Pensacola Homecoming scandal: yOU KNOW THIS CASE, RIGHT?

I am sure you heard about the Homecoming Scandal that happened in Pensacola last year. As I understood from the news stories I read, this case was akin to the Cheerleader murder from Texas. You know, an overzealous mother who murdered her daughter’s competition, thus securing her daughter’s place as a cheerleader. Minus the murder, this was the same scenario, at least as it was portrayed as by the local media. Laura Carroll, Vice-Principal of Bellview Elementary either through her own access to Escambia County School District internal server (FOCUS) or her daughter, Emily Grover, used her login, surreptitiously to cast votes for Tate Homecoming Queen in 2020. The mother & daughter were arrested March 15, 2021, for unlawful use of a two-way communication device, offenses against users of computer, computer systems, computer networks & electronic devices and conspiracy to commit these offenses. Emly was expelled, despite having no disciplinary record and being an exemplary student about to graduate in 6 weeks at the time of the arrest.

According to PNJ, Tuesday, March 16, 2021:

“In October 2020, the school district flagged hundreds of votes for Tate High School’s homecoming court as fraudulent. FDLE was contacted and special agents launched an investigation.

FDLE special agents discovered that 117 of the fraudulent votes originated from the same IP address within a short period of time and they tied that IP address to Carroll & Grover’s computer usage.

FDLE spokesperson Gretl Plessinger told the News Journal, agents learned that Carroll & Grover used FOCUS to cast the fraudulent votes to win homecoming queen at Tate High School….

Nine students and one teacher provided written statements to authorities that detailed how Grover had spoken about accessing her mother’s FOCUS account or had seen her access the county system for almost 4 years, according to the arrest warrant.”

This seems cut and dry, doesn’t it? Hardly. My immediate question was, with this access and purported “abuse” of info, was there no other compromised records, involving school grades, medical records, disciplinary records, student ID numbers etc? It seems to me that there are more serious violations that may actually warrant harsh punishment—not homecoming court votes. A teen who has this sort of info available would surely exploit it. Yet, that we don’t have in this case. The FOCUS site is chalked full of information that anyone with a password could exploit. That is what I would expect if someone was trying to abuse that particular website. While Carroll’s login was largely “view only” info, the voluminous privacy-protected info that potentially could have been weaponized was never compromised.

The FDLE investigator, Stephanie Cassidy, could not legitimize any of the evidence used in this case. That does not surprise me but the fact that anyone pursued criminal charges and ruined a young girl’s life with such flimsy evidence.

Here are a few excerpts from the deposition of Stephanie Cassidy:

The craziest thing though is the way Tate High handled it. Here is a clip from NorthEscambia.com:

Emily Rose Grover was 17-year old juvenile at the time of her arrest in April by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. She turned 18 just a few days later, and will now be tried as an adult.
Grover and her mother Laura Carroll, former assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School, were charged by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with one count each of felony offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices; felony unlawful use of a two-way communications device, felony criminal use of personally identifiable information, and conspiracy to commit these offenses. The misdemeanor conspiracy charge against both has been upgraded by prosecutors to a felony count.
One edited photo in this year’s Tate High School yearbook shows Grover’s face covered with clipart of a horse that resembles the school’s mascot. The horse’s rear-end was used to cover Grover’s face, and that is the part that has upset many. The photo is above; note that NorthEscambia.com has blurred the faces of other individuals in the picture.
“They covered her face with a horse’s rear,” one parent wrote in an email to NorthEscambia.com. “That’s just too much and should have never happened.”
“We are recalling those yearbooks to fix that problem,” Escambia County School District Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith said. “Somebody went in and made an edit that shouldn’t have happened.”
The yearbook was published after Grover’s arrest. Parents tell us some students did not receive their yearbooks after the photo was discovered.

Ronald Clark Ball

Mr. Ball’s incarceration marks the point of no return in the crusade to de-throne corruption in Escambia County. Mr. Ball, being an author, a man of prestige & a globally renown lecturer in the understanding of the cyber threat as it relates to National Security, has become the latest name to the list of victims of abuse of power throughout the Escambia County government. Mr. Ball is not the typical victim, because he is not of a lesser demographic; he’s not a minority, nor a socio-economic nobody that is usually the profile of people marginalized by the Escambia corruption machine. People like Pat Gonzalez, or Michelle Clarke are denigrated by the “honorable” elite of the county due to their backgrounds or prior bad acts. People like Philip Nix, Bill Chavers, Gene Valentino, Anita Hemphill, Laura Montoya or the honorable other citizens who are outspoken in the abuses of the county, are said to be suffering from a technical term by Sheriff Morgan known as “sour grapes”. They have been wronged by the county and are labeled as trying to retaliate for their dismissals. That may have basis, if the list of people, who are suffering– allegedly — from “sour grape syndrome” didn’t hit double digits with the exact same complaints, including slander, defamation, civil rights violations, & discrimination.

No Mr. Ball does not suffer from any of the labels previously used by the GOB to discount people. He cannot be seen as I am by Sheriff Morgan, as a lone nut, who spews lies, “a political terrorist”. Mr. Ball has been silenced for a long time but that silence is broken. He cannot be dismissed as the rest of have.

Mr. Ball drafted a pro se motion to dismiss in June that is skillfully written and could be used by any of the above victims against varying agents of the Escambia corruption machine. While his assertions may sound outlandish, I say to you that the actions against him are just that outlandish and bringing them to light is the right thing to do.

As I have said many times, the abuses of Escambia GOB are vast enough to be in violation of RICO (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization Law). This entails 2 or more felonies committed to further an ongoing criminal enterprise. The justice system in Escambia County is, itself, the criminal enterprise. The felonies are embezzlement, perjury, fraud and the list goes on and on. Morgan arrests people, Eddins & his minions as well as various judiciary perpetuate the wrongful arrest through the court system to the tune of illegal seizures, defamation, and political gain. The real violation is of the honest services clause. According to 2017 Fall edition of American Criminal Law Review, in an article by Alexander Sanyshyn, the honest services criteria is thus:

Elements of the Honest-Services Doctrine

To be convicted under § 1346, an individual must (i) defraud the victim of honest services (ii) by accepting a bribe or kickback. ⁿ⁴⁴⁶

Defraud of Honest Services

Generally, a scheme to defraud of honest services takes place in a fiduciary or employer-employee relationship. ⁿ⁴⁴⁷ Such a fiduciary relationship is often present when one manages money for another’s benefit. ⁿ⁴⁴⁸ It may also be present when a voluntary trade association ⁿ⁴⁴⁹ or charitable and nonprofit organization is involved. ⁿ⁴⁵⁰ The employer-employee relationships that may give rise to an honest-services claim range from a shareholder-management relationship ⁿ⁴⁵¹ to a government employee-private citizen relationship. ⁿ⁴⁵² However, the duties owed by a public official and a private individual differ. ⁿ⁴⁵³

[*1725] The fraud need not be directly accomplished by the defendant–the defendant need only to have caused fraud to be committed. ⁿ⁴⁵⁴ However, the defendant must be aware of, or participate in, the fraud committed by the third party. ⁿ⁴⁵⁵

This lays out the basis for many public corruption cases. The use of public power for private gain is the biggest risk associated with people in power. The various prongs of corruption, quid pro quo corruption, undue influence in inequality corruption, misuse and abuse of power are all used to further the criminal enterprise that operates as the criminal justice & legal system in Escambia County. There is no justice to had in the system in Pensacola. No one is above the law and while that hasn’t been apparent to most people except those churned out by the system in my hometown, Mr. Ball’s case added to the 7 people in the Billings Case, specifically prove a pattern of behavior that spans over many years & many cases. The totality of injustice is astronomical in Escambia County.

Ron Clark Ball is going to the catalyst case that shines a light on the stuff Willie Junior was killed covering up. Get your popcorn, kids. The show is beginning.

I told Morgan that when he saw me coming, that hell was coming with me. He should be feeling the heat, because I am at his door.

Bill Richbourg, C’mon Down!

So in the long line of people who cashed in, exploited and turned a blind eye in the Billings case, I want to welcome Bill Richbourg to the cast of characters who should be on the other side of the bars that they put their clients in. Mr. Richbourg could arguably be the most deplorable of the attorneys who rolled over and played dead in this case. Mr. Richbourg was hired by Gary Sumner to represent him. He paid Mr. Richbourg. For 6 weeks seemingly, work was done to further the defense case for Sumner. But on April 25, 2011, the day set for the jury selection, Mr. Richbourg tells Sumner (as they approach the courtroom) that he could not win this case, Sumner had no option but to take a plea. Richbourg strong-armed a disadvantaged young black man. Then the state had the gall to sue Sumner for the time they wasted for trial.

