Melony Michaels, An Unstoppable Force For Justice, Awaits Word Of A Decision In The Endless Civil Case Spawned By Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Avenue North...

 

MN DOC mug shots, therefore public domain, of

Larry D. Maxwell, Jerome L. KingRussell, and Tynessia

Snoddy, blog post by John Hoff

It's The Trees That Suffer Most  

Seven thick legal documents are linked here, as follows...

1.) Plaintiff's Reply Memo, 2.) Affidavit, 3.) Another Affidavit, 4.) Objection by Triad, 5.) AIG opposition to motion to amend, 6.) Benjamin R. Kwan Affidavit, 7.) Declaration of Kathryn Torre. 

Pictured above, three of the individuals involved in the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. who went to prison: Larry Darnell Maxwell, ("Maximum Maxwell") Jerome Lance KingRussell ("The Imposter Foster") and Tynessia Snoddy. (Snoddy went to prison for a different fraud, but formally admitted involvement in the fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N.) 

The Wheels Of Justice Grind Slowly 

The documents linked above tell a tale of justice delayed, denied and (so far) always just-out-of-reach for the victims of an identity theft and mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Avenue North...

Victims Of Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N. Receive First Restitution Check From Jerome KingRussell, Known As The "Imposter Foster"

Contributed image, blog post by John Hoff

Sweet googly-eyed feral cats, WOULD YOU LOOK AT ALL THAT MONEY!!! Think what you can buy with something like that! For example, that will cover most of the bottomless bowl of soup at Eddington's.

The check above is the first "KingRussell" restitution check received by John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels, who were victims of a spectacular identity theft and subsequent mortgage fraud perpetuated by...

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...

"Imposter Foster" Sends Mortgage Fraud Victims A Check For $10.79 Restitution As Appeal In $800,000 Damages Award Slowly Grinds Forward...

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

Jerome Lance Kingrussell, who impersonated John Foster to accomplish a mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. and another property, resulting in one of Minnesota's most high-profile mortgage fraud prosecutions, has finally paid his first restitution check to his victims. Damages in this case were well over $800,000  and against that mighty mountain of money damages Kingrussell recently paid, by check, a grand total of...

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 "Imposter Foster" From Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Case, Has Been Apprehended From His Fugitive Status And Is Facing Revocation Of Parole...

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

Jerome Lance Kingrussell, the  infamous"imposter foster" from the Larry Maxwell case, was already sitting in jail when this blogger learned of his "fugitive apprehend" status. As of this moment, the MN DOC website still erroneously shows Kingrussell as "fugitive apprehend" but a look at the jail roster confirms he is, in fact, jailed on a Department of Corrections hold and was picked up October 9.

I spoke to Melony Michaels, one of Kingrussell's victims from the mortgage fraud, who expressed how frustrating it was to have to "babysit the justice system" to make anything happen or even learn when criminals are released. Kingrusell was...

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. 

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. 

Mug Shot For "The Imposter Foster" Jerome Lance Kingrussell...

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

Jerome Lance Kingrussell, the "imposter Foster" who helped pull off the spectacular mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. by taking on the identity of John Foster, is now in the state prison system.

When I reported on his parole violation hearing, click here, I knew soon there'd be a mug shot and I'd finally get my first look at this guy, along with readers who have followed the saga.

And now that I finally lay eyes on him, I must say...

He's not at all what I pictured. He almost looks like an upright citizen. Note how neatly his beard is trimmed and the striking contrasts in his hair colors, which seem to say, "Yes, I'm getting older, but I accept it with grace."

Foster--OOPS, I mean KINGRUSSELL--will have a lot more gray in his hair when he's released from prison. He's not due to get out until 2015. He will be on supervised release until 2018 and odds are not good he'll be compliant, based on past history.

Parole Revoked For "Imposter Foster" Jerome Kingrussell, Criminally Participated In Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N., Further Details...

