The corrupt state of Connecticut has continued to pursue whistleblower Jonathan Reich since the year of 2013.
A group of taxpayer-funded entities assisted in the framing of Mr. Reich for a misdemeanor level allegation in Connecticut, of harassment, a municipal violation on the same level as littering.
Years later, the same perpetrators will proceed to frame Mr. Reich as a “fugitive.”
On or about February 15, 2013, Mr. Reich and his family began to receive threatening and repetitive phone calls from unknown parties and individuals at the Avon Connecticut Police Department.
The Avon Police Department and the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office targeted Mr. Reich because of journalism and freedom of speech activities.
The elements of the case were evaluated on or about March 10, 2013, by TFC Michael Downes of the Connecticut State Police. Downes reported that he had investigated the elements of this case and found that “no violation occurred.” This report was purposely concealed from Mr. Reich during and after his arrest and was only recovered about six months later.
Mr. Reich initially hired a law firm to represent his defense. Unknown to Mr. Reich, the law firm was a biased and corrupt entity, who looked to harm Mr. Reich’s defense while pretending to provide representation for the case.
Hazardous materials were also mailed to Mr. Reich’s family members, and individuals have been impersonating Mr. Reich, stolen Mr. Reich’s identity, and misused it since as early as 2013.
For over five (5) years, Mr. Reich was victimized by the conduct and actions of several responsible parties, including individuals from the following public offices: New York City Police, Avon Connecticut Police, Hartford State’s Attorney, and Queens County District Attorney’s Office.
Mr. Reich is a victim of civil rights violations, police misconduct, public corruption, and prosecutorial misconduct.
Mr. Reich was improperly restricted from viewing any documents or evidence in the case or operating a legal defense fund by his own attorneys and the Hartford State’s Attorney’s office. Mr. Reich’s defense counsel was actively deceiving him, and purposely acted against Mr. Reich’s best interests.
Defense counsel, Pullman and Comley, had a prior conflict of interest, that led to them defrauding Mr. Reich while also representing the complainants in the case and operating fundraisers for them. Defense counsel actively raised funds for those responsible for framing Mr. Reich, the funds raised amounted to over $20,000,000.00.
These corrupt lawyers at Pullman and Comley, defrauded Mr. Reich and came up with about $40,000.00 for legal services, to defend against a misdemeanor allegation with a maximum $250 fine, is unusual, unethical, and outrageous.
With an obvious conflict of interest, Defense counsel defrauded Mr. Reich for about $40,000.00 in unjust legal fees and purposely concealed any supposed evidence, important documents, reports, and case materials from Mr. Reich.
Over fifteen (15) postponements were unjustly made against the Mr. Reich’s best interests. Mr. Reich witnessed procedures on about twenty (20) occasions at the Hartford Community Court where about over fifty (50) individuals daily would be given a few hours of community service and be on their way. The Hartford Community Court was designed to assist the community by coordinating community service tasks for very low-level allegations like littering. That was not happening to Mr. Reich, and different excuses and postponements were made by Defense counsel and the Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas O’Brien. Mr. Reich performed community service voluntary and on his own accord, which was submitted to the Hartford Community Court, however they continued to unjustly keep the case active and refused to provide Mr. Reich with reports or evidence of what the accusations were. There were never any accusers present for the entirety of this case.
Defendants and their associates in Connecticut, utilized the extradition process to cause cruel and unusual punishment to Mr. Reich, outside the confines of normal procedure, passing the line into criminal conduct.
On or about June 27, 2014, Prosecutors in Connecticut falsely issue a bail commissioner’s letter and falsely accuse Mr. Reich of not appearing at a court date when they purposely postponed the court date, knowing this could potentially be used against Mr. Reich in the future.
On or about August 24, 2015, Mr. Reich files an official complaint addressed to Gail P. Hardy, Hartford State’s Attorney. To date, this complaint has never been responded to. Whenever Gail P. Hardy’s office was reached about this issue, the phone calls would be disconnected. The same unusual behavior happened at the Hartford Community Court where whenever the Mr. Reich’s name would be mentioned, court staff would disconnect phone calls and refuse to cooperate with Mr. Reich’s second and third defense counsels.
Mr. Reich was denied due process and even basic police reports such as the Arrest Warrant Affidavit. Even though the reports were not provided or accessible to Mr. Reich, they were illegally disseminated to parties including a journalist for Patch Media Corporation. The journalist, Jessica L. Sawyer, published multiple articles prior to Mr. Reich’s arraignment.
While basic reports and other Brady Material were withheld from Mr. Reich, internal police documents that were falsified, including an Arrest Warrant Affidavit were provided to the Patch media outlet, who began to publish defamatory information about Mr. Reich, in May 2013, before Mr. Reich’s arraignment.
