668 - Neighbor of the Beast

The good news is that both the DA and lawyer say we're pretty close to the end of the warrants, in their estimation. And for once, we have a lawyer who's not fucking us, so I believe them.

The bad news is they're saying this AFTER we'd burned through the $4500 I got from that generous person, so we're down to $200 at the time that I'm making this post, and then that's it without more help.

The sheriff is going to see if he can get the rest of them killed outright, now that a Chief Executive is also on the case. He's got to be careful that he doesn't seem to have a conflict of interest though.

So we're waiting and seeing, as always. We killed a hell of a lot of them with the money from that BLer, but those ones that cost $150-200 a pop definitely ate away at it. $275 for four warrants is good; $200 for just one is really bad (although those were also the worst charges - stuff like grand larceny. Yes, claim that my co-worker's daughter took a power saw off your porch when she's disabled to the point she can't lift more than 7 pounds...)

It might get worse before it gets better, but there's only so much I can do, especially when you guys have done so much - more than I ever thought possible, really. Just in case I can't raise any more money with your guys' help, I've told them to be strong and have faith in the lawyer and the DA, because really, all I am is the money man.

Regardless of what happens, I'll keep everyone up to date. As I've said in the past, it will take me a lot longer to pay everyone back if I have to do it out of my own pocket (especially without the check we'd been trying to get - that would make it a lot easier and reduce who I owe money to to pretty much three people at most), but I will make sure that I do. I start getting paid in about a week and a half, get paid every two weeks thereafter for the most part (with some exceptions due to winter/mid-winter/spring break), and the first one up is Zurv getting $200 because he really needs that settled by the end of the month, a few days after I get paid.

I know of at least three people (two on BL, one not) who need their money by a specific timeframe. While it greatly helps me if you can let it ride (because I might only be able to pay back about ~$600 a month if my co-worker can't give me any extra), if you can't, please let me know via forum PM or (more preferably) on IRC in #notes, and I will prioritize paying those people back first. Everyone after that, I will generally go from least owed -> most owed.

I know that sucks for the people who've really chipped in a lot, but to me, the quicker I can square away those who've done less, the easier it is for me to prove I am making good on my word - I don't want to tie up people who only put in a few hundred dollars just to pay off the people who I've owed more than a thousand to (although one of the people who needs their money ASAP is one of those ones, so... I'll do what I can).

I remember a few people who gave and what nick to attach them to, but for others, I'll be going by whatever account you sent me the payment with, and you'll need to (privately) let me know which one you are so I can keep my books straight with who's getting what (and if need be, when they need it by). If you need it sent to an account different than the one you sent me the money from, get in touch with me ASAP.

By my loose calculations, assuming that I can pay back about $600 a month, that means that by the end of my work year next June, I can pay back at least $6000 of what I owe, which would pay off pretty much everyone except that $4500 donor.

Of course, that also all assumes that my co-worker isn't able to give me a dime in that timeframe (unlikely), that there's no more money coming in to help fight these warrants (possible), that we don't get that check (probable, at least until the warrant shit is taken care of one way or another and we ensure all charges on that are covered). and that we haven't had our fraud case against the lawyers/our harassers end up in our favor and not gotten money from that (unknown).

Lastly, still trying to get documentation - we haven't forgotten. Her lawyer is pretty busy, often at the courts until midnight. They are aware, though, and they do remember. I know what firm she's from (and it's not the same as the first two, which is dissolved now anyway), but that firm only lists the head honchos of the firm, not the junior lawyers who work under them, so it's kind of moot without her card.

Arrrr, I wish I could be diggin' up me buried treasure now. 'Twould help a scarred mate up greatly, yarrrr.

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EDIT (9/19, 6:24 PM EDT): Down to $80... but had a message that gave a faint glimmer of hope.

"This warrant goes to the very beginning from Mrs. Bayer for grand larceny. That's what I needed the $120 for."

Let's hope she's right, or that I get some more money.

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EDIT #2 (9/20, 10:29 AM EDT): Thanks to a few more people (including the BLer who did give me $5k in the end as well), they have a little more money, but more warrants also came through - at least four more, so they're down to $730 at the time of this message.

However, I also got told that the DA has secured a meeting with the judge who'd signed off on those warrants. We don't know when it will happen except that it's sometime today.

Hopefully between the dirt they dug up, plus us having repaid literally dozens upon dozens of warrants at this stage, the DA can convince the judge that we're being royally fucked and that judge will quash the remaining warrants.

Otherwise, there's at least 8 more active warrants they are aware of... and that $730 will almost certainly not cover it all, not unless they drop down to $75 or so each.

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EDIT #3 (9/20, 6:45 PM EDT): The judge has cleared seven of the eight known warrants. They are working on the last one. If it can't be figured out, we'll have to pay it probably, but clearing those others out is definitely a huge deal for us, as it means the judge agreed either that we were trying to pay in good faith, the old lawyers fucked us, or both. We're still sitting at $730.