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Wednesday, June 6, 2018

“DEFENDANT IS SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS PROBATION” Robert Buckhannon Avoids Prison With Sweet, Sweet Three-Year Probation Deal

BREAKING NEWS! Robert Buckhannon, Michigan's infamous “crooked chiropractor”, learned his fate this morning in a Las Vegas federal court room: Judge James C. Mahan sentenced Buckhannon (left) to a three-year probation sentence in exchange for an August 1, 2017 guilty plea on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Yup, that's it! No “Grey Bar Hotel…checking in Mr. Buckhannon?”, just three years probation.

Buckhannon, who spent the last few years attending to various business efforts, including the demise of Battle Creek's On Deck Bar in a suspicious December 30, 2013 fire, the launch of a faux piddle testing company with fellow con man Zia (Zy) Shlaimoun, and running a fertilizer company with his brother, Ronald, and former hedge fund cohort, Chris Paganes, walked out of U. S. District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada this morning and into the bright Vegas sunlight.

Head tilted upward, likely sniffing for more victims and new scams, Buckhannon is literally a free man.

That $1.5 million Buckhannon still owes the SEC to settle a 2010 complaint that he participated in a $34 million investment fraud victimizing hedge fund investors? 

As of today, unpaid.

That six-figure pile of debt, run up with Shlaimoun during their Goldstar Laboratories Missouri LLC days?

Unpaid.

That $37,095.70 judgment Calhoun County, Michigan attorney secured on July 13, 2017 against Buckhannon on behalf of his client, Stephen Anderson (an investor in the torched On Deck Bar)?

Unpaid.

Excerpts from the August 1, 2017 change of plea hearing’s official transcript: 

THE COURT: Mr. Buckhannon, do you understand the charge against you? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Do you read, write, and understand the English language? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: All right. Mr. Cristalli, how does Mr. Buckhannon intend to plead? 

MR. CRISTALLI: Your Honor, today Mr. Buckhannon is going to plead guilty pursuant to the plea agreement entered into by the parties, and -- I apologize -- to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, under 18 U.S.C. Section 1349. 

THE COURT: And that's pursuant -- that's Count 1 of the indictment; is that correct? 

MR. CRISTALLI: That's correct, Your Honor. I apologize. 

THE COURT: Is that correct, Mr. Buckhannon? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Before accepting your guilty plea, there are a number of questions I'm going to have to ask you in order to assure myself that you're entering a valid plea. If you do not understand any of my questions, will you let me know so I can rephrase the question? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

 -- 

THE COURT: Tell me in your own words what's happening today. Why are we here? 

THE DEFENDANT: I'm here to -- with a negotiated plea agreement for the charges that were brought against me. 

THE COURT: And you're changing your plea from not guilty to guilty; is that correct? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Before accepting -- I'm sorry. Excuse me. Does either counsel have any doubt as to the defendant's competence to plead in this matter? 

MS. NEWMAN: No, Your Honor. 

MR. CRISTALLI: No, Your Honor. 

THE COURT: Thank you. Based on counsel's representations and the Court's own observation of the defendant, I find that he is competent to plead in this matter. Mr. Buckhannon, have you had ample opportunity to discuss your case with Mr. Cristalli? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Are you satisfied to have him as your attorney? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

-- 

THE COURT: Do you understand there will be no further trial, and I'll simply enter a judgment of guilty and sentence you based on your guilty plea? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. As per the plea agreement, correct, sir? 

THE COURT: Yes, sir. In pleading guilty, do you understand you also have to waive your right not to testify against yourself because I'm going to have to ask you questions about what you did in order to satisfy myself that you're guilty as charged? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: And do you understand in order for me to accept your guilty plea, you'll have to admit that you committed the crime charged in Count 1 of the indictment? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Are you willing to give up your right not to testify against yourself in order for me to accept your guilty plea? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Have you read a copy of the indictment against you? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir, I have. 

THE COURT: And have you discussed with your attorney the charge in the indictment to which you intend to plead guilty? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Now, Mr. Cristalli, does pleading guilty affect this defendant's immigration status? 

MR. CRISTALLI: No, Your Honor, it does not. 

THE COURT: All right. Mr. Buckhannon, you are charged in Count 1 of the violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, which makes Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud a crime. 

The elements of this offense are: First, there was an agreement between two or more persons to commit at least one crime as charged in the indictment, here, Wire Fraud. 

And, second, the defendant became a member of the conspiracy knowing of at least one of its objects and intending to help accomplish it. 

The elements for Wire Fraud under 18 U.S.C. Section 1343 are: 

First, the defendant knowingly participated in, devised, or intended to devise a scheme or plan to defraud, or a scheme or plan for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises. 

Second, the statements made or facts omitted as part of the scheme were material; that is, they had a natural tendency to influence, or were capable of influencing, a person to part with money or property. 

Third, the defendant acted with the intent to defraud; that is, the intent to deceive or cheat. 

Fourth, the defendant used, or caused to be used, a wire communication to carry out or attempt to carry out an essential part of the scheme. And this was a nationwide network of sales agents utilized here; is that correct? 

MS. NEWMAN: I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question? 

THE COURT: There was a nationwide network of -- in other words, to get the interstate commerce – 

MS. NEWMAN: Yeah, there were sales made across the country, yes. 

THE COURT: All right. Now, do you understand all of that is what the government would have to prove in order for you to be convicted of the crime charged in Count 1 of the indictment? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Do you know the maximum sentence and fine I might impose on the charge of the indictment to which you are seeking to plead guilty? 

THE DEFENDANT: I believe so, sir, yes. 

THE COURT: Are you aware the maximum possible penalty for conviction under Count 1 is a fine of $250,000 or a term of imprisonment of 20 years or both a fine and imprisonment? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

-- 

THE COURT: How do you plead, then, to Count 1, guilty or not guilty? 

THE DEFENDANT: Guilty, Your Honor. 

THE COURT: Are you pleading guilty because, in truth and in fact, you are guilty and for no other reason? 

THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir. 

THE COURT: Tell me in your own words what you did that has convinced you to plead guilty. 

THE DEFENDANT: I was one of the managing members in a fund and the numbers that -- in speaking with investors, information that I had was used to give information to the investors regarding the status of the fund, which ended up not being factual. 


1 comment:

  1. This num-nut will never complete his probation he’s just a perpetual scumbag, I’ll notify his creditors he’s now collectible...

    ReplyDelete