Mortgage Fraud Victims, Insurance Company Await State Appeals Court Ruling From "Imposter Foster" Civil Court Case...The Ghosts Of 1564 Hillside Ave. N. Still Walk The Earth!

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

Click here for the appellant's reply brief. 

Click here for AIG's brief, and the first page is unreadable, sorry, but keep scrolling down for the rest of a very long document. 

This blog has followed developments in this convoluted case for more than half a decade. John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels were the victims of a mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Avenue North. John Foster's identity and perfect credit was stolen by a crackhead named Jerome KingRussell, as part of a fraud cooked up by Larry Maxwell and others. 

Maxwell went to prison over the fraud. The victims sued in civil court and won a judgment of $849,000 but the money has proven hard to collect because the insurance company doesn't want to pay. (Well, I guess that's understandable) The house was demolished a long time ago. Here's a link to a blog article about the lawsuit which has yet more links and traces a lot of the story to date. 

Now both sides have filed briefs in Minnesota's State Court of Appeals, made their arguments, and wait. The question is not whether the $849,000 judgment is valid. 

The question is whether the plaintiffs can collect from the defendant's insurance company...

Stunning Court Development With 1564 Hillside Ave. N. "Imposter Foster" Mortgage Fraud Civil Case, District Court Ruling Appears To Let Insurance Company Off The Hook, Plaintiff Says "We Will Appeal."

MN DOC mugshot, therefore public domain, blog post
by John Hoff

Click here to view the recent court ruling.

Today JNS blog has learned of a disheartening development in the civil lawsuit spinning out of the mortgage fraud which happened at 1564 Hillside Ave. N., a case readers of JNS blog know well and which involves a cast of characters like Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, who went to prison over the identity theft at the heart of the mortgage fraud. 

Pictured above is Jerome KingRussell, a petty criminal with a drug history who impersonated John Foster (a mild-mannered suburbanite, a productive and moral person all his life with sterling credit history) to accomplish the infamous mortgage fraud in the heart of North Minneapolis. 

BUT ENOUGH BACKGROUND. Regular readers know all about this case and JNS bog has reported on every development for years, sometimes seemingly the ONLY media that cared. 

So here is the latest shocking twist...

Minnesota State Court Of Appeals Upholds $861,000 Judgment Stemming From Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Case...

Contributed photo, 1564 Hillside Ave. N., one of the
addresses involved in the fraud, blog post by John Hoff

Click here to read the opinion by the Minnesota State Court of Appeals.

On March 17, a day inextricably associated with the color green, the Minnesota State Court of Appeals ruled plaintiff John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels were entitled to a judgment of $861,000 (more or less) stemming from the illegal use of John Foster's identity to facilitate a mortgage fraud...

Early Release Revoked For Jerome Lance Kingrussell, The "Imposter Foster" From Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N.

Minnesota DOC mugshots, therefore public domain, blog post
by John Hoff

Word comes from Melony Michaels, one of the victims of the mortgage fraud involving 1564 Hillside Ave. N., of a resolution to a story this blog reported October 17.

Jerome Lance Kingrussell, who was the "imposter John Foster" during the infamous and high profile mortgage fraud has had early release revoked and is now headed back to prison. A hearing was held yesterday which, ironically, the mortgage fraud victims were not allowed to attend. But the result of the hearing is Kingrussell is no longer a free man and has apparently AT LONG LAST used up his undeserved chances to avoid a prison sentence.

Right. I wouldn't bet the farm against the possibility of the prison system turning loose this "little fish" yet again. 

Jerome Lance Kingrussell, The Infamous "Imposter Foster" From The Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Case, Is A Wanted Fugitive...

MN DOC mug shot, therefore public domain, blog post by John Hoff


Jerome Lance Kingrussell, who was the infamous "Imposter Foster" in the Larry Maxwell mortgage fraud case, which involved stealing the identity of mild-mannered truck driver John Foster and fraudulently purchasing two homes...

