Thursday, April 16, 2009

Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Trial: Defense Rests, Fake "J.F." Finally Revealed: Jerome L. Kingrussell

Photo By Council Member Don
Samuels, 1564 Hillside Ave. N.


Defense rested today in the seemingly-endless trial of Larry Maxwell. Outside the hearing of the jury, in arguments made for a mistrial or a directed verdict of innocence, defense attorney Larry Reed argued numerous...

...technicalities as grounds, including inability to make a record of the trial because he was told to put objections in writing after being found in contempt of court and fined $100.

In the course of this argument, the identity of the fake "J.F." was revealed, not as Kenny or Kenneth Wilson--a name which had SEEMED to come from the lips of defense attorney Larry Reed--but somebody named "Kingrussel."

Though it initially seemed "Kingrussel" was two names ("King Russel") subsequent bloggy sniffing around in courthouse corners revealed the name of the (alleged) imposter to be "Jerome L. Kingrussel." (Unknown if "Kingrussel" has one "l" on the end, or two)

In light of this information--which is believed to be of much better quality info than previous info--the post naming "Kenny Wilson" as the possible "J.F." imposter has been immediately appended and corrected. What came from the lips of Larry Reed in his "Minnesota adjusted Southern drawl" (as one local lawyer put it) was apparently "Kingrussel an..." not "Kenny Wilson."

Sorry. I do the best I can. Nobody else is here doing it, and it needs to get done.

The final witness for the defense today was Larry Fitzgerald, who is a sportscaster associated with Larry Fitzgerald Dot Com and the father of Larry Fitzgerald, Jr., who plays...I don't know, some kind of sporto...STUFF. I guess people who are into that kind of thing think he's a big deal. WHATEVER.

Larry Fitzgerald's appearance on the stand led prosecutor Liz Johnston to remark there were "a lot of Larrys running around" including Larry Maxwell, Larry Reed, and now two Larrys both named "Larry Fitzgerald." To make matters even more confusing, Larry Reed called a Joe Reed to the stand as a defense witness, but said Joe was no relation.

(Though Larry Reed was also heard to tell prosecutors Joe Reed was his uncle, in what was apparently just a joke. Or not)

Larry Fitzgerald spoke of a couple of years of support that Larry Maxwell had provided by the purchase of advertising on the sports network, and how Maxwell had been helpful in trying to locate a property for Larry Fitzgerald, Jr., which the younger Fitzgerald had subsequently decided not to buy. (The older Fitzgerald remarked young people just constantly change their minds about stuff, even on a daily basis)

In a surprising twist, a man named Marlon Pratt was seen in court today as an intensely-interested spectator. Pratt is messed up in the Universal Mortgage fraud allegedly perpetrated by Donald Walthall, and has apparently retained Larry Reed as his defense attorney. Marlon Pratt had no comment to make to me and, indeed, was not interested in offering his name, but I was able to determine his identity by other means. It is unknown at this time whether there is any connection between the Universal Mortgage fraud ring and Larry Maxwell, other than Larry Reed being the (apparent) defense attorney for both.

Though told to come back at 1:45 p.m., the jury was subsequently notified there would be no more proceedings for the rest of the day, arrive by 8:45 a.m. tomorrow, April 17. Word was the defense managed to obtain additional time to review some documents which may be offered into evidence by the prosecution.

An editorial commenty as follows: all indications are this Maxwell case is the ugly-sticky-heavy lid of something very big, and furthermore that mortgage fraud infects North Minneapolis in a ubiquitous way; rather like the club drug ecstasy infects the techno rave music scene. But consider the T.J. Waconia case by way of comparison.

In that matter, the City of Minneapolis managed to gain a significant degree of control and/or influence over the fate of some 160 properties, some of which appear on their way to being rehabbed for the betterment of the neighborhood.

Getting to the bottom of all this endless black hole of mortgage fraud may a viable and valuable tactic for Minneapolis to get a handle on the numerous vacant, foreclosed properties already in North Minneapolis...with more possibly heading our way in the foreclosure pipeline. To accomplish this, the prosecutor's office must--MUST MUST MUST--have adequate resources to pursue these cases. I call upon the state, the federal government, the cities and the neighborhoods to give the prosecution what it needs to root out the virus which infects and undermines the very foundations of our civilization: the goal of stable, high-quality home ownership to live, love and raise one's family.

Prosecutors Brad Johnson and Liz Johnston are literally wearing out their shoe leather, putting in the kind of overtime hours one expects of COMBAT TROOPS instead of lawyers. In a casual inquiry by Judge Chu today as to whether Brad Johnson had been able to take some time off and be with his family in the last few days, including a new baby, Johnson revealed he had, instead, been forced to work on this case rather than spend some quality time with his family.

True, mortgage fraud isn't as enthralling as murder. But if we let these criminals get away with stealing millions of dollars just because the cases are highly technical and incredibly tedious, these con artists will cook up new scams that will hurt our society in ways nobody can predict.

None of my reporting or commentary is an effort to slight the work of defense attorney Larry Reed, who seldom lets an opportunity escape to argue technicalities, and who probably shouts "objection" upon waking up each morning. (That last sentence was a humorous commentary) Much of Reed's life and personal honor appears tied up in this case, for reasons that aren't always apparent. Does Reed ALWAYS fight this hard? Indeed, he fights for Maxwell as though this man were his own brother, friend and business partner all wrapped into one. It doesn't MATTER how long it takes. Somehow, Reed will buy Maxwell one more day, one more hour, one more frail thin straw of hope even if he risks his legal career in the effort.

When Maxwell goes down--and I predict he will indeed go down hard--Reed will be swinging, as a good defense attorney should. A guilty-as-sin mortgage fraudster could hardly do better than to hire Larry Reed.

I swear, I really need to get more advertisers. Thank you, Larry Reed, for the five bucks cash money and half a container of cole slaw. Now, can we talk about getting a cut of that $50,000 emergency bail money you reportedly have wadded up in your teddy bear?

(Those last two sentences were just outrageous and pithy commentary in tribute to the gonzo journalism style of Hunter S. Thompson, NOT to be taken seriously)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

huh. that's odd. Jerry's full name is Jerome L (lamont) Moore.

COACHING BY PETER said...

This article is very timely and relevant. As I quote Cameron Muir, an economist, "Home sales are unlikely to fall much further..That being said we expect home sales not to decline much further."

But it's never too late, with the right business plan set up, it will lead to valuable outcome. This is what most counselors would give as an advise.

Anonymous said...

johnny why are you approving spam comments? I have read 2 in the past few days.

Anonymous said...

2 results came back for a search on Jermoe L Kingrussell, both in Mpls area, and both 37 y/o, one lists a birthdate of 6/3/71, so quite possibly they are the same person. One address at 236 Clifton Ave, 55403, possible relative named Jabari L King. The other address at 710 78th St, 55423 possible relative named Victor E King.

Johnny Northside said...

236 Clifton Ave. is a halfway house run by "180 degrees inc" according to property records. Here's a website for that org.

http://www.180degrees.org/

Jerome L. Kingrussell may have been a participant in one of their programs?

Johnny Northside said...

710 78th St. is an apartment in Richfield. Nothing of note turns up on that, yet.