FREEDOM!!!! Looms Next Month For The T.J. Waconia Fraudsters After A Half Decade Stretch In Federal Prison! Now For The First Time Online, Freely Available To All, Here Is The 109-Page Transcript Of Their Sentencing...(CORRECTION, AUGUST 9, 2014, FREEDOM ONLY LOOMS FOR ONE OF THE FRAUSTERS, THE OTHER IS IN PRISON UNTIL 2016)

Photo contributed by anonymous source at time of the hearing, blog
post by John Hoff 

Click here to view the 109-page transcript of the sentencing hearing from Thomas J. Balko and Jonathan Helgason, the "TJ Waconia" fraudsters who were sentenced to prison for their fraudulent activities involving scores of houses in North Minneapolis.

Thank You, Belatedly, Anonymous Source

A source who said he or she was "cleaning out their office computer" sent me this document, like, I think it was at least a year ago, maybe more. 

But it was only recently I figured out how to make a PDF link for this document. Every other time I tried to make a link I had a problem and I presume it was because the document was LONG and my connection was SLOW. 

Hey, I'm grassroots media. Often enough I freely admit my little technical struggles and why stories got delayed. 

FREEDOM! (Somehow It Was More Inspiring When Mel Gibson Was Shouting It In "Braveheart" Then When Applied To The TJ Waconia Fraudsters) 

Today I had a lot more luck, and it's actually a good and timely day to publish this transcript because freedom (precious, blessed freedom!) looms for...

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Images Of The Teary Aftermath Of The TJ Waconia Mortgage Fraud Sentencing

Photos By Anonymous Contributor


An individual who was at the sentencing hearing for the T.J. Waconia fraudsters--Thomas Balko and Jon Helgason--snapped some photos outside the courtroom with a cell phone camera.

No image of Thomas Balko and Jon Helgason has, to my knowledge, been published in the media to date. Yesterday the Star Tribune made a valiant effort to get a photo, but failed. Where the STrib falls short...

Johnny Northside blog and my network of helpful readers/contributors comes through.

It should be noted, here: the prosecutor said these are not "evil" men, and they have friends and supporters who love them. Nobody wins, here, but maybe North Minneapolis gets a little better instead of a little worse when there are consequences for fraudulent real estate schemes.

Also, just to be clear: I DID NOT TAKE THESE PICTURES. In fact, I was forwarded a very nice image of MYSELF taken with the same cell phone camera, good enough to use for online dating, in fact.

Thanks, oh-so-anonymous contributor, you know who you are and I appreciate your help!

(Note: help needed to confirm the identity of which individual is Balko, which one is Helgason)