Is a fugitive. Yet again. I've lost count of how many times this has happened. The last time he was supposed to serve a long sentence but obviously he didn't. 

It looks like whatever conditions were imposed upon Kingrussell didn't work out so well, because the MN DOC website is showing his status as "Fugitive Apprehend," a matter that was brought to my attention by a reader who fired me an email and asked to remain anonymous.

The MN DOC website shows Kingrussell was admitted on June 6 of 2012, and released on June 11 of this year on a supervised probationary statuts that was expected to last until 2018. Kingrussell's mug shot shows a "Mr. Clean" bald look different than his previous appearance.

Expect to see this man passing forged checks at Indian casinos in the near future.

(Sarcasm font, or is it?)

Or, possibly, working for Brett Buckner's Fifth Ward political campaign. 

Mortgage Fraudster Larry "Maximum" Maxwell Moved To Steele County Jail Due To Prison Overcrowding...

Photo, blog post by John Hoff

Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, who was sent to prison for 18 counts related to a Northside mortgage fraud (click here for a somewhat comprehensive list of articles from this blog) was recently moved to the Steele County Jail due to prison overcrowding.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections Victim Assistance Program has "assured" Larry Maxwell's victims that he will not be released until April 22, 2020, but this odd and sudden shuffling of prisoners has left Maxwell's victims feeling less than secure in such assurances.

The Steele County Jail is in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is a lovely town with a number of well-preserved historical buildings, none of which Larry Maxwell will see unless there is some kind of view from the jail. 

State Court Of Appeals Allows Enforcement Of $849,000 Judgment During "Too Little, Too Late" Appeal From "Imposter Foster" Identity Theft And Fraud Case...

 Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

Just to briefly recap a rather complex story, here...

John Foster, the mild-mannered delivery truck driver whose identity was stolen as part of a mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. won a judgment of $849,000 and change, a development this blogger reported with considerable glee back in March. 

The other side didn't even show up in court to fight the lawsuit, apparently deciding a "head in the sand like the myths about ostriches" defense was in their best bet. Despite not showing up to fight the lawsuit (though mortgage fraud participant Trent Bowman was apparently in the court room as a spectator) one of the defendants filed an appeal after the district court judgment. This blog has characterized the appeal as a "too little, too late" eleventh hour attempt.

Now there has been a ruling from the State Court of Appeals in regard to the "too little, too late" appeal attempt. Click here for a copy of their recent ruling, which must surely be fair because it is bound to make both sides rather unhappy...

Minnesota Court Of Appeals Rules First USA Title Must Post Bond For "Too Little, Too Late" Appeal In Mortgage Fraud, Identity Theft Judgment...

Contributed photo, 1564 Hillside Ave. N. at the time it
was sold for a small fortune by slumlord Keith Rietman,
blog post by John Hoff

JNS blog has been following the "progress" (if that's the word) of a post-eleventh hour, beyond-the-last ditch appeal of a massive judgment against First USA Title, et al.

Click here for previous blog coverage.

First USA Title didn't bother to show up in district court and fight a lawsuit regarding its negligence in a massive mortgage fraud/identity theft scheme which wiped out the credit of John Foster. A house at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. was involved in the scheme. Larry "Maximum" Maxwell went to prison as a result of the fraud. 

The civil suit which came out of the Maxwell case resulted in a judgment of more than $800,000. It is expected the judgment will be quite difficult to collect, and that has certainly been the case so far...

Jerome KingRussell, The Notorious "Imposter Foster" Of Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Fame, Soon Will Taste Freedom! Native American Casinos Are Advised To Be On The Lookout For This Man (Pictured Below) And Not Take Any Checks From Him, Especially If Those Checks Are Written On The Account Of JOHN FOSTER...

Department of Corrections Mug Shot Photo, therefore public
domain, blog post by John Hoff

Jerome KingRussell, the druggie POS no-account who impersonated the identity of mild-mannered delivery truck driver John Foster to pull off a massive mortgage fraud scheme, has been cooling his heels in prison for a while due to his chronic inability to abide by the terms of his plea agreement, as revealed exclusively here on Johnny Northside.

