Oscar Hills IV: Persecuted or Prosecuted?

John R. Houk

© May 25, 2011

On March 17, 2011 Oscar Hills IV was sentenced for losing his fraud trial in Louisiana. Hills was tracked down by ATFE Special Agent Joseph Gahn over a few years to nail him for insurance fraud pertaining to damage of structure and equipment at the United States Teen Summit Foundation from weather related rain and strong winds. The incident happened in 2004.

Hills claims Gahn was persecuting him because Gahn believed a restaurant fire was caused by Oscar and brother Manjaro. Oscar and Manjaro were owner of the Palace Restaurant and for some reason I have not discovered Joseph Gahn held the brothers responsible even though there was no evidence to indict let alone to convict. In Oscar Hills account Gahn had promised that one way or the other he was going to nail Oscar and his brother for something.

From what I have read it appears that Gahn kept tabs on Oscar Hills’ to see if there was something to investigate. Oscar Hills believes that Gahn find out about the insurance claim that was placed for the structure and content damage as CEO for United States Teen Summit Foundation.

Hills believes that Gahn went on a witch hunt in strong arming the insurance company into cooperating with an investigation by producing ye old paper trail. Hills believes further that Gahn cherry picked documents and potentially doctored some documents in a vendetta to nab Hills for something.

Hills actually has his own paper trail of documents which does effectively make the Gahn collected evidence appear off somewhere.

With my limited skills in searching the Internet about crime issues I have been unable to locate neutral information on this case. What I did find is a Prosecutor’s version of a successful conviction of Oscar Hills IV which you can read quoted below:

17 March Hills Sentencing

MAN SENTENCED FOR FRAUD

BATON ROUGE, LA – United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr., announced that U.S. Chief District Judge Ralph E. Tyson sentenced OSCAR HILLS, IV, 39, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to thirty-three months in prison, to pay restitution of $88,797.48, and to three years supervised release after imprisonment. Judge Tyson ordered Hills to pay restitution to Ascension Credit Union, Eagle Louisiana Federal Credit Union, and State Farm Fire and Casualty Company.

HILLS pled guilty on April 26, 2010 to four counts of wire fraud. HILLS submitted a false and fraudulent claim for a storm loss to State Farm. In the course of investigating the false insurance claim, investigators discovered that HILLS also submitted false and fraudulent documents to Ascension Credit Union and Eagle Louisiana Federal Credit Union which caused losses to the credit unions.

The investigation of HILLS was conducted by Special Agent Joseph Gahn of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rene Salomon and Susan Amundson.

When I read this summary it seemed pretty straightforward that Gahn and the Prosecutors effectively won their case against Hills. After reading the emails calling for support for Hills I still was not convinced of a wrongful conviction. Then I went through the PDF file that reads like it was written by Oscar Hills IV. His story in the PDF is convincing!

So with convincing evidence that should have prevented a conviction, then the question becomes: Why was there a jury conviction?

There are a few answers to this one question:

·       Hills had a Public Defender for a Lawyer that had the appearance of incompetency of not applying the evidence in hand and refuting some of the sketchy evidence the Prosecution had.

·       The Prosecution had the appearance of withholding exculpatory evidence that would have exonerated Hills.

·       There is the appearance that Gahn and the Prosecutor were in collusion in perpetrating corrupt investigation.

Below is a couple emails that also resulted in two PDF files which effectively pleads Oscar Hills IV case. One PDF file I have converted to a Word Document that had some minimal editing for reading at this blog. The other PDF file is a document that is referred to often in Hills’ layout for a false conviction. You can either email the person who sent me the PDF files or you can email me at john@slantright.com for a copy. Just a heads up: I am making the PDF files available for only the period of time this post is relevant.

JRH 5/25/11

**************************

UNITING A NATION IN THE MIST OF TURMOIL

bootstate35

Sent: 05/18/11

Original dated: May 17, 2011

Meet Oscar Hills IV, founder and CEO of the United States Teen Summit Foundation. Oscar, a Louisiana native, has put on 4 successful Teen Summit events prior to Hurricane Katrina. Oscar Hills and the Teen Summit Foundation have a simple but brilliant program to improve education in our kids immediately and unite the nation in the process. It's called the "Teen Summit Unity Challenge".

The Teen Summit Unity Challenge encourages teens, parents and everyone within their state to cast a vote on who they want to see perform or speak at our national annual Teen Summit Unity Festival.

The state that cast the most votes, their high and middle school students faculty and staff get to attend the event absolutely FREE. To top that off, whatever high school and middle school in the nation has the highest academic scores overall wins an all expense paid trip to the Teen Summit Unity Festival.