On or about June 15, 2014, Mr. Reich established a legal defense fund, JRDEFENSEFUND.COM, which clearly is within his legal and civil rights. Many high-profile individuals routinely raise legal funds, and the funds are often set up by counsel. After about $40,000.00 was needlessly paid to attorneys, who were purposely working against their client, those very same attorneys instructed Mr. Reich to remove his legal defense fund or face additional charges in Connecticut.
Starting in 2015, Mr. Reich experienced aggravated harassment, stalking, and trespassing on Mr. Reich’s property. This included vehicles and individuals stalking and dropping off hazardous materials on the property. No assistance was offered after multiple reports were made to the New York City Police Department.
On or about August 24, 2015, Mr. Reich files a complaint sent to Hartford State’s Attorney, Gail P. Hardy.
On or about September 1, 2015, Mr. Reich hired new defense counsel in Connecticut. Mr. Reich’s attorney, Christopher Grotz (deceased at age 64, May 11, 2017 in Connecticut), contacted the New York City Police Department multiple times about this matter. Mr. Reich actively worked with the New York City Police Department on this matter, and it was thoroughly investigated throughout the years of 2015 and 2016.
Attorney Grotz was unable to obtain any police reports or materials from the New York City Police Department and the general response was that the 107th Precinct did not participate in any investigations of Mr. Reich, a conclusion was reached by Attorney Grotz that the Connecticut arrest warrant was falsified
Attorney Grotz also concluded that the Docket Information Page was tampered with and not a true and accurate legal document. Attorney Grotz’s communications and filed motions to the case in Connecticut were routinely ignored, with no explanation. This was highly unusual, and Attorney Grotz had not encountered these types of blatant violations of protocol and procedures before, on any cases he handled. The Hartford State’s Attorney’s office refused to provide Attorney Grotz with any evidence or information about the case. All motions and several documents filed by Attorney Grotz were ignored continuously.
On or about October 7, 2015, Attorney Grotz files a ‘Request for Discovery’ that was received and ignored. Attorney Grotz waited and waited for this basic information, however the Defendants were unable to provide him with even basic evidentiary items or police reports they had already provided to the press several years prior. Attorney Grotz had never encountered this blatant malicious behavior by taxpayer funded workers before and he had practiced law in many courts in the state of Connecticut.
On or about November 10, 2015, Attorney Grotz contacted the Hartford Superior Court by phone several times, regarding security and safety concerns for his client, as well as to obtain evidence of the suspect or suspects who were captured on security cameras at the courthouse. Officials at the courthouse directed Attorney Grotz to submit a request in writing to Mr. O’Donovan Murphy, the Director of Judicial Marshal Services, located at 61 Woodland Street, Hartford, CT 06105. Ultimately, the attorney’s concerns were ignored by the Judicial Marshal Services and courthouse staff.
The overwhelming evidence purports to suggest that associates of the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office targeted Mr. Reich with threats and harassment, as those entities, unusually made every effort to ensure that the individuals stalking and threatening people on court property and at a local residence, could continue to threaten Mr. Reich and his family.
On or about January 3, 2016, Mr. Reich contacted the Connecticut State Police via phone and filed an official written complaint about this identical matter. Connecticut State Police representatives inform Mr. Reich that he is not wanted for any reason and that there are no open warrants against him in any state.
On April 20, 2016, at around 12:43 PM, Mr. Reich contacted the New York City Police Department at the 107th Precinct regarding this matter. Mr. Reich explained the matter in detail, a Police representative investigates the matter and searches for open warrants or investigations of Mr. Reich, to determine if Mr. Reich is wanted by any police agency nationally. The representative obtains all relevant personal details from Mr. Reich. The representative researches the matter and determines Mr. Reich is a “free man.” The transcript has been redacted for personal information.
Transcript Excerpts:
“Searching… I don’t see anything in here with your name, date of birth. I mean, absolutely nothing… Alright, so I have, I just looked you up here. You used to live in ______… Yeah, there’s nothing here for you. Nobody has an investigation against you. Nobody’s looking for you. You are not a victim of anything. You are, unfortunately, hate to say it, not on our list for anything… Alright? Isn’t that a good thing? It’s an excellent thing… Unfortunately, I cannot give you that in writing… You’re, I got news for you… You’re a free man. Ah. you know, that’s a great thing, isn’t it? There’s no but, there’s no but to that…”
On or about May 13, 2016, Mr. Reich experiences repeated instances stalking, threatening, and trespassing on Mr. Reich’s property. This coincided with online harassment of Mr. Reich. New York City Police officers respond to the Mr. Reich’s property and claim them will file a report and open an investigation into the harassment. Officers spend about thirty (30) minutes with Mr. Reich and request his Driver’s License which they run a check on and determine he is not a fugitive and is not wanted for anything by any agency nationally. A screenshot from a recorded video interaction with the New York City Police representatives shows a Complaint Report filled out on behalf of Mr. Reich. Showing reckless disregard and negligence for their duties, on the very next day, Defendants suddenly refused to investigate the matter and later claimed that the New York City Police Department does not investigate harassment.