Now word comes that KingRussell, who has used up more second, third and tenth chances than Charlie Sheen, will be getting yet another second chance. Word trickles down to this blogger that KingRussell will soon be released from "Phase 2" of the MCF Willow River boot camp. It is suspected that KingRussell may have been imprisoned upon a "come and go" basis. He has done only about a year of the 4 and 1/2 year sentence hanging over him.

Meanwhile, as revealed in a recent article, the victims of KingRussell's fraud are still fighting to collect something, anything, on the $800 civil judgment. They have yet to see a dime, so far. And trying to garnish wages on Mr. KingRussell promises to be quite an affair, by which I mean more of a turnip juice affair than a bloody affair, if you catch my meaning. 

Word Of A "Too Little, Too Late" Appeal Attempt Over Massive Identity Theft Judgment...

Contributed photo, 1564 Hillside Ave. N., blog post by John Hoff

John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels, who won a massive civil judgment following the theft of Foster's identity as part of a mortgage fraud scheme, are now facing what appears to be a "too little, too late" eleventh hour attempt to appeal from the judgment.

The judgment is more than $800,000.

According to a document on the State Supreme Court website (which also covers the lower court of appeals) some sort of half-assed attempt was made to file an appeal...of course it's not entirely clear whether it's even a proper appeal. Click here to view the court's ruling and judge for yourself whether a proper appeal has even been filed. 

Funny that somebody wants to appeal at this point, when none of the defendants showed up at the actual trial.

On May 23, the online docket shows there was a Motion To Require Appellant To File A Cost Bond. That's about the last entry of note, though there's a lot of back-and-forth about filing a transcript.

If I had to guess, I'd say some insurance company caught wind of the fact there's a big judgment out there and their client is very, very responsible. And, oh my word...

JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY? That's lawyer-ese for "somebody is left holding the bag even if the other wrongdoers can't be found."

JNS blog will publish more details as these become available. 

Black Pages Business Directory From The Year 2000 Is A Blast From The Past, Starring Convicted Mortgage Fraudster Larry "Maximum" Maxwell...

Photo, blog post by John Hoff

A friend on the Northside was cleaning out his desk and found a copy of the Minnesota "Black Pages" business directory from the year 2000. On the entire back page was an advertisement from Larry Maxwell, and inside the directory was a write-up of Larry Maxwell labeled a "Profile of Excellence."

Larry Maxwell later achieved fame and infamy in a wide-ranging mortgage fraud scandal. He was sentenced under racketeering and corrupt organization laws and is now sitting in prison. This blog provided the most comprehensive coverage of the trial of any media entity because Maxwell's crimes involved Northside properties and Northside personalities, including disgraced former JACC Executive Director Jerry Moore.

 Along the way, this blog nicknamed him Larry "Maximum" Maxwell and the name sort of stuck.

So, naturally, I was pleased and excited to receive this old artifact. Reading the "Profile of Excellence" I realized I have to make this document (currently trapped in the form of "dead tree media") available to the wider wired world...

JNS BLOG SUPER EXCLUSIVE: Victims Of North Minneapolis Identity Theft Scheme Win Judgment Of $849,131.54

Contributed photo, 1564 Hillside Ave. N. around the time it was
sold for an inflated sum, blog post by John Hoff

John Foster and Melony Michaels, who were the victims of a mortgage fraud scheme involving 1564 Hillside Ave. N. (pictured above) and one other property, have won a civil suit filed against participants in the scheme. Click here to read the entire Order For Damages, issued recently by the Honorable Judge Mel Dickstein.

After a long and difficult struggle, this judgment is a massive victory and may very well be the largest civil judgment ever won by a victim of mortgage fraud. (That is entirely speculative, and if anybody can ferret out contrary information please post it) While the civil suit was complicated enough, the shocking facts in the criminal case tumbled injuriously like a dum dum bullet and gave rise to...