The 4 major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, & FOX) and or their affiliates along with major radio and print media companies (Clear Channel Broadcasting, Cumulus Broadcasting, CBS Radio, Cox Media) have come aboard to promote this great event across the U.S. As expected, teens, parents and everyone within their respective state has stepped up and responded to the Teen Summit Unity Challenge and its spreading like wildfire!

This event will make history! An estimated 2.5 million people will attend this event making it the biggest event ever held.

Oscar Hills and the Teen Summit Foundation have been preparing and organizing this event for 3 years now. Regrettably Mr. Hills might not be there to see this historic event take place.

Why?

Turmoil

For over 6 years now Oscar Hills has been dealing with harassment from an ATF federal agent. In 2005, the agent unsuccessfully made 3 attempts to get an indictment on Mr. Hills. The agent promised Mr. Hills that no matter what it takes he was going to get his man. It became an obsession and a personal vendetta. In 2008, the agent made good on his promise. The ATF agent falsified evidence on Mr. Hills and was granted a secret indictment.

The harassment became so volatile that it took the form of US Marshalls raiding Mr. Hills home while his pregnant fiancé, 12 year old son and 9 month old baby were present. As a result of that action, his family has endured years of sleepless nights and fear of more harassment.

In the mist of all this turmoil, Oscar Hills has managed to continue organizing and unifying this great nation of ours. Knowing there's a price on his head and he could very well lose his freedom hasn't stop him from doing what he believes in. Mr. Hills states, "Justice will prevail and our God will see to that." "I'm just continuing to do what the Lord has instructed me to do." If I would have been totally obedient I wouldn't be in this predicament but I chose to listen to man and not God."

Mr. Hills reached out to the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the Inspector General, FBI, ATF, Congress and the President of the United States to no avail.

The evidence provided by Mr. Oscar Hills was the government's own falsified evidence that would have paved the way towards exoneration. Instead our federal government chose to ignore Mr. Hills and its own exculpatory evidence in order to save face. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

I personally received this information approximately a year ago. I must admit I was skeptical until I started looking into the material. I was astonished to see that the U.S. government had fabricated evidence to convict an innocent man. In their evidence it's plain to see the fabrication. In all my years of being an investigative journalist I've never witness such malice.

It reminded me of the 1998 thriller "Enemy of the State" starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman. In that movie an innocent man life was turned upside down by the government for their own purpose. The government fabricated evidence, abused their authority and resources to get their man.

We don't have to resort to a movie to show the governments mishaps. Remember Steve J. Hatfill in the 2001 Anthrax attacks? The U.S. Attorney over the case leaked to the media Mr. Hatfill was a person of interest. The U.S. government turned Mr. Hatfill's life upside down during their investigation making his life a living hell. Hatfill sued the government for ruining his life and they settled for 5.8 million dollars.

Steve Hatfill had the resources to hire a high profile attorney to fight the U.S. Government. Mr. Hills didn't, he was appointed a public defender. Ironically Steve Hatfill and Oscar Hills resided in the same city and state (Baton Rouge, LA).

Oscar Hills IV was sentenced 33 months on March 17, 2011 and will start his sentencing May 23, 2011 all for something he didn't do!

If you want full details of this entire story please contact me at L-Dobbs@hotmail.com  

Regards,

L. Dobbs

#######

Re: UNITING A NATION IN THE MIST OF TURMOIL

bootstate35

05/19/11

It's more to that then what you see I have all the official court documents in hand. Mr. Hills had a public defender that sold him out. Never once has he been in trouble with the law. He fired the public defender and tried to recant his plea to no avail. If you want the official documents I'll be glad to send them to you.

###############

Re: Oscar Hills V. U.S. Government

By L. Dobbs

Sent: 5/21/2011 10:29 AM

Attached [SlantRight: The PDF attachments are referred near the end of my thoughts above.] is the government evidence that was altered to convict Mr. Hills. We have a new lead in the case as of yesterday. Mr. Hills sent a letter to the judge 2 months prior to the trial asking him to excuse the public defender he was appointed. In that letter he asked the judge to replace the attorney because he was displeased with his service. The judge never answered the letter. By law the judge has to address everything presented to him in court. So, hopefully that will wipe out the conviction and sentencing. Keep him in your prayers. I'm asking us all to come together to expose everyone that had something to do with this. God has it.

God Bless

________________________

Oscar Hills IV: Persecution or Prosecution?

The Text Below was Converted from a PDF File

INTRODUCTION

For the past 5 years, I Oscar Hills have experienced several injustices where the imminent fear of retaliation ultimately became my reality. One man has managed to work in collusion with others to abuse his government position merely to satisfy a personal vendetta. This abuse of power has put both my family and my life at risk. I implore the justice system to look into this matter whereas “a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

ORIGIN

On March 14, 2004, I contacted State Farm Insurance Company on behalf of the Baton Rouge Teen Summit Foundation, Inc. It was concerning structural and content damage caused by a heavy rain and wind storm.  I spoke with insurance claim adjuster Penny Barrow regarding said damages. An appointment was scheduled for her to come out and view the damages. Mrs. Barrow instructed me prior to scheduling a meeting to complete a walk through on both the outside and inside of the property. I was to itemize everything damaged caused by this storm and she will review each item with me. An appointment was scheduled for March 16, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. for Mrs. Barrow to come out and access the damages.