Creative stock photo, (1564 Hillside Ave. N. is NOT pictured, that place looked WORSE) blog post by John Hoff

Yesterday's blog post on this topic captured a bit of the courtroom drama and the final score: Jerome Kingrussell, the "imposter Foster" who took on the identity and creditworthiness of John Foster, just couldn't keep his nose clean on parole and is now headed to prison for 108 months.

But, like the real John Foster who had an outrageously good line of credit, this "imposter Foster" has his own credit: 1173 days already served, and applied against his sentence. Somewhere there's a felon wishing he could be an "imposter Kingrussell" and get access to that line of "incarceration credit."

Melony Michaels was present in the courtroom and...

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: "Imposter Foster" Jerome Kingrussell Has Parole Revoked, Will Serve 108 Months With Credit For 1173 Days...

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

I don't have all the details, yet, nor did I have any writing paper when word reached me, so I used my thigh as a notepad to make sure I remembered the numbers: Jerome Kingrussell, the "Imposter Foster" at the center of the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N., had his parole revoked today.

He DID show up for the hearing, contrary to which way I would have wagered at the time I wrote this blog post, click here. 

The hearing lasted two hours. Brad Johnson, the prosecutor who...

Will "Imposter Foster" Jerome Kingrussell Show Up For Tomorrow's Probation Violation Hearing? Magic Eightball Says, "I Doubt It."

Creative stock photo (a truck stop in Iowa along I-35) and blog post by John Hoff

According to MNCIS data, Jerome Kingrussell--the infamous "imposter foster" involved in the high profile mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N.--has a parole violation hearing tomorrow in Hennepin County District Court. The hearing is at 1:30 before the Honorable Judge Gary R. Larson.

Kingrussell, born 6/3/71, was last known to be in Iowa...

Tynessia Snoddy Criminal File (Part One Of Heaven Only Knows How Many)

Stock photo, Hennepin County Government Building, blog post by John Hoff


Tynessia Snoddy--who was a criminal associate of Larry Maxwell, a mortgage fraudster currently doing 16 1/2 years in prison--recently pleaded guilty to two felony counts, as exclusively reported on this blog. The prosecutor was none other than Brad Johnson, the same dedicated public servant who got the Larry "Maximum" Maxwell conviction.

In the "B Vault" of the Hennepin County Government Building--where so many good caches of information reside, click here for an example--I finally got mucho sexy alone time with that fetching file, and it was an unforgettable experience...

There are a number of documents in that file which I hope to post as PDFs. Currently, I have one hard copy in my hands of one document, thanks to having $8 due to donations from supporters. So I'll have to laboriously type it out, but that's OK. Easier for the Googlebots to crawl all over. With more donations we can get, for example, LICENSE PLATE INFORMATION for other incidents.

The most interesting document--well, interesting to me because it mentions 1564 Hillside Ave. N., not just once but TWICE--is called STATE'S STATEMENT AND NOTICE OF EVIDENCE OF PARTICULAR WRONGS OR ACTS OF IMPEACHMENT EVIDENCE. (February 26, 2010) The document outlines the prosecutor's "res gestae," which means "the events at issue, or other events contemporaneous with them." It includes "evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts" alleged to have been committed but NOT CHARGED. These instances may be used for "impeachment." In other words: to prove Tynessia Snoddy is a lying, criminally-inclined, no account thuggerina who ought to be in prison.

Here are telling excerpts from that document. Much tedious legal fat has been trimmed by the use of ellipses. (...)

(...)

PARTICULAR WRONGS OR ACTS

The State's investigation is ongoing. Nevertheless, to date the investigation has revealed from documents seized at the Defendant's home and obtained elsewhere that Defendant Snoddy was directly involved in and responsible for intentionally aiding and abetting the following fraudulent [] real estate transactions and attempted transactions. The basic facts underlying these offenses are set forth below.

[Footnote 2. This notice does not set out with full and complete detail each and every false or misleading term, document, draft, statement or other deceptive information used by the Defendant and others in committing or attempting fraud, because it would be too voluminous for purposes of this filing. The State reserves the right to supplement the record, if necessary, and to submit the voluminous supporting materials to the Court for its in camera inspection or use at any hearings scheduled in connection with further proceedings related to the evidence described in this notice.]

1. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Lamont Nelson, Guy Jones, and Bernard Holmes, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation of Minn. Stat. 609.52, subd. 2(4) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual named Lamont Nelson.

A. 2700 Sheridan Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
B. 8409 Rhode Island Avenue, Brooklyn Park, ...
C. 2943 James Avenue North, Minneapolis, ...

The fraud included, inter alia, false income, employment, rent and/or deposit information and the Defendant's orchestration of transactions financed or to be financed with mortgage loans by a borrower with falsified credentials.

2. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Jonia Stanfel and Guy Jones, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation of [etc. etc/] in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual named Jonia Stanfel:

A. 1609 Lynn Curve Avenue North, Minneapolis ...
B. 4195 Orleans Drive, St. Michael, Minnesota.
C. 4202 Orleans Drive, ...
D. 2312 6th Street North, Minneapolis ...
E. 2405 Lowry Avenue North, Minneapolis ... (JNS blog can find no record of such a property. There is a 2400 and a 2406 Lowry Ave. N.)
F. 3236 Webster Avenue South, Minneapolis ...
G. 4515 4th Avenue South, Minneapolis ...
H. 3554 Logan Avenue North, ...

The fraud included, inter alia, misleading purchase terms and purchase agreement addenda, falsified information, and the Defendant's orchestration of transactions financed or to be financed with mortgage loans by a borrower who was unable to afford the properties.

3. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Shawn Williams, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation of (etc. etc.) in the following ... involving an individual named Shawn T. Williams.

A. 14823 Olivine Street, Ramsey, Minnesota.
B. 14825 Olivine Street ...
C. 4200 Orleans Drive, St. Michael, Minnesota.
D. 4205 Orelans Drive...

The fraud included, inter alia, etc. etc.

4. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Kimberly Golden, Knita Moore and/or Larry Maxwell, Janie Coats and Rickey Frey, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual named Knita Moore.

A. 3242 6th Street North, Minneapolis, ... (JNS blog says: owner is now listed as Pamiko Properties, taxpayer is is Minnwest Bank Metro. Compare with this interesting article, click here)
B. 1564 Hillside Avenue North, ...
C. 1316 16th Avenue North ...
D. 8117 Ewing Avenue North ...

The fraud included, inter alia, misleading purchase terms and purchase agreement addenda and/or falsified income and rent information, and the Defendant's orchestration of transactions financed or to be financed with mortgage loans by a borrower who was unable to afford the properties.

5. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Larry Maxwell, Janie Coates, and Stephen Hall, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual named Stephen Hall:

A. 1818 Russell Avenue North, Minneapolis (...)
B. 276 Topping Street, St. Paul, (...)
C. 1914 Russell Avenue North, Minneapolis (...) (JNS Blog says: online Minneapolis property info lists the seller as James Lang, a former business partner of Keith Reitman. Lang sold the property to Stephen Hall. The names of both Lang and Reitman came up in the infamous deal at 1564 Hillside Ave. N.)

The fraud included, inter alia, (etc. etc.)

6. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Lamont Nelson and Fatema White, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase transactions involving an individual named Fatema White:

A. 3915 Emerson Avenue North, Minneapolis (...)
B. 4239 Girard Avenue North, ...

The fraud included... etc. etc.

7. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Bernard Holmes, Guy Jones and Rudolph Wesson, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation of (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual named Rudolph Wesson:

The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Bernard Holmes, Guy Jones and Rudolph Wesson, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual named Rudolph Wesson:

A. 14831 Olivine Street, Ramsey, Minnesota.
B. 1528 Independence Drive, Northfield, Minnesota
C. 1810 Jackson Street Northeast, Minneapolis ...
D. 282 Aurora Avenue, St. Paul, ...

The fraud included, etc. etc.

8. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Kimberly Golden and Joseph Collins, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in violation of (etc. etc) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transaction involving an individual named Joseph Collins:

A. 1715 16th Avenue North, Minneapolis ...

The fraud included, etc. etc.

9. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Robert and Dia Davis, engaged in fraud or attempted fraud in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving individuals named Robert and Dia Davis:

A. 2922 Dupont Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota
B. 7182 72nd Lane North, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
C. 2700 Penn Avenue North, Minneapolis, ...

The fraud included, inter alia, misleading purchase terms and purchase agreement addenda, multiple settlement statements on various properties, suspect payouts or kickbacks, and falsified information, and the transactions were orchestrated by the Defendant and were financed or to be financed with mortgage loans by a borrower who was unable to afford the properties.

10. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Lamont Nelson and Brenda Nelson, engaged in attempted fraud in violation of (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transactions involving an individual person named Brenda Nelson:

A. 3330 Humboldt Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The fraud included, etc. etc.

11. The Defendant, aided by others including but not limited to Larry Maxwell, Kim Golden, and Jerome Lance Kingrussell, engaged in fraud (etc. etc.) in the following real estate purchase and mortgage transaction involving a stolen identity in the name of John Foster.

A. 1564 Hillside Avenue North, Minneapolis, (...)

The fraud included, inter alia, misleading purchase terms and purchase agreement addenda, multiple settlement statements, falsified income, employment, deposit and identity information, and the purchase was orchestrated in part by the Defendant, Larry Maxwell, and other accomplices to be financed with mortgage loans by a fake borrower.

12. Furthermore, the Defendant was at around the same time as the charged crimes and the specific bad acts listed above, also engaged in the fraudulent procurement and multiple attempts to procure student loans in violation of (etc. etc.) in the names of individuals whose identities she had stolen by herself or with the assistance of others, including Lamont Nelson. This misconduct is part of the nature of the relationship between Defendant Snoddy and Lamont Nelson.

At this time the State keeps oepn its offer to the Defense to inspect and copy.. etc... documents...Minnetonka Police Department and Hennepin County Attorney's Office...the extraordinary opportunity she had to commit these offenses as a licensed professional, her intent, her preparation and the methods of her preparation, her involvement in planning the fraud, her knowledge of how to commit the fraud, the utter absence of there being mistake by her in the charged conduct, and that her acts with respect to the charged properties were part of a common scheme or plan to commit mortgage fraud and her modus operandi.

Finally, the evidence constitutes specific instances of untruthfulness admissible under Rule 608(b) of the Minnesota Rules of Evidence as impeachment evidence and evidence of Defendant's character for untruthfulness.

Slumlord Interests Ousted From JACC Board, And Much More In A North Minneapolis "Tale Of Two Cities"

Contributed photo, xoxo, blog post by John Hoff

In the last 10 weeks, this blog has been less active than any time in its history due to employment obligations which took me across the country to Columbia, South Carolina for a long period of intense training. While I often had free time, I seldom had convenient internet access, plus other obligations (like being an outstanding designated driver to my hard-partying buddies) kept me pretty tied up.

Now, with my fingers comfortably back at the keyboard, and hot content ready to roll in the usual prolific Johnny Northside style, I thought it would be fun to review some of the amazing changes which have taken place during the last ten weeks. It's incredible how quickly our neighborhood changes, evolves, and revitalizes even in a relatively short span of time. Being out of the loop for ten weeks and then trying to catch up gives me a whole new appreciation for just how quickly our neighborhood is changing.

* First, and most recently, three nights ago the Jordan Neighborhood had its annual meeting and (for the second year in a row) managed to elect a slate of candidates to its board without any of the drama which, once upon a time, was synonymous with Jordan Neighborhood politics. In fact, the only drama was something positive: bylaws were changed so that mere property ownership in the neighborhood isn't enough to qualify individuals for board membership, not anymore. What this means, effectively, is shameless slumlords like Keith Reitman will no longer have such a powerful role in Jordan politics.

