Audit Cites Corruption In Defiance Ohio: Victims Asked To Come Forward

For several weeks one of our freelance journalists has worked on an investigative report of corruption in Defiance county, Ohio.

Residents of Defiance county who feel they may have been a victim of corrupt law enforcement or other public servants are being invited to come forward with their concerns.

We are asking anyone who feels they have been wrongfully arrested and/or criminally charged, or other legitimate complaints in Defiance county to contact us with their concerns. Continue reading for more details.

As stated earlier, a freelance journalist whom we often work with is working on an investigative report. Media Defiance had contacted them for help, as one of our own has got himself caught in their web. In response, we learned that they were busy with a report of possible corruption in our home area.

This, of course, peaked our interest. After an interview with the journalist and our defendant, we are choosing to offer full assistance.

At this time Media Defiance is committing and expanding our resources to this issue. We have found enough legitimate cause and reason for concern to do what we can to help expose these violations against citizens.

Every complaint we receive with legitimate concerns of violations will be forwarded to our journalists. From there they will look further into each case and add them to our list. Below is an excerpt of our interview with examples of what we are looking into.

After he had contacted me and offered to pay some of my cost, I thought I would take a quick look into his concern. It didn’t take long for me to find clear violations of this man’s rights. So I decided to look into a few other cases. To my surprise, after looking at 5 cases, 3 of them had obvious violations. All 3 involved the Defiance county sheriff’s office as well as the prosecutor’s office.

Not only is he somebody I have worked with, but also I am a journalist. I can’t just look the other way after knowing and still call myself a journalist.

At this time I am looking at a few domestic violence cases specifically and watching how these particular cases play out. The high volume of these cases going through the court is a cause for concern, considering many of them are looking like false claims by “authorities.“

The citizens of this community have a right to know what is happening with their elected officials, and they have a right to enjoy their freedom without the interference of corrupt officials who are trying to make criminals of everyone.

Of just the few cases I have looked into, there is much reason for concern.

For one, we are talking about a Sheriff’s department acting for the state against the citizens.

This should be a major concern for the entire county. The sheriff is an elected official, his job is to protect and serve the people of that county, not The State. His job is not to intimidate and harass. His job is not to look purposely for reasons to act as an agent of the state against the people. But that is exactly what we have happening in Defiance county.

Furthermore, it is the Sheriff’s job to make sure his deputies are acting as such.

However, it goes deeper than that. The Sheriff is not the only one violating these people’s rights.

The Prosecutor(s) is also clearly involved. From how it looks, the argument could be made that the entire system of law in Defiance county is working together against their own people. From corrupt officers of the law to corrupt members of the court. They seem to be working together in order to profit from the very people already paying their salaries.

There is nothing ethical about it and the people of this community do not have to allow it. We are talking about rogue agents acting under the color of law to extort the citizens while giving them criminal records.

Meanwhile the biggest criminals are operating the system.

We are also talking about malicious prosecution. Many people don’t realize the responsibilities of the prosecutor, but their job is more than just fighting cases against the accused. They also have the responsibility to uphold the law of the land. When a prosecutor knows there are violations of a defendants rights, they have the responsibility to do something about it. If a prosecutor knows that there isn’t a legitimate case, it is his duty to drop charges and prevent further violations. That is not what is happening here.

What appears to be going on is they are all working together. The officers are conducting themselves inappropriately and the court system is going right along with it. It would seem as if this is policy, the court sets the standard and the officers follow those orders. No matter how unConstitutional they are.

My question is this. Who among all of the officials sworn to uphold and protect the constitution, is actually doing their job? The officer who shows up and arrest you with no real evidence? The officer’s superiors? The prosecutor? The Judge? Which of them in Defiance county is actually doing their job?

Who among them actually understands their duty to the people and the constitution?

The answer is none. None of them are concerned with the rights of the people. They are concerned with their corrupt system of extortion. And they are ALL in on it together.

If any of these officials understood their duty to uphold your constitutional rights, the number of cases in Defiance would drop drastically.

This would be bad for any business trying to make a profit. The legal system in Defiance county is being ran like a for profit business. The local people may not realize just how much money is flowing through their legal system, it’s a money machine.

As profitable as it may be, it’s not only about money. There are other factors to consider, such as loss of rights. Most of these cases end with several years of probation and going through other invasive programs. Many of them ending with a loss of 2A rights.

In other words, the government is making excuses to take away your rights, particularly your second amendment rights. And in Defiance, those rights are not being upheld by anyone sworn to protect them.

The problem isn’t only with domestic violence cases, these are just what I am looking at right now. Taking it a bite at a time. Also, not every case is wrongfully charged. Initially the case I started at involved a DV charge, so I wanted to first find similarities. After a simple search of DV cases in the county, I was shocked.