But the best part here is that Richbourg had an agenda from the onset of representing Sumner. He represented Bud Billings in the adoption fraud suit that somehow left the “stolen” child with the captor. Richbourg organized that circa 1989-90.

Can you say CONFLICT???? Representing a man that is being charged with killing a past client and then tanking the representation? Cheryl Barnes, Gary Sumner’s mother, should be suing this man on Gary’s behalf. Not only unethical, but it rises to level of criminal when he forced Gary into signing away his life rather than actually representing him. Any civil rights lawyers out there should be on top of this.

But the people who failed to do their job in this case is so numerous. Richbourg is just ONE of the highly respected attorneys who dropped the ball.

Tony Henderson forced Lenny Gonzalez into his plea and signed off on the man’s legal mental competence, despite the SSI ruling that states the man has brain damage, dementia, and numerous mental health issues. Also his VAN WAS INOPERABLE. That was a defense within itself, but Henderson managed to negotiate Lenny’s fate which led to his death. Shouldn’t that be beyond malpractice as well?

What about the public defenders who handled Florence & Thornton? There was a huge case for coerced confessions but they never represented their clients. They took the money the state paid them and walked those boys into prison. Now their lives are cast in stone. Statistics say that uneducated black men imprisoned early (18-25) build “criminal capital”. They turn prison into a community that they are comfortable with, can network in, to feel a sense of inclusion into SOMETHING. It is the same psycho-social phenomenon that draws people into gangs. That is on Joel M. Cohen (Florence’s public defender), & Cheryl Alverson (Thornton’s public defender).

Richbourg has a great deal of company in his criminality. I hope to see them punished just like Eddins, Geeker & Sir David.

Haines: LET Funds can be used for anything

In the past few weeks, there has been a growing concern throughout the community regarding the shameless spending of LET funds under this Sheriff’s discretion–more importantly the vexation by citizens about the legality of the LET disbursements. Will these organizations getting huge checks from the Sheriff have to give the money back at some point, because the funds were not legally donated? To the trusting people of Escambia County, Sir David’s translucent pretext of humanitarianism is becoming hard to swallow. The duplicitous donations appear to be a vice for Sir David to purchase value in the community elite and in turn, purchase votes. This has been the theme of many conversations over the breakfast tables and within the social media in Escambia County.

To clarify how the LET funds are spent by the most closely associated LEO agency, the Pensacola PD, I called Jeanne Griffin. Ms. Griffin explained the process of requesting and distributing LET money in their organizations. The process is complex as it should be. First of all, Ms. Griffin says the biggest difference is that the PPD does NOT have a checkbook for that fund. The Sheriff’s Office does. He is able to make donations and leave it to the Board of Commissioners to rule on the expenditures after the fact to reimburse the money. There is a glaring assumption that this is expected. In other words, Morgan seems to be fairly confident that he can spend the money and not be concerned because the county commissioners won’t question it. That is a problem and a red flag.

Ms. Griffin stated in order to spend LET money, a request must be submitted and has to be approved by the administration of the PPD; it is then submitted to the city council. The city council reviews it and researches it, if necessary. After they approve it, it goes to the mayor and then to have a budget resolution passed. Then after more red tape, the check is cut. Dozens of people must approve the spending of funds because the money belongs to the city or in Morgan’s case, the county. They want to be sure that no dollar is spent in haste. This process is standard for most counties and municipalities in Florida. Sir David has been blessed to have broad discretion over the funds. Ironic, since he couldn’t handle the discretion of the jail and the rumors of misappropriation of funds in his military past. Observing the recent spending, it seems there is still an issue and the funds he is misappropriating is county money—taxpayers’ money.

SIDE NOTE: Funny how his tax returns show the JUMP in wealth after the magnanimous donations started pouring from the county spicket. Could be a coincidence but I’m not one for coincidences.

Also, the creative categorization of the LET money spent is that of sophmoric ineptocrat. For instance: 100 Black Men, an organization that does stuff through the youth of the community but this particular donation has nothing to do with impacting lives or crime prevention. They want money for a banquet.