On June 21, 2016, at around 2:00 PM, Mr. Reich contacts the Avon Connecticut Police Department about the matter. Mr. Reich requests an investigation into individuals abusing their positions to target Mr. Reich. Mr. Reich requests notification of any open cases against Mr. Reich as this was the originating agency for this matter. Dispatcher 1738 confirms “there are no open cases, with the Avon police in regards to your name.”
On or about July 25, 2016, Sergeant Paul Muggeo of the New York City Police Department’s 107th Precinct Detective Squad states in a letter to Mr. Reich: “The New York City Police Department is conducting an official investigation in regards to your complaint stemming from 3/01/2013.”
The New York City Police Department actively investigated the situation and acted cordially while working directly with Mr. Reich on the official investigation. Muggeo is a high-ranking sergeant at the 107th Precinct Detective Squad and is clearly qualified and capable of conducting an investigation properly. Furthermore, Muggeo was clearly able to determine the person he was communicating with was not a fugitive.
On August 13, 2016, Mr. Reich filed a lawsuit (Reich v. Patch Media, New York County Supreme Court Index No. 156787-2016) against Patch Media Corporation, Charles C. Hale, Warren St. John, and Jessica L. Sawyer.
Excerpts include:
“Mr. Reich is an honest and law-abiding young man who had a promising future and was a college student with no criminal record. Mr. Reich was accused of making threatening phone calls to individuals in the state of Connecticut. Mr. Reich has never been convicted for making any type of phone calls. No evidence has ever been brought forth to the accused, his counsel, or to a court of law. Unfortunately showing great irresponsibility, Defendants made false and defamatory statements about Mr. Reich.”
“As hoped by Defendants, these sensational claims reported in their publication, resulted in widespread dissemination internationally, through news media outlets, social media platforms and organizations. Since publication, online and in-person entities have stalked and harassed the Mr. Reich and Mr. Reich’s family.” “As a result Mr. Reich has suffered terrible harm to his reputation, economic prospects, damage to his career prospects, social stigmatization and ridicule, and painful emotional and physical distress and suffering.”
“Defendants publication of false claims that Mr. Reich was “harassing” and “threatening” all kinds of people were done with malicious intent, or at a minimum reckless negligence.” “Defendants proximately caused damage to Mr. Reich through its publication of false claims that Mr. Reich was “harassing” and “threatening” all kinds of people.” “Anybody who ever Googles or inputs Mr. Reich’s name into any Internet search engine will be met with these irresponsible stories. These are inherently damaging statements, and have caused Mr. Reich to suffer loss of economic opportunities, scorn, derision, hatred, harassment, difficulty finding employment, deep emotional pain, and even resulted in physical harm. They have interfered with this young man’s education and career prospects and his entire life.” “As a result Mr. Reich and his family members have been targeted at the home address published by the Defendants and on online websites and social media platforms, with the intent to intimidate, threaten, trespass on private property, and express anti-Semitism.”
“The statements contained within the news articles have subjected Mr. Reich to “trial-by-media” and exposed Mr. Reich to civil rights violations and discriminatory treatment within the Hartford Judicial System by State Employees, targeting Mr. Reich for over three (3) years. Defendants impeded Mr. Reich’s right to a fair jury trial by swaying the public’s opinion of Mr. Reich before arraignment, revealing alleged witness names, and carelessly endangering and revealing alleged witnesses.”
On or about September 17, 2016, unidentified associates of the Defendants contacted Mr. Reich’s family members for the purposes of threatening, harassment, extortion, and stalking. Defendants created several email accounts to conceal their threatening, stalking, harassment, and other illegal activities. Defendants utilize a false identity and pseudonym, ‘Vlad Impaler’, a reference to ‘Vlad the Impaler,’ and utilize a Google ‘Gmail’ Email account, vladsandyhooker@gmail.com. Vlad was well known for employing extremely cruel measures and torture to inspire fear in those who opposed him. He earned his nickname by impaling his enemies on stakes in the ground and leaving them to die. Defendants created email accounts and other online accounts to impersonate Mr. Reich. Other email accounts used anonymously by Defendants for illegal activities and/or impersonating Mr. Reich include newtown2amazon@gmail.com, therealjonreich@gmail.com. The details of these communications could not be attached, at present time, without placing Mr. Reich and Mr. Reich’s family in further potential danger.