Refer to Exhibit A - US Evidence - State Farm’s Fire Claim Service Record

On March 16, 2004, State insurance agent Penny Barrow arrived at 1035 Executive Park Avenue Baton Rouge, LA 70806 to perform an inspection. She inspected interior & exterior structural damages as well as content loss on behalf of the Baton Rouge Teen Summit Foundation. An inspection was conducted on the roof, damaged equipment, flooring, walls, ceiling etc. I provided her with a list of all damages including content loss as requested. Mrs. Barrow and I went over every damaged piece of equipment in detail. Mrs. Barrow discussed with me the process of getting a value and replacement cost on the damage property and content. She told me State Farm has their own damage assessment department State Farm Recovery Services (hereinafter SFRS) and that she would submit the damage computers, printers and/or copiers to them to get an estimate on the replacement cost. She told me that because they didn’t specialize in professional video and audio equipment, she needed me to get 3 quotes from 3 separate venders that sell the damage contents I had. I was to submit them and they would accept the middle estimate.

This proves that in none of her activity logs does State Farm quote prices for music equipment only prices for computer equipment.

On that same day, Mrs. Barrow discussed the insurance options with me on the damaged structure and content. She explained that I had two options. The first was the Actual Cost Value (hereinafter ACV) of the damages and the second was the Replacement Cost Value (hereinafter RCV) of the damages. She explained what both values meant. With the ACV, I’m paid the value of the property minus the depreciation of how long I had the property. She also told me that I can still get the RCV of the property even if I opt to take the ACV value of the property. She explained that if I replaced the same exact content that was damaged and it cost more than the ACV they paid, State Farm will pay me the difference.

State Farm’s Policy: Valuation. “The value of covered property will be determined at “Replacement  cost,  WITHOUT  DEDUCTION  for  depreciation,  as  of  the  time  of  loss  to  all covered property other than that described in b. however;”

(1). “you may make a claim for loss covered by this insurance on an actual cash value basis instead of on a replacement cost basis. In the event you elect to have loss settled on an actual cash value basis, you may still make a claim on a replacement cost basis if you notify us of your intent to do so within 180 days after the loss.”

Basically, what the State Farm policy definition is saying, at the time of the lost if you elect to take the replacement cost value the insurer will pay you the replacement cost without the DEDUCTION for DEPRECIATION. But if you elect to take the actual cash value for your losses a DEDUCTION for DEPRECIATION will be made but you still have 180 days after that to make a claim on the RCV basis.

The State Farm policy definition goes on to say:

(2) “we will not pay for any loss on a replacement cost basis until the lost or damaged property is actually repaired or replaced and then, only if the repairs or replacement are made as soon as reasonably possible after the loss:”

It’s obvious I took the ACV basis of pay because State Farm paid me $18,113.22 which included a depreciated deduction on March 31, 2004. They paid me off quotes I hadn’t replaced or repaired any of my damage content prior to March 31, 2004.

Refer to Exhibit A (1) - US Evidence - State Farm’s Policy Definition

She further explained the formula they used to determine the ACV.  She told me State Farm uses a 4 year formula. State Farm takes the RCV of the damage property minus ¼ or .25 from the RCV amount for each year I had the content. Our content was only 1 year old. Mrs. Barrow also explained to me that if I opt to take the ACV on my damaged content, I didn’t have to buy the same exact equipment. I can purchase whatever I wanted because that’s the benefit of taken ACV of the content. I opted to take the ACV of the damaged content because I didn’t want to go back with the exact equipment. I wanted updated equipment. Before Mrs. Barrow left, she issued me a check for repair of the structural damage of the building. The check was in the amount of $2,615.01 which was the ACV of the structural damages.

Refer to Exhibit B - US Evidence - State Farm’s Activity Log

I was indicted on 4 counts of wire fraud for allegedly submitting 4 fraudulent invoices on April 1, 2009. The indictment stated that I submitted 4 fraudulent invoices to get paid an additional $8783.27. This was due to me IF I actually replaced the exact content that was damaged. The case went to trial on April 26, 2010. Mrs. Barrow was the U.S. Government’s first witness.

She stated that State Farm paid me an additional $8783.27 because I submitted 4 fraudulent invoices. She claims it is the depreciated amount deducted from the $18,113.22 paid to me on March 31, 2004.