An Interesting Link Between Major Topps And Larry "Maximum" Maxwell...

Photo by John Hoff, last known image of Larry Maxwell
before his criminal conviction and imprisonment, blog
post by John Hoff

One of my commenters pointed out something so interesting I decided to write a blog post about it. There is a connection between Major Topps (deceased, and widely suspected to be a pedophile) and the infamous theft of John Foster's identity which spawned the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N.

There were two other houses in the process of being sold when the fraud at "1564" was discovered and disrupted. One of those houses was 3000 Girard Ave. N. and the other was 2642 James Ave. N. (See my earlier story on this topic, the paragraph below the header "Perfect Credit Makes John Foster A Target For Identity Theft.")

Well, in regard to the address on James Ave. N....

Civil Trial Stemming From 1564 Hillside Ave. N. Mortgage Fraud Wraps Up In 45 Minutes, Plaintiff Was Unopposed...

Contributed photo, blog post by John Hoff

For years, this blog has followed the many twists and turns of the Larry Maxwell criminal trial and the civil suit which emerged as a result of Maxwell's mortgage fraud. The fraud involved 1564 Hillside Ave. N. (pictured above around the time it was sold for a ridiculous and inflated sum of money) as well as one other property. In summary, the fraud was accomplished because of identity theft. A mild mannered UPS delivery driver named John Foster, who had assiduously built up a lifetime of perfect credit, was impersonated by an "imposter Foster" who was actually a crackhead piece of crap named Jerome Kingrussell.

 As a result of the scheme, the real John Foster's credit (as well as that of his wife) was wiped out and they experienced financial problems.

Larry Maxwell, who now sits in prison, was the mastermind behind the scheme but other little fish were involved, including former JACC executive director Jerry Moore. Regular readers know how much this blogger has gone through to be able to write that previous sentence about Jerry Moore being involved, and so permit me a moment to pour relish upon that hotdog of a sentence.

There were many twists and turns leading to the civil trial, but at long last the trial took place this morning, Monday December 3. No defendants even showed up to oppose the plaintiff in court. To be perfectly fair, some of the defendants are in prison and so showing up would have been difficult, but no legal counsel showed up on their behalf, either. The trial wrapped up in about 45 minutes and was a one-sided presentation of...

Vicki Cox-Maxwell, Alleged Ex-Wife Of Mortgage Fraudster Larry Maxwell, Writes Pleading, Whining Letter To Mortgage Fraud Victims...

409 31st Ave. N., formerly owned by Vicki Cox-Maxwell, photo and blog post by John Hoff

Vicki Cox-Maxwell, who describes herself as the "ex-wife" of mortgage fraudster Larry Maxwell, is most likely in California at the moment. She is named in the civil suit which was spawned by the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N., as well as other addresses, and the resulting criminal trial which put Larry Darnell Maxwell in prison. Now identity theft victim John Foster and his wife, Melony Michaels, are suing numerous individuals involved in the fraud. In the course of those legal proceedings, Vicki Cox-Maxwell wrote an interesting letter to these mortgage fraud victims...

YouTube Video, Mortgage Fraud Convictions By Hennepin County...Johnny Northside Dot Com Blows Past 3,000 Blog Postings Mile Marker Without Even Glancing Sideways...

I like my news the way I like my fish: raw.

I want original documents, not just quotes. I want to see the events unfolding, live, not snippets of what some news editor considers the highlights. I want the whole speech, not just a sound bite.

So naturally I relished this YouTube video showing the Hennepin County Attorney press conference from about a week ago, highlighting the successful prosecution of mortgage fraud over the last few years. My favorite part is when Melanie Michaels and John Foster talk about how their lives were impacted by the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N., a notorious and scandalous high-profile crime that involved disgraced former JACC executive director Jerry L. Moore, still trying his little heart out to sue this blog. (By the way, this blog blew past the 3,000 blog postings mile marker, like, about 15 or 20 posts back!)

So here's the video. And here's a link, if you want to browse other videos posted by the same YouTube account.