On or about October 15, 2016, Attorney Grotz suddenly becomes incapacitated, and is no longer reachable to Mr. Reich. Defendants look to exploit the situation.
On October 26, 2016, at 4:19 PM, an e-mail was accidentally sent to the wrong party by James Viadero, the police chief in Newtown, Connecticut. The intended recipient of the e-mail is an attorney at the law firm originally hired as defense counsel for Mr. Reich, the very same law firm who has been actively working against Mr. Reich for several years. Viadero writes “Good job on the response… Thanks. Also __<Redacted>__ Riecht last week. Nothing we can get a warrant for.” This e-mail demonstrates that Mr. Reich was being targeted with additional false charges in Connecticut as early as October 26, 2016. The Defendants maliciously concealed these details from Mr. Reich and from the court in Queens County.
On November 21, 2016, at about 3:00 AM, NYPD and U.S. Marshals entered a private residence in Queens County. They did not present a valid arrest warrant and took Mr. Reich away in handcuffs and footcuffs.
Mr. Reich was accused of being a “fugitive on the run from justice” for about one year, even though they knew exactly where to find him the whole time.
Defendants clearly understood that Mr. Reich was not a fugitive. When an actual “fugitive” Defendants went to his home of record, the same address on his state-issued ID and in their database. Defendants then led Mr. Reich into the backseat of an undercover vehicle. Mr. Reich was effectively kidnapped.
Mr. Reich was then transported to the NYPD 107th Precinct and processed in a fast-paced manner. Mr. Reich is taken to central booking under the courthouse. Mr. Reich is photographed, laser fingerprinted, Mr. Reich’s eyes are retina scanned and his shoes and possessions are taken from him. Miranda rights were never read or stated to Mr. Reich.
According to the The Legal Aid Society, their organization exists for one simple yet powerful reason: “to ensure that no New Yorker is denied their right to equal justice because of poverty.” Their organization completely refused to assist Mr. Reich or attempt to provide any legal defense, they immediately assumed position and attempted to take actions that would assist with the prosecution of their own ‘client’.
A female attorney by the name of Arielle Adams of the ‘Legal Aid Society’ introduces herself to Mr. Reich, she explains that he is charged with being a ‘Fugitive From Justice’ or in other words a person actively on the run from the law, usually people who escaped custody of law enforcement. Adams, his so-called ‘defense attorney’ states that Mr. Reich should “sign an extradition waiver” so that he can be promptly returned to Connecticut to face the charges.
Mr. Reich stated that he has confirmed with the NYPD that he was a free man many times over the past year and that the charges were false.
Mr. Reich stated that he was not on the run or a fugitive and has proof in the form of digital audio and video recordings of NYPD officers on official communication lines and NCIC (National Crime Information Center) checks. Adams then brought another female attorney into the room and the two of them recommended again that Mr. Reich sign the documents that they had brought him. The two attorneys state that if he doesn’t sign the papers he is going to be brought to Riker’s Island and held for thirty days for the Queens County District Attorney’s Office to produce a governor’s warrant.
Mr. Reich refused to sign any waiver and the attorneys leave Mr. Reich in a holding cell for a long period of time. Mr. Reich is brought before a judge who set conditions of no bail for this alleged misdemeanor in another state, of which they have no paperwork or evidence, and who did so with no New York arrest warrant. The court sets another court date and deadline for a possible extradition to take place. Not allowing bail for an unknown and unproven misdemeanor allegation is completely illegal.
On or about November 21, 2016, quickly after Mr. Reich is arrested, hazardous materials are dropped off on Mr. Reich’s property by unknown parties for purposes of threatening, harassment, and intimidation. This was promptly reported to the New York City Police Department, who refused to investigate the matter.
On or about November 22, 2016, Mr. Reich’s first defense counsel in Connecticut, Pullman & Comley, suspiciously files an extensive complaint against Mr. Reich for a website domain name, pullmanandcomley.com. The website’s purpose was to provide, reliable and accurate information about this matter and the unethical actions of the law firm, to the public.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo effectively approved the kidnapping of an innocent New York resident from their home at 3:00 AM based on an unfounded and unproven misdemeanor allegation. The individual is then assaulted, handcuffed, and foot-cuffed and chained and then held with no bail on an alleged, unproven, misdemeanor violation from out of state that is in the same class as littering or a parking ticket. The individual is then illegally held without bail for over 90 days outside the confines of law and denied access to counsel. Mr. Reich was arrested on November 21, 2016 and incarcerated until being extradited on or about February 23, 2017, a period exceeding 94 days.