Best of all, the bylaw change took place right in front of Keith Reitman, but other than barking briefly and in a paranoid manner over whether somebody was "whispering" to the chair of the meeting--saying something, whining something about open meeting laws, blah blah blah, as though open meeting laws ever regulated whispering--Keith David Reitman was powerless to stop the change in the bylaws. As of that moment...

...Rietman no longer has a vote in JACC business. Though this seems like a relatively minor change, progress in our neighborhood is a moving mosaic made up of such minor changes. In my absence, other bloggers kept the neighborhood informed of important developments, such as these:

* Jimmy Carter's visit to the Eco Village, reported in detail by Jeff Skrenes on the Hawthorne Voices blog.

* 1564 Hillside Ave. N. was demolished, reported in detail by Hillside Chronicles.

* Decent people in the Jordan Neighborhood have grown increasingly upset with Steve Meldahl, who has been dubbed "Slumeldahl" by NoMi Passenger. WARNING: Slumeldahl has NOT been approved by the FDA for neighborhood usage, and has been known to have serious side effects, such as urban blight and low curb appeal. The fiery "Irving Inquisition" blog has been on top of Meldahl.

* Thug-on-thug homicidal violence. Yawn. What else is new? There are two different worlds in North Minneapolis, and one of those worlds is actually very safe, comfortable, and enjoyable. And then there are thuggish idiots who kill each other with whatever weapon is available, including a speeding vehicle. Outside observers should not be misled by colorful mainstream media reports of such criminal violence: the "revitalizer" lifestyle is gaining ground in North Minneapolis, and the "thug lifestyle" is retreating. It's my hypothesis that North Minneapolis thugs are killing each other over increasingly smaller territory, and increasingly more limited areas of influence. North Minneapolis is truly a tale of two cities.

* The "Tripping Cows" mural was painted over at the Kemps Dairy facility.

* NoMi resident Brian Reichow married the girl of his dreams. Brian, sorry I missed your wedding. I did get text updates through the whole wedding and reception and almost felt like I was present.

* The "thug memorial riot" took place. Some folks just can't behave themselves, even while mourning their dead. This is another good argument in favor of not allowing "thug shooting memorials" to remain on trees, fences, etc. Did I mention "a tale of two cities?" Yes, I certainly did.

* I was re-elected to the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council Board, even while not there to speak in my own favor at the annual meeting. Thank you, friends and neighbors.

* Jerome Kingrussell, the notorious "Imposter Foster" from the Larry Maxwell mortgage fraud trial, was arrested and held without bail.

* Principals of Dana D III pled guilty to mortgage fraud.

All these amazing events happened in A MERE TEN WEEKS, and I've actually left a lot of important stuff out. So what will the next ten weeks bring? What will the next year, the next five years, the next ten years bring to North Minneapolis?

These ten weeks have hammered home two lessons for me:

1. Though I intend to play a large and highly-active role in the positive changes taking place in our neighborhood, change will take place no matter what. Even if this blog grew silent, even if work forced me to leave the neighborhood or the COUNTRY for months at a time, Urban Utopia is headed toward NoMi.

Urban Utopia in North Minneapolis is unstoppable.

2. During times when this blog is unable to play a very active roll, other committed bloggers take up the slack and use grassroots media to move the revitalizer agenda forward.

Because of this--once again--Urban Utopia is unstoppable.

To all the readers who have been so loyal to this blog: I am sorry that I was gone for so long, but it was necessary so I could pay my child support and the taxes on my house. (My goodness, what will the hateful haters have to hatefully hate about in light of THIS development?) I also wish to give a special thank you to neighborhood "super citizen" Megan Goodmundson, who virtually kept my blog on life support in my absence.

But now I am finally heading back home, and tonight I am...

Blogging From Joplin, Missouri

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: "Imposter Foster" Jerome Kingrussell Held Without Bail On Identity Theft Charges...