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To understand compliance with the statute, the entire process should be laid out for clarification. The parameters of what donations are in accordance with Fla. Stat. Ann. § 932-7055 fall into the categories of :

1. school resource officer, 2. crime prevention, 3. safe neighborhood, 4. drug abuse education and prevention programs, 5. for other law enforcement purposes, such as defraying the cost of protracted or complex investigations, providing additional equipment or expertise, purchasing automated external defibrillators for use in law enforcement vehicles, and 6. providing matching funds to obtain federal grants. The proceeds and interest may not be used to meet normal operating expenses of the law enforcement agency

The aforementioned example is a example of how broadly this statute is being stretched. A banquet is being used for crime prevention, drug prevention and direct support at $5000? While I am sure there is no doubt this organization benefited from the donation, the issue is this: couldn’t Sir David have used that $5000 for something that more beneficial to more people?

Watch and listen to how Chief Deputy Haines explained in on WCOA.

This is exactly the reason the entire Escambia County Board of Commissioners should be impeached along with this Sheriff. BOCC members have a responsibility to the taxpayers to govern and make sure the money for the county is handled correctly. The buck stops with them but they have become complacent and in turn, the inmate is running the asylum.

Creative accounting for the privileged.

“MAJOR DRUG BUST” Purely Accidental

Sir David got some face time with this drug bust done several days ago. He was out of town at a marketing conference in New Orleans. This also allowed him time to develop this overblown story of a 4 year investigation that culminated in the seizure of $500K of drugs. There are many details of this “investigation” that are being propagated & are false.

To clarify, this pursuit may have been originated 4 years ago, but was it continually worked and on-going? The answer is yes and no. The dealer, Alfred Hayes, went by the nickname “E”. E has been tracked by a “stingray”. The deputies got a line that a deal was going down but prematurely hit the house only to find the money for drugs and no actual drugs. The money “was seized” but no arrests were made and paradoxically, the money was never recorded at the ECSO.

This week, the “bust” in the spotlight, a source who was inside the holding area reported Melissa Buchanan was stopped on a routine traffic stop. No one knows her from Adam. She is in possession and trafficking of a quantity of methamphetamine and is taken into custody. In the holding room at the ECSO, she is overheard trying to cover her own ass to try to make a deal. She calls E but he’s callous as to her arrest but she gives him 30 minutes to arrange her release. After the time expired, in her panic and feeling of being shunned, she dimed him and his cousins out. E is the grandson of a woman that owns a nursing home. The family had been selling prescription drugs of people who had passed on. This is common knowledge in the community.

The prevarication of events in the press conference were a self-serving narrative developed over the days following these arrests for maximum political collateral for Sir David’s re-election efforts. An accidental arrest turned sting…not a prolonged investigative effort that finally paid off. Misdirection and misrepresentation of events…sounds vaguely familiar for the stories Sir David likes to deliver to the unknowing people of the county.

*Correction** Webster University Confirms Degree but Not Program

This morning I received a reply after providing more identifying information in regards to Sir David.

Hi Ms. Staley,

Thelbert D. Morgan is a graduate of Webster University. He received his Master of Arts degree in Business Administration on 3/9/1979. He completed his coursework at our McConnell Air Force Base campus. The MBA program did not start at Webster University until 1982. Have a good day.

Best Regards,

Don

Don Morris, M.Ed.

University Registrar

Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., St. Louis, MO 63119

Office: 314-968-7444 | Fax: 314-968-7112

“Nothing happens unless first a dream.” Carl Sandburg

While this does not completely answer the question of what type of degree. A Master’s of Arts in Business Administration is different than the Master’s of Business Administration. A Master’s of Arts is essentially a humanities liberal arts/humanties degree that has an emphasis on management. A Master’s of Business Administration is honed in towards 30 hours of contemporary business specialties like marketing, economics and corporate law. These degrees are night and day apart.

As he represented himself in a half-truth as to when (1980 vs 1979), where (“Webster’s University” vs Webster College) and what degree he obtained (MBA vs Master’s of Art in Business Admin), I am not sure what he was attempting to lead people to believe is true. That is the “Thelbert Experience” in a nutshell. He does not market himself as he truly is. Would those differences have mattered much to the public? Probably not, but the fact, he broadened every aspect of that degree is indicative of how he expands the truth and how nothing he says can be taken at face value. There is always a con to one degree or another.

I concede…there was a degree but it was not as he represented it, which led to the confusion in confirming his education.

No worries, the military record will be enough.

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SIDE NOTE: Funny how his tax returns show the JUMP in wealth after the magnanimous donations started pouring from the county spicket. Could be a coincidence but I’m not one for coincidences.

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