defense Trust Fund

PLEASE FORWARD ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO: