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Jailed Exploiter Of The Elderly Suing For Defamation
Patience Bristol Jailed - Jared Shafer Still At Large

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Patience Bristol's mug shot, Jared Shafer signals displeasure to judge at guardianship hearing (click on images for videos)

Register of Actions Case No. 13F15454X State of Nevada vs. Bristol, Patience Marie
10/09/2013    Motion by Defense for an O/R Release objection by State - motion denied
10/09/2013     Minute Order - Department 05 (Judicial Officer: Pro Tempore, Judge )
10/23/2013     Preliminary Hearing (10:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Cruz, Cynthia) In Custody

INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
October 14, 2013

LAS VEGAS - At 9:30 AM on Tuesday, October 15, in Clark County District Court Dept. 31, Judge Joanna Kishner will be asked to rule on a motion filed by attorney D. Brian Boggess whether to allow a Defamation of Character lawsuit to proceed against his client Rebecca Schultz with no evidence and a seriously flawed list of Plaintiffs that include accused Ponzi schemer Jared Shafer and his jailed "private guardian" protégé Patience Bristol who has allegedly stolen millions of dollars from Shafer's elderly wards.

Case No. A-12-671427-C
Date Filed: 11/02/2012
Location:
Department 31
Judge Joanna Kishner
JARED E. SHAFER; an individual;
SOLOMON DWIGGINS & FREER, LTD.,
a Nevada professional limited partnership;
ALAN D. FREER, an individual; ROBERT
D. SIMPSON; an individual; PATIENCE
BRISTOL; an individual; AMY DEITTRICK,
an individual; PROFESSIONAL
FIDUCIARY SERVICES OF NEVADA,
INC., a Nevada corporation; AVID
BUSINESS SERVICES OF NEVADA, INC.,
a Nevada corporation; SHAWN KING, an
individual; GAMETT & KING, a Nevada
corporation;
Plaintiff,
vs.
REBECCA SCHULTZ, an individual; and
DOES I through 20, inclusive;
Defendants.

In 2008, while Patience Bristol was ripping off Professional Fiduciary Services of Nevada (PFSN, Inc.) wards, her then-boss and mentor Jared Shafer, CPA Shawn King, and their cronies were Defendants accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of participating in a "Ponzi Scheme" that "fraudulently offered and sold approximately $180 million in unregistered notes to more than 800 investors, many of whom were senior citizens."

After being named as Defendants, Shafer and King agreed to return the ill-gotten money in order to escape prosecution.

Four years after the Ponzi case was settled, in November 2012, Bristol, Shafer, and King sued Rebecca Schultz, the daughter of former PFSN, Inc. "ward" Guadalupe Olvera, for libel purportedly to try to restore their tarnished reputations, but more likely to punish her for successfully removing one of PFSN's most lucrative clients from Bristol and Shafer's custody, and to send a message to the families of other PFSN, Inc. wards to not do the same.

On Tuesday, Plaintiff's attorneys will be in court to answer Schultz' Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative for a More Definite Statement. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, ...if a pleading to which a party may respond is too vague or ambiguous so that the responding party could not reasonably be expected to respond, the responding party may move for a more definite statement. That's exactly what Tuesday's hearing is about, to force Bristol, et. al. to provide solid evidence Schultz anonymously authored dozens of purportedly slanderous Ripoff Reports (which I now believe were mostly truthful).

PLAINTIFFS' OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT REBECCA SCHULTZ'S MOTION TO DISMISS AND MOTION FOR MORE DEFINITE STATEMENT

"This Opposition is based upon the memorandum of points and authorities contained herein, the pleadings and papers on file with the Court, and any oral argument that this Court may hear on the date set for hearing.

Plaintiffs have good reason to believe that Defendant Schultz individually authored each such defamatory posting, or reviewed, edited, and/or otherwise coordinated the posting of the same pursuant to a conspiracy to do so with other, as of this time, unknown individuals.

In fact, the defamatory statements correspond directly with events occurring during the guardianship proceeding... which Plaintiffs believe were authored and published by Defendant Schultz, under the cover of online anonymity and fictitious authorship.

...statements concerning the Plaintiffs. in ripoffreport.com, and elsewhere, align with events occurring in Guardianship Court during the Olvera guardianship proceeding, and the statements reflect general events and allegations she made during the course of the guardianship proceeding.

Accepting as true that Schultz is the author of the defamatory postings, this Court must conclude that Schultz targeted the individual Plaintiffs and intended that the consequences of her defamatory statements would be felt by Plaintiffs in Nevada.

The factual allegations sufficiently allege that all of the Defamatory Statements, a small sample of which are stated in paragraph 34 of the Complaint, are attributable directly to Defendant Schultz or a co-conspirator of hers pursuant to a common scheme designed to maximize exposure of their defamatory statements and publications to the public.

Schultz or a co-conspirator of hers, continued to make Defamatory Statements they attribute to Defendant Schultz, and her co-conspirators, if they exist."

During the guardianship proceedings referred to by the Plaintiffs, numerous people following the Guadalupe Olvera case were in the courtroom, and any one of them could have been the author of the Ripoff Reports. So its incredulous that only Rebecca Schultz is being singled out.

Over the past decade, there were dozens of fleeced family members who could have used Ripoff Reports to vent anger about their treatment by court appointed guardians and the guardian's high priced attorneys.

Given eleven months to positively identify the authors, and failing to do so, If Judge Kishner (left) lets this case continue with such flimsy evidence as: "Plaintiffs have good reason to believe," "unknown individuals," "accepting as true," or "her co-conspirators, if they exist," Schultz can not reasonably be expected to respond effectively, or mount an effective defense, which is the purpose of a SLAPP suit.

The burden of proof is on the Plaintiffs, and after eleven months to conduct discovery, they've failed to identify Rebecca Schultz as the author of even one Ripoff Report.

The highly respected news team at KLAS TV's 8 News Now showed a Google page of the Bristol/Shafer Ripoff Reports on their evening newscast calling the reports "consumer complaints" in their October 9 newscast saying, "A quick Internet search shows Bristol has a history of consumer complaints against her." "Until recently we're told Bristol worked for a private guardian company owned by former Public Guardian Jared Shafer."

Maybe Bristol/Shafer, et. al. should sue KLAS TV for calling Ripoff Reports "consumer complaints?"

KLAS TV's George Knapp, two-time Peabody Award winner as well as a 19-time Emmy Award-winning journalist wrote:
The arrest of court-appointed guardian Patience Bristol for allegedly stealing piles of dough from the accounts of the elderly people she was supposed to protect is truly the tip of a very large iceberg. The guardianship racket that has been sanctioned by local courts has allowed untold numbers of people to see their bank accounts fleeced by unscrupulous thieves. There is SO much more to come.
Las Vegas City Life http://lasvegascitylife.com/sections/opinion/knappster/sheriff%E2%80%99s-choice-successor-undecided.html

There IS so much more to come!

Detectives are asking anyone who believes they, a friend or a family member may have been a victim of Bristol or Shafer to contact police at (702) 828-3251 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.

Then there's the Las Vegas Guardian Express (above) that took it a step further writing: "In total 66 reports have been made on ripoffreport.com against Patience Bristol and 84 reports have been made so far against Jared Shafer. The company which started in Las Vegas have now had complaints from families of elderly citizens in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, California, and Washington."

Neither 8 News Now nor Guardian Express identify Rebecca Schultz as the author of the complaints.

Jared Shafer has been offered numerous opportunities to give his side of this story on INSIDE VEGAS, but failed to respond, therefore I'll give the last word to three of his victims who offer their personal opinions:

WE TOLD YOU SO!!!!! Thank God, all of us victims feel so vindicated by Bristol's arrest! We've been trying to tell everyone for years that Patience Bristol and her mentor and former boss, Jared E. Shafer were exploiters! Now we have the obvious proof with Bristol's arrest and charges. But she is the sacrificial lamb at the moment. Jared E. Shafer, his bookkeeper, Amy Deittrick (AVID Business Services), his attorneys Tyrell, Freer and Solomon, Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim, Senior Citizen Law Project's Julie Arnold & Carol Kingman, CPAs Gamett & King, Judge Charles Hoskin, Evie Mills and Carol Brink of Wells Fargo and several others in this guardianship scam circle have to be made accountable and soon, for their unethical actions upon innocent senior citizens and their families. This group of people violated my father's civil rights and bled nearly all of my parent's life savings by dragging out a legal battle that should have never happened. All legal fees for Jared Shafer were paid from dad's Wells Fargo Trust and Evie Mills of Wells Fargo never questioned duplicate billings, excessive billings and bogus billings submitted for Shafer's, Deittrick's and Bristol's billings, not to mention extreme invoices from all attorneys involved. All of these characters in this travesty appeared to take joy in their lies spewing from their lips and documents about my father and me. Shafer and his attorneys consistently tried to make me out to be the exploiter when he and Bristol were! I am in touch with several other victim family members and every single one of them say the EXACT same tactics were used on them. Shafer's pattern is to isolate the "ward" from family and friends, withhold mail, limit visitations from family, vilify family members to the court, and have doctors like Melissa Piasecki "evaluate" wards and deem them incompetent when they are not! Then there are the threats that come from Shafer or his minions letting family know that if they fight they may be issued an arrest warrant or be sued. The biggest problem is Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim who sits in Clark County Family Court and agrees with everything Shafer and his attorneys do and say, violating state statutes and civil rights to continue abuse on the elderly. Shafer bragged to me and to ALL other victim families that he controls the judges! And based on all the horrible experiences we victims have lived through, he definitely was telling the truth. The state of Nevada and Clark County must stop protecting and allowing Jared Shafer, Jon Norheim and all the rest of their associates from operating this guardianship racket. We don't want to see any more victims suffer! - Rebecca Schultz

Another victim told INSIDE VEGAS:

When I first started reading the reports after seeing Patience Bristol on television, I was confused as to why, all of a sudden, did she get "caught?" But, then I read that she had been fired by Jared Shafer this past January. Now I finally think I see why she was caught........ Shafer is using her as a scapegoat, and, put her out there to distract authorities from his antics. Is there any way that this "revelation" about Patience Bristol can be used to reveal the whole story? The entire scope of what has been happening? Certainly, what I have been reading on the Internet can't be true, that even federal agencies refuse to investigate this corruption citing that its a civil issue. The huge scope of physical and financial abuse and downright stealing is NOT a civil matter. Its criminal! - Name withheld by request

And the third victim stated:

My mother-in-law and wife, Heidi Pascal, were victims of Shafer and Bristol. You can read the full details of our story on the website of National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse under Marcy DuDeck?s victim page, http://stopguardianabuse.org/marcydudeck.htm. In short, Marcy DuDeck, my wife's mother, was physically kidnapped, taken against her will or abducted, which is only a few ways I can phrase what occurred. Marcy was ordered by the Nevada courts to remain in California for the rest of her life and live at Sunrise Senior Assisted living located in Playa Vista, CA. Marcy had a boyfriend and we thought that was pretty good for a 91 year old woman. When Heidi and I received calls from the IRS that Shafer hadn't paid taxes for Marcy?s home on Showcase Dr. in Las Vegas, and that someone who was not supposed to be living in the home was residing there, we filed an action to remove Shafer and Bristol. A court hearing was to take place on August 6, 2009, but on August 4, 2009 Marcy was kidnapped. Before being taken, Marcy weight was 134 pounds and she was healthy and happy. Five months after being removed, she died of what the autopsy called dehydration. Her weight was 122 pounds. I went to the FBI in Los Angeles and was told it was a civil matter. Also contacted both California and Nevada Attorney Generals and received the same response. We tried to file police reports with both Las Vegas and Los Angeles, but the police refused to take a report. In 2011, through former State representative Brooks Holcomb, I was able to speak to the Nevada State legislature about the dangers private guardians cause to citizens of Nevada. They gave me countless pats on the back, but nothing was done. Other victims have tried to contact the authorities and have received the same response. One is Joyce Passer and the other is Rebecca Schultz, and we know there are many others. We believe there are countless victims that we are not aware of. I can testify to receiving several threatening calls from Shafer and Bristol. Two of the calls were in front of witnesses. There is an affidavit on file with Nevada Family Court about one of those calls. When courts don't provide an opportunity to testify, important evidence never is brought forward. That is what Shafer has been living on since 1979 when he became the public guardian. My wife lost everything from an estate worth 1.2 million dollars. Shafer forces families to sign off with no accounting and in Shafer's case he served without a bond, another violation of NRS Chapter 159 Guardian Rules. We have learned that Commissioner Norheim allows Shafer to act as guardian over estates worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more without a bond. He didn't have a bond for Rebecca's father's estate either, which was worth nearly one million. I wanted the public to hear from another victim. I can't comment about all of the reports on the Internet only to say we have spoken with at ten victim's families and several are afraid to come forward. Something has to be done and our group is going to do everything possible to stop this before more people are seriously harmed. - Charles Pascal

INSIDE VEGAS will be in Judge Kishner's courtroom Tuesday, and will report the outcome immediately in an E-Brief. (If you would like to receive Steve's frequent E-Briefs about Las Vegas' scandals, click here: Steve Miller's Las Vegas E-Briefs)

Based on her incarceration and unpaid $200,000.00 bail, Patience Bristol is not expected to attend Tuesday's hearing to testify how Rebecca Schultz damaged her professional reputation.

Judge gives Bristol/Shafer et. al. another 90 Days to do discovery

LAS VEGAS - Clark County District Court Judge Joanna Kishner today reluctantly granted a motion by Plaintiff's attorney Alan Freer to give Patience Bristol and Jared Shafer et. al., an additional ninety days to try to prove Rebecca Schultz authored dozens of Ripoff Reports that allegedly damaged Bristol, Shafer and their associate's professional reputations.

Schultz' attorney D. Brian Boggess opened the thirty minute hearing by stating that the Plaintiff's libel suit is based on "allegations" that Schultz "may have done these things."

"Someone posted something" on the Internet. "We don't have an author" stated Boggess.
"Only one article, the one in the Santa Cruz Weekly, has Rebecca Schultz' name on it, and it was her opinion which is protected speech."

"This is a case built on the gossamer threads of whimsy because Rebecca won!" "They are punishing someone who had the audacity to fight back." Boggess reminded the judge that one of the main Plaintiffs, "private guardian" Patience Bristol, is in jail, and told the court, "She was the right hand woman to Jared Shafer." "Many other persons were affected," and could have been the authors. "I have not seen any discovery from the Plaintiffs."

Plaintiff's attorney Alan Freer stated, "In good faith, we have the right to conduct discovery," citing two case law examples.

Judge Kishner replied that the Plaintiffs could already have started discovery. "The decision was previously made to move forward."

Freer responded that he was not sure that was clearly understood at the last hearing.

Judge Kishner stated that absent new evidence, she could dismiss the case today, but will consider giving the Plaintiffs one more chance to conduct discovery.

Boggess did not object, and asked that his Motion to Dismiss be put in abeyance for no longer than ninety days.

Freer went on to state that discovery would consist of subpoenaing records from Ripoff Reports' Internet Service Provider (ISP); obtaining Rebecca Schultz' IP address; and examining Schultz' computer.

"My understanding is that Ripoff Reports has the information and will cooperate," stated Freer.

Boggess responded that Ripoff Reports should be a Defendant.

Freer countered that the 7th Circuit Court ruled that Ripoff Reports cannot be sued for publishing third party submissions.

(According to sources, Ripoff Reports destroys all records regarding third party submissions every 180 days.)

Judge Kishner then ruled that the case will be held in abeyance until January 14, 2014 at 9:30 AM. All supplemental information must be submitted by January 7, and if no new information is presented, she will then rule on Rebecca Schultz' Motion to Dismiss.

Steve Miller