Sorry, I don't have any wasabi or pickled ginger to go along with this "video sushi."

Fresh. Raw. YUMMY.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

Mortgage Fraudster Marlon Pratt...Looking Not So Slick And Confident In Prison

Mug shot therefore in the public domain,

Blog post by John Hoff

I actually met Marlon Pratt, once. He was hanging around the Larry Maxwell trial which involved the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. At the time, he came off as a real slick character. He still retained some vestige of an aura of confidence, but it was wearing thin and showing holes. I imagine that outside of a courtroom where he watched Larry Maxwell getting chewed up by Hennepin County Prosecutor Brad Johnson, Marlon Pratt probably exuded the kind of personality which allowed him to pull off fraudulent deals with Universal Mortgage.

But as Pratt watched attorney Larry Reed struggling to defend Larry Maxwell, Pratt didn't seem very confident. The look on his face seemed to say...

..."This is going very badly for Larry Maxwell. And, oh my god, I'm next."

Well, here's where the scammers end up. Here's a mugshot to show what Marlon Pratt looks like in prison. He's currently incarcerated in Fairibault, Minnesota and won't be getting out until 2016.

Mortgage Fraudster Larry Maxwell...Looking Old And Broken

Mug shot therefore in public domain, blog post by John Hoff

In my experience, it takes months for mug shots to hit the website of the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) but it's just a case of bad things taking time. Today I was tooling around on the site, punching in various names, and I turned up our old friend Larry Maxwell, who committed mortgage fraud at...


...1564 Hillside Ave. N.

Old Larry Maxwell (and, my god, he DOES look old) is doing 16 and 1/2 years, or 198 months and is currently housed in St. Cloud.

R.I.P. Larry Maxwell.

Reside In Prison.

Trial Delayed In Jerry Moore v. John Hoff a/k/a Johnny Northside...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

It was expected that a trial would begin Thursday, March 3 in the Jerry Moore defamation lawsuit. Moore is suing this blog over a story published in June of 2009, click here. This blog is represented by Paul Godfread, a local lawyer found through the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard Law School. The network describes this lawsuit as a threat to free speech. Godfread does intellectual property law cases and has been known to defend, for example, people accused of improper file sharing. Godfread jumped into the Moore v. Hoff lawsuit on short notice and was ready for a trial tomorrow. (Dramatic musical homage, click here)

However, during a pretrial hearing today (March 2) the Honorable Judge Denise Reilly delayed trial and set a hearing for tomorrow at 10 a.m., room 655C of the Hennepin County Government Building. The hearing will focus on matters such as...

...whether questions can be asked about the identity of confidential sources and whether it is allowed under federal law to sue a blog for publishing comments.

Some defense witnesses may take the stand to testify on these matters. Individuals who are intensely interested in the trial and the allegations still swirling around the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. are urged to attend, as well as various media who have been contacting Johnny Northside Dot Com.

Blog readers are urged to keep an eye on the Star Tribune, something might hit soon.

Oh, in regard to the photo above...a citizen on Hillside Ave. N. saved a souvenir for me of the infamous 1564 Hillside Ave. N.

Pretty cool, huh?

Recycling and Reusing the House of Fraud

The real chronicle of the demolition of 1564 Hillside, a.k.a. "The House of Fraud," is taking place here.

But while celebrating this small and huge victory in person, I was able to take this informative video of the contractor telling us what sort of tedious efforts will be taken to recycle and reuse a large majority of the material from demolished houses.

For readers that aren't already familiar with 1564 Hillside, a.k.a. "The House of Fraud", here's a quick summary. This house was used in an elaborate criminal ring of mortgage and real estate fraud combined with devastating cases of identity theft. Just search 1564 Hillside in the search bar of this blog and grab a refill on your beverage of choice and read away.

It's likely that the "House of Fraud" will live on forever! In your driveway. In your garden bed. In your new stainless steel refrigerator.... in the steel bars that will lock away mortgage fraud and identity theft criminals...

(Do Not Click "Read More")