For example, today is the 13th day of February and there are already 15 cases generated. Or look at it like this, the number of domestic violence cases Defiance handle’s in just one day takes neighboring counties a full month to generate.

That’s a real problem. Something is going on in Defiance, Ohio. Either it’s corruption in the law, or I’d be wondering whats in the water. Something has to be done about it. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before every person in that county has a domestic violence charge.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I don’t want to make false or misleading claims. I come to these conclusions very carefully, based on readily available information. We can’t just point the finger and say someone is automatically guilty of involvement. At this point I am looking at two things, actual (or proven) involvement and reasonable speculation of involvement.

Actual Involvement

1) Defiance County Sheriff

I am confident when pointing the finger at the Defiance County Sheriff for two reasons. First, right off the batt, the Sheriff’s office is persistently arresting and charging people for the State. The Sheriff is an elected officer, he answers to the people and not the State. Period.

Second, and even more disturbing is the conduct and illegal actions of the deputies involved. As I stated earlier, of the first 5 cases I checked into, 3 of them had obvious violations. Out of those 3 I chose 2 cases which are both very similar. The actions of some of the officers are out right disgusting.

From these two particular cases, I have official statements from all parties. These statements implicate the unethical actions of at least 2 particular deputies.

Complaints from the defendants and also from the supposed victims, all stating the same concerns. Officers outright lying and making claims to purposely negatively affect both parties. Outright ignoring the concerns of the people they are calling victims and claiming to protect.

Here’s some of what we have from the complaints.

The officers waited until they had the defendant in custody, knowing they where planning to arrest and take them to jail, with no actual evidence of a crime. They then began manipulating both parties, pitting them against each other. The defendant and “victim” are no longer allowed to have contact at this point.

Meanwhile the officer tells outlandish claims to the defendant, making them believe the “victim” is saying or doing things against them. Then, the officer goes back to the “victim” and claims the defendant said some horrible things about them.

Out right lies, unknown to either party at the time.

This is illegal, unethical and unacceptable. These outrageous actions cause devastating consequences. How many times are they doing this to people? Any officer participating in such activities deserves to lose their job and face legal consequences.

Other claims of unethical conduct are being looked into as well. These along with obvious violations such as unlawful stops, following and harassing and unlawful detentions implicate the Sheriff’s Department.

2) Prosecutor(s)

I am also confident pointing the finger at the prosecutors in these cases at this point. To start with, it is unethical for a prosecutor to pursue criminal charges without probable cause to that charge. In Defiance county, they are constantly pushing charges for crimes with lack of evidence of those crimes.

With the complaints mentioned earlier, the same prosecutor pursues criminal domestic violence charges with no evidence of violence ever happening and no person claiming victim.

Strike one.

The prosecutor then proceeds to ignore requests and complaints from the “victim”, the person he is supposedly defending.

I have signed statements from an alleged victim documenting that they told the prosecutor they were not a victim and that no crime had occurred. When questioned about taking the defendant’s personal belongings, he replied with a smirk stating “sometimes people should hit rock bottom”. When the “victim” said they wanted protection orders removed and charges dropped, he refused to do so. A sworn testimony was submitted to the prosecutor from the “victim” stating no crime had happened and he refused to dismiss charges.

He could be disbarred for this. It is his obligation to dismiss all charges under these circumstances. His actions create awful consequences for innocent people.

The defendants in these cases are being thrown out of their own homes, being ordered to pay all of the bills and still find a way to support themselves. Some of them losing their jobs and many other things. While the prosecutor drags the case out, the defendant and “victim” are not allowed contact, leaving them to believe the lies told to them by the sheriff. This continues on for usually 2 to 3 months and sometimes longer.

With cases that are now coming to a close, this means they had to go though this alone throughout the holidays. Watching their lives fall apart while the people behind it enjoy themselves with their families however they please.

The prosecutor is implicated. This is malicious prosecution and it needs to stop.

Reasonable Speculation of Involvement

1) The Victims Advocacy

The Advocate represents the victims in these cases. They are there to respond to the needs and offer support to the victims. However, their actions, or lack thereof, for the supposed victims raises the question of whom they actually represent.

Do they represent the victim or do they represent the State?

It’s a valid question when you consider the complaints of the victims.

From the earlier referenced complaints, “victims” are stating that the advocate was ignoring their concerns. When they told the advocate that they were not a victim and did not want a protection order, the response was that it was up to the prosecutor and left at that.

When they told the advocate that the officers and prosecutor was lying, their concern was ignored and they were left to feel like there was nowhere to turn. When the victim quit showing up and refused to respond, the advocate continued to show up claiming to represent them.

This is unacceptable, these actions only cause greater stress for relationships that are already strained. It is unethical and gives plenty of reasonable speculation of involvement.

2) Judge

Am I trying to say there is a crime ring in Defiance county that spans from cops up to judges profiting from the creation of criminals?

I am saying there is reasonable speculation of guilt.

