The first order of business for the New Year of 2005 is to define the word felon, and determine if it fits as a proper handle for any who walk among us.
The true definition is “one who has been convicted of a felony crime.” If persons engage in the commission of felony crimes, but never get caught, indicted or convicted, are they merely criminals who have miraculously escaped being labeled a felon? Never being held accountable or paying a price to society for crimes committed insures that future crimes will be committed, each time reaching bold new heights. With the passage of time, these people begin to believe they are untouchable.
I have known upright citizens in this community who have boasted about using charity or the appearance of such to cheat on income taxes.
I knew one wealthy individual who boasted about building his wealth decades ago by “kiting checks.” Back then it took three days at minimum for the banks to clear checks. By constantly juggling checks and deposits, he could operate on interest-free loans without a bank’s knowledge or permission. If one did occasionally bounce, our big-shot knew the banker who agreed to cover the check and not return it until a deposit was made. This was years before “overdraft protection” was offered to bank patrons. Certain people have always had “overdraft protection,” depending on who they knew. Average Joes who wrote checks without sufficient funds were prosecuted.
This past year, Mayor York leaked information to the news media which labeled Tony Brockmeyer, editor of The First Capitol News, as a felon. She further used the attack politically to attempt to discredit the majority of the newly-elected City Council by relaying the information to an applicant for City Administrator and getting him to withdraw as an applicant because “his background check had been conducted by a felon.”
The information York released to the media was apparently illegally obtained by a police officer and a member of the Fraternal Order of Police in another jurisdiction who used his position to obtain confidential information about a citizen without due cause or a warrant. A violation of his rights. The officer then gave the information to a police friend who had requested the search who in turn gave it to York to use for political advantage. We will not release the name of this officer and his friend until after the conclusion of the investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office. We do not know how many other citizens or political opponents were included in the illegal search to unearth possible negatives to be used politically.
Mr. Brockmeyer has not responded to the attacks, made excuses, defended himself or blamed others. Therefore, we decided to conduct out own fact-finding mission and shed some light on the subject. We know Tony Brockmeyer and respect his character, strength, and dedication. If I were standing in quicksand, I would throw the rope to him because he would not quit pulling until he had me freed. That would also apply to anybody else in this city that needed to be pulled to safety. People know him to be honest and trustworthy.
Approximately twelve years ago, Mr. Brockmeyer wrote three post-dated checks over a period of time for an amount totaling $1,800 to be exchanged for money orders, which were approved by the bank manager. He would deposit funds later to cover those checks. He had no way of knowing that the bank manager was engaged in a scheme to defraud her employer. That is a federal crime for which the bank manager was prosecuted. I do not know how many other people, if any, were unwittingly under suspicion or charged. He was charged. He faced an expensive legal battle to clear his name, not to mention the time and grief involved. The Federal Government offered a plea-bargain whereby he would serve 30 days in a federal boot camp. Had the feds been certain of his guilt and been confident they could prove their case, they would never have offered the plea for a serious charge of bank fraud. It was an unfortunate incident, not a crime. He made a judgment-call and chose not to fight the federal government. He recently paid a dear price for that decision and suffered great embarrassment due to the illegal acts and immoral schemes of those who swim among us like sharks—devouring what they can when they can.
Contrary to the full page ad published and paid for by the St. Charles Police Association, Mr. Brockmeyer was never a prisoner at the Marion Illinois Federal Prison. He served less than 30 days in federal boot-camp. They may be confusing him with a former Republican County Commisioner who served time at the Marion Federal Prison. It is not illegal to be immoral, unethical, and attempt to personally destroy the reputations and lives of people who oppose our wishes or our political goals. However, I have lived long enough to know that immoral unethical behavior with no regard for the welfare of others, almost always leads to illegal activity whether or not they are eventually held accountable.
The one act that I constantly hear people complain about regarding Mayor York and her merry band of followers engaging in Patti’s Un-Pretty Parties, is her decision to sell the old County Office Building valued at approximately One Million Dollars to an insider for approximately $100,000. Her previous Council, who obeyed her without question, approved the sale. That was a city-owned property and a gift from the County. How big of theft to the taxpayers is $800,000 to $900,000? That wasn’t a post-dated check whereby the city got their money later. How does she have the nerve to call any other individual on the face of this earth a felon?
I didn’t think it would ever happen, but Charleytown finally posed an intelligent question. Where is the grand jury investigation? Where is the FBI? Patti’s favorite John, aka Charleytown, intended the question as proof that all is well at City Hall and they never do anything wrong. According to him, the St. Charles Police Association is something real close to sainthood and that $100 million lawsuit against the city by a police officer is just not worth writing about.
Guess again Charley. The state audit has not yet been completed. What are the chances we will someday be entertained by the FBI? I’d really hate to see you eat crow.