Classic image, Sword of Democles
Blog post by John Hoff

Jerome Kingrussell is a name that came up frequently during the notorious and high-profile trial of Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, a mortgage fraud case which swirled around 1564 Hillside Ave. N., a building which was sold by North Minneapolis slumlord Keith Reitman to a man named Jon Foster. The problem with the deal was Foster was an imposter; Foster's identity had been stolen and petty criminal Jerome Kingrussell was put forward to play the part of Jon Foster in the criminal scheme.

Part of this story is extremely interesting to folks in the Jordan neighborhood, in that former JACC executive director Jerry Moore received $5,000 off the fraudulent deal, click here for City Pages story.

But back to the subject of career criminal and crackhead Jerome Kingrussell...

Kingrussell was given a plea bargain in the Larry Maxwell fraud case, a textbook example of trading up the little fish for the big fish. The victims of identity theft were, of course, galled by the arrangment. In fact, Jon Foster's wife Melony Michaels pointed out Kingrussell has more charges against him "than he is old." (Click here for article)

It was, however, widely assumed Kingrussell would screw up again, and the massive amount of time hanging over his head would all come crashing down.

Now it appears the prophesy has come to pass. Kingrussell has been arrested, and is being held without bail. The Hennepin County jail roster lists the following:

1/1 IDENTITY THEFT-TRANSFERS/POSSESSES/USES IDENTITY OF OTHER PERSON BLOOMINGTON PD ARREST AND DETENTION FELONY $0
HWB BY DC 10/6/2010..08:30 DOWNTOWN Address

1/2 IDENTITY THEFT-TRANSFERS/POSSESSES/USES IDENTITY OF OTHER PERSON BLOOMINGTON PD ARREST AND DETENTION FELONY $0
10/6/2010..08:30 DOWNTOWN Address

2/1 OTHER COUNTY/FELONY ANOKA CO SO HOLD FELONY $0
HOLD W/O BAIL ..

3/1 OTHER STATE HCSO HOLD FELONY $0
HOLD W/O BAIL ..

It would appear Kingrussell is scheduled for a court hearing on October 6. I wonder what the little fish has to offer in trade THIS time?

Mortgage Fraud Witness Jerome Kingrussell Skips Out On Probation...

Stock photo by John Hoff, "looking at police in rear view mirror," blog post

by John Hoff

Jerome Kingrussell was the "little fish" traded up for the "big fish" in the mortgage fraud trial of Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, which this blog reported more extensively than any other news source, click here for an example. Jerome Kingrussell played the role of the "imposter foster" in the identity theft of Jon Foster, and it was the sale of 1564 Hillside Ave. N. to the "imposter Foster" which caused the mortgage fraud deal to unravel.

You really have to wonder who was the fool who put THAT deal together and when the law will finally catch up with that person.

Now comes word that...

Jerome Kingrussell--who has 108 months hanging over his head, and a judge vowing he will serve all that time if Kingrussell screws up and gets involved in criminal activity--has failed to show up for his probation officer. It is unknown whether Kingrussell is involved in some criminal activity and, if so, in which county. However, a reliable, high-ranking source confirms Kingrussell failed to show for his probation officer.

For those deeply interested in Jerome "Little Fish" Kingrussell, here is the previous coverage from Johnny Northside Dot Com.

1.) Kingrussell revealed as "imposter Foster," after defense attorney's "Minnesota adjusted Southern drawl" causes confusion, click here.

2.) Word of a sentence for Kingrussell, the "imposter Foster," click here.

3.) A criminal history as long as your arm, click here.

4.) A 108-month suspended sentence hanging over his head, click here.

Here's some free advice from Johnny Northside Dot Com for any authorities who may be looking for Jerome Kingrussell: check the casinos.

ADDENDUM: The following information came to me from a reliable source: there was a Crystal PD case, 09-027925 which was reported on 12/02/09 where KingRussell is listed as a suspect in a Felony Check Forgery. There was also a second recent case in Apple Valley, case #09-008761 where KingRussell is listed as a suspect in a Felony Fraud/Swindle.