She also claimed in her testimony that the $18,113.22 paid on March 31, 2004 was ACV for “all” the damaged contents I reported and listed. She said that she told me that I can get the depreciated amount IF I replaced the same contents and send her the invoices after I buy them.

Let me reiterate that Mrs. Barrow testified that the $18,113.22 was for ALL the damage contents. [SlantRight Editor: Emphasis Mine]

Refer to court transcript – 4/26/10 – Testimony of Penny Barrow – US v. Oscar

Hills IV Criminal No. 3:09-cr-46

In her activity logs she states and I quote “Met with the insured. Went over the items. They were approximately one year old. His technician is currently purchasing and building the unit. The amounts quoted by SFRS are in line with those submitted by the insured on several items. “THERE WERE SOME THAT COULD NOT BE QUOTED”. [SlantRight Editor: Italics and Emphasis Mine] How can State Farm Recovery Services (SFRS) pay the insurer for all their damaged contents if you cannot get a value or quote on some items?

Refer to Exhibit C – US Evidence - State Farm’s Activity Log

State Farm representatives not only say it in Exhibit C but they also reiterate it in Exhibit D – “This custom build computer the policyholder had listed for $11,500‐$12,000.00 is not available with SFRS. SFRS was able to quote some of the individual components of the computers”. Furthermore in Exhibit C, she also states, there are two remaining items”. The two items were a quote for the internal parts of the customized computer and a quote for Apple customized computer with the correct amount of memory. [SlantRight: Italics Mine]

Refer to Exhibit D – US Evidence – State Farm’s Activity Log

Hence, State Farm did not pay me for all the damaged contents on March 31, 2004.

Mrs. Barrow testified at trial on April 26, 2010 that she paid me for all the damage content on March 31, 2004 in the amount of $18,113.22.

Refer to court transcript – 4/26/10 – Testimony of Penny Barrow – US v. Oscar

Hills IV Criminal No. 3:09‐cr‐46

From Ms. Barrow’s own activity logs she indicates that she did not pay for the entire damage content.

Under cross examination by my appointed attorney Rodney Baum, Mrs. Barrow was asked: How did you come up with the payment amount of $8783.27 you issued to Mr. Hills?

Mrs. Barrow could not give an account of how she issued payment of the amount of $8,783.27 in which I was indicted for. My attorney went over the invoices which didn’t match the total amount paid out for the damaged contents. During her cross examination he again went over her activity logs and still Mrs.  Barrow was unable to account for her calculation of the $8,783.27.

Mrs. Barrow even told the court in her testimony, to justify the differences in the amounts of the individual payouts, saying “sometimes I just rounded off the payments and gave him more just being kind”. My attorney kept drilling Mrs. Barrow to give him a legitimate answer on how she came up with the payment amount of $8783.27, she couldn’t answer it and then he told the court no further questions. My attorney and I both knew how the $8783.27 was calculated and he didn't bring it up. I was infuriated!

Refer  to  Penny  Barrow  Testimony  –  Court  transcript  –  4/26/10  –  Cross Examination of Penny Barrow – US v. Oscar Hills IV Criminal No. 3:09‐cr‐46

STATE FARM’S CALCULATION OF THE $8783.27

After Mrs. Barrow and SFRS couldn’t get the value for the internal parts of our customized computer (as she stated several times in her activity logs), she asked me to get a quote for the internal parts from a vendor that sells the items.

Mrs. Barrow and SFRS left out the correct amount of memory in their quote on the Apple custom built computer.

SFRS quoted 512MB of memory in their quote and our customized computer had 4GB of memory. I told Mrs. Barrow the price of the Apple computer would be substantially more. As a result of that, she told me to get a quote from Apple with the correct amount of memory and submit both of the quotes to her and she would pay them minus the depreciation value.

Refer to Exhibit D (1) – US Evidence – State Farm’s Activity Log

Apple Computer’s quote with the correct amount of memory 4GB DDR400 was $6747.00.

Refer to Exhibit E – US Evidence ‐ Apple Computer Quote

I also got a quote from 5’0clock computers for the internal parts that State Farm couldn’t quote. The amount of the quote was $4,962.72.

Refer to Exhibit F – US Evidence – 5 O’clock Computers Quote

I submitted a quote from Apple Computers in the amount of: $6747.00

I also submitted a quote from 5 O’clock Computers in the amount of: $4962.72

Add them together and the total amount is: $11,709.72 Minus the 1 year depreciation of .25 or ¼ of the total amount which equals: $‐2927.43.

11,709.72 – 2927.34 (1 year depreciation) = $8782.29 – ($8783.27 Actual Payment) = 0.98

In conclusion, State Farm actually paid me $8783.27. This was a few pennies over my entitlement. Mrs. Barrow couldn’t tell the court how she came up with the $8783.27 I was paid. She stated under oath and cross examination that out of the kindness of her heart