"Odd Little Rental Property Footnote" In Arrest Of North Minneapolis Tax Preparer Leads Back To Interesting Places...

Hennepin County Sheriff's Department mug shot, published by other mass media, it
is a public document and can't be copyrighted, blog post by John Hoff 

If I keep pulling on this string, will it unravel somebody's sweater? (Musical tribute link) 

Previously, I wrote about an "odd little footnote" to the arrest of a North Minneapolis tax preparer who allegedly bilked the State of Minnesota out of, like, more than a million dollars and filed tax returns (allegedly) that were amazing works of fiction. 

What struck me as odd is the tax preparer in question, Rona Estelle Griffin, lives in a RENTAL property. So if her scam was so lucrative, why throw away good green money on (shudder) rent? 

Or, as I like to call it, "habitation serfdom." Of course, since she was hiding vast amounts of income, lack of home ownership may have been a necessary part of the scam. 

It turns out Estelle's apparent landlord, Manoj Moorjani, has a very informative website dedicated to his rental property empire...

An Odd Little Rental Property Footnote To Recent "Tax Fraud" Charges Filed By Hennepin County Attorney Against North Minneapolis Resident Rona E. Griffin...

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff


Ah, Some Nice Variety In North Minneapolis Crime! 

The Hennepin County Attorney recently announced charges against a tax preparer who allegedly defrauded the state out of $1.7 million in taxes, reportedly cooking up elaborate false returns for others while neglecting to file any herself. 

The woman, Rona Estelle Griffin, 51, ran a company called "H & H Broker" at 4646 Aldrich Avenue North, according to the...

Bi-Weekly Hennepin County Jail Roster, January 22, 2015 To February 5, 2015

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

Pictured above, a simulation of what happens when a fresh jail roster is offered to a flock of Google bots. 

Beyond that, what is there to say but "innocent until and unless proven guilty." 

So without further ado...

Tough Questions Being Asked About Ishmael Israel (Formerly Known As Sean Cory Brunswick) And NRRC...

Image from Ishmael Israel Dot Com, used
under First Amendment Fair Comment and
Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

Tempest, Meet Teapot 

A previous article here on Johnny Northside has, I am told, caused quite a stir in certain neighborhood circles and the ripples have reached as far as Minneapolis City Hall where (I am told) tough questions are being asked about Ishmael Israel (formerly known as "Sean Cory Brunswick") and what is, precisely, his role at NRRC? And is there any conflict of interest? 

Apparently at least a few highly involved citizens were quietly rumbling about what was happening with NRRC but the blog article was sort of a catalyst for conversation. 

Glad to help. 

Layers Of Delicious Oniony Goodness, Um, Wait, Just Make That Delicious And Oniony 

One source told me Israel has so many onion-like layers that getting to the bottom would be a massive project, but my source tipped me off that the key to unlocking "Israeli history" would be to learn Israel's name before he changed it to "Israel Ishmael." 

Well, click here. His former name of "Sean Cory Brunswick" is on a Consent Order of the State of Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce denying Israel a real estate salesperson license because of criminal history.

Other searches using "Sean Cory Brunswick" easily turn up other interesting stuff, enough to have "neighborhood types" concerned about this guy...

Randy Donnerson, Father Of Slain Teen Nehemiah Steverson, Arrested On Yet Another Allegation Of Drunk Driving...

Facebook photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism,
blog post by John Hoff

This blogger already wrote a lengthy and rather purple-prosey explanation of why I publish this sort of info rather than sugar-coating ugly facts, in the manner (I would assert) of many in the mass media. So I'll spare you, the reader, a repetition of that kind of justification, though the link above also contains previous arrests and convictions for Randy Continal Donnerson. 

And he's at it again. Allegedly...

DeVord Allen Arrested On What May Be The Most Unexciting Gun Charge Ever, Reportedly Lives At A Bashir Moghul Rental...

Stock photo, the property picture is NOT owned by Bashir Moghul,
blog post by John Hoff

Click here for the criminal complaint, yawn.

Devord NMN Allen, whose permanent address on the criminal complaint is already Lino Lakes prison, was stopped by police outside his mother's address upon information he was carrying a gun for "personal protection," which is not allowed because the man is a felon. 

Police picked him up and, well, that was about all there was to it...

Missing "Tube Sock" Charging Document Located For Rayjohn Henry Bryant...Charged At Same Time As Kevin Dupre Beasley

MNDOC mugshot, therefore public domain, blog post
by John Hoff

Click here for the criminal complaint.

I was excited to obtain a criminal complaint for Rayjohn Henry Bryant, but when I read the document I thought, wait-a-minute, this document is really familiar...

Well, as it turns out it's the same incident in which Kevin D. Beasley was charged, allegedly hiding a pistol in a tube sock. This makes perfect sense, of course. 

Tube socks come in pairs and when there are two people charged, so do criminal complaints...

JNS Blog Reader Contributes A Bit Of North Minneapolis Crime Family History With A Story About The Bobo Family...

Contributed photo, police (and possibly FBI) raid on 3851 Emerson 
Ave. N., blog post by John Hoff

Though former city councilman (and current Minneapolis School Board Member) Don Samuels was not elected Mayor, the campaign issue of half a dozen "North Minneapolis crime families" continues to resonate. The issue especially resonates with residents who live the reality, daily, of a small number of families being disproportionally involved in neighborhood crime.

A sidebar on my blog solicits stories and information about these crime families and recently a reader contributed that very type of information, as follows...

Scuttlebutt Bubbling, Gossip Circulating And Dissatisfaction Brewing With Ishmael Israel, Kind-Of, Sort-Of, But-Not-Really "Executive Director" Of NRRC...

Facebook photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment

and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

Pictured on the right, Ishmael Israel of NRRC. (On the left, of course, Al Flowers) 

I had to swear a blood oath upon Minnesota's shield law to obtain this information from a neighborhood source, who has been very reliable, insightful and detailed in the past. But I'm still trying to make sense of the story, which is a tangle of neighborhood politics. In other words, the kind of thing only a neighborhood blog cares about for a neighborhood audience. 

If Mr. Ishmael Israel of NRRC would like to send me an email with his side of the story, I welcome his response and will publish it, within reason. 

But here's what I'm being told...

More Names And Present Day Connections (Or Coincidences?) To 1984 Champion Family Shoplifting Ring Story...Scrutinizing The Name "Nona Champion," Godmother To Slain Teen Nehemiah Steverson

Facebook photo used under First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism,
also (JNS blog has long asserted) a public safety exception to copyright, blog
post by John Hoff

State v. Champion, a Minnesota Court of Appeals Case from the 1980s, has proven to be a fascinating "Rosetta Stone"filled with ancient writings about what some prominent local personalities were doing "back in the day." 

Or not. Maybe the names are all an eerie coincidence. 

JNS blog continues to assert, for the sake of my own high blog standards, that I don't have "on the record," diamond-hard smoking gun proof that "Bobby Joe Champion" from the 1987 court case about a Champion Family shoplifting ring is one and the same with the current state legislator of the same name, or that...

Internet Pot Gets All Stirred Up Over Story About 1984 Champion Family Shoplifting Ring, The Name "Willie Wesley" Comes Floating Up To New Prominence...

Image by John Hoff of material on internet, used under 
First Amendment Fair Comment and Criticism

In reference to my recent story about the "Champion Family" shoplifting ring from 1984, I want to emphasize I have NOT YET CONFIRMED the "Bobby Joe Champion" in the story is one and the same with State Legislator Bobby Joe Champion. 

People tell me things behind the scenes but without some ability to cite a a source--instead of leaning upon "keep me out of it, but here's the deal" remarks in an email--I can't nail down the information. 

For all I know, there's another "Bobby Joe Champion" and the guy from 1984 is a namesake, a coincidence, a DOPPELGANGER, even!!!!!!! (Yes, that last part of the sentence was delivered in a Snagglepuss cartoon voice, for those of you old enough to remember Snagglepuss) 

Anyway, DESPITE an inability to nail down information to something more than "here's one hell of a coincidence" level, the internet pot seems all stirred up over this blogger's story about a court case from the 1980s involving a "Champion Family" shoplifting ring. 

I am told the story was...

A Story From 1984 About Somebody Named "Bobby Joe Champion," And A Shoplifting Ring At Target In Ridgedale...

Stanley corporate logo, this image in public domain according to 
Wikipedia, blog post by John Hoff

A reader sent me an interesting story about somebody named "Bobby Joe Champion" (relationship to anybody else named "Champion" or "Bobby Joe Champion" unknown) which I am not publishing in its entirety...

US Marshals Arrest James Marione Butchee, Wanted In Connection With Fatal Heroin Overdose...A Better Late Than Never Blog Post!

Stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

Back in November of 2014, this blog reported on charges against James Marione Butcher; charges that involved a drug sale associated with fatal heroin overdose; all allegations not yet legally proven. 

It appears Butcher was not in custody at the time these serious charges were brought...