The crazy thing is when I arrived in Defiance, everywhere I went, the mention of corruption kept getting met with replies of a certain judge’s name. Without fail, every conversation turned up the same judge as being corrupt.

But still he remains?

Oddly enough, the cases I am currently looking at involve a different Judge. Something is definitely going on in Defiance county.

Other than allowing the prosecutor to use his court to make a mockery of justice and his demeanor toward the accused, there isn’t a whole lot about this Judge. Not on the surface, at least. However, a defendant’s complaint shows otherwise.

According to a defendant’s statement, the Judge confessed at his video hearing from jail.

The defendant states that the Judge accused him of saying that he is a liar, got very upset with him and told him now he was going to pay. He further states that the Judge told him he heard for himself that he was calling the Judge a liar because they record everything.

To be clear, it is not illegal to call a Judge a liar. In fact, you can call him anything you want. (Outside of the courtroom of course.)

When the defendant first mentioned this, he was upset and asking why the Judge was ignoring the violations of the officer from the same recording. That’s a valid question and cause for concern. Considering the officer would have clearly violated the defendant’s rights to begin with.

As the defendant states; the recording that the judge would be referring to should have also recorded the officer’s violations. Further, the judge says they record everything so there should be multiple recordings of police misconduct.

The judge should have dismissed charges as soon as he seen or heard evidence of law enforcement violating the defendant’s rights. He chose instead to ignore abuse of the law and allow the case to continue based only on evidence that he was called a liar.

This is unethical and unacceptable behavior from a Judge, it’s enough to grant reasonable speculation of involvement. The fact that it was not thrown out, leads us to look for further involvement.

3) Lawyers

Prostitution is illegal in Defiance for good reason. It would create too much competition for the lawyers. If you are in Defiance county and want a good screwing, hire a local lawyer.

I don’t say that lightly, it’s a very serious issue. I have put serious thought into it and looked at it from every angle. Sadly, this problem could not have gotten this bad and continue on without lawyer cooperation. That’s just the truth.

Lawyers local to the area are cooperating, there is just no other way to see it. Whether it’s forced or willing, it’s still cooperating.

With these two particular cases, there is no reason that they have gone on this long. No reason whatsoever. They have continued for months and that is already unacceptable.

These cases should have been thrown out immediately and easily. The lawyers let them continue.

Take a moment to understand my viewpoint. I first started looking into this in December from my home state. I have only just recently made it to the Defiance area, so most of my work to this point was done remotely from out of state.

Though there is more, the information I have shared with you is more than enough to have these cases thrown out, and it was all obtained remotely.

How is it then, the lawyers who work and live their lives in the area don’t have this information? They should, and if they do, then why haven’t they done anything with it?

They are beholden to the court and not to their client. This is so very wrong, it can and should cost them their license.

These two particular defendants are both using hired lawyers. They are not using the same lawyer, but both the lawyers are local. Both of their cases should be finishing up any day now. I say that with regret because I predict neither will go to trial. Given the history, it is most likely the defendants will be talked into the same plea deal that a court appointed would have gotten them.

Obviously the prosecutor certainly would not want these cases going to a jury trial. Strangely enough, the lawyers seem to be afraid of going to trial as well. There is no way any jury would be presented any of this evidence and still find the defendant guilty. But still in the end the lawyer will talk the defendant into taking a plea deal and try to scare him away from trial.

That’s business as usual in Defiance county. If you look at the history of cases, thats how the majority play out. People are hiring local lawyers and walking away with the same shitty deal as the people using court appointed counsel. Many times the lawyers they are paying are the same appointed by the court.

If any of these defendants had hired a lawyer farther away with no business dealings in Defiance, their cases would already be thrown out. It might cost a bit more, but in the end it will likely cost less. In a case like one of these, their attorney would make one or two trips to Defiance and be done.

Take a look just a few counties away. Defendants are paying lawyers half as much and walking away with better deals. Many of them actually guilty of the crime. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, in fact it makes no sense at all. Anyone fresh out of law school could set up shop and make a name for themselves by the end of the week.

There is definitely reasonable speculation of lawyer involvement with the crime syndicate operating in Defiance, Ohio.

We are currently working on detailed reports of these cases and updated stories will be published through our outlets as well as local media.

One defendant is working on his report and has already agreed to be named and says he will be naming each public official cooperating against his rights.

Currently, we are also working to help some of these defendants by pointing them in the right direction for recourse. Also we are creating a gofundme, as at least one of these victims of the State are about to lose everything they have. We want to help raise funds to help this person afford the high cost of legal fees as well as keep them from losing their home.

We will post an update to this page when a funding source has been created. it is estimated that a good civil rights attorney could cost up to $60,000. We ask anyone able to donate any amount for the cause to please do so as well as help us share this important cause which the system will surely try to sweep under the rug.

More detailed reports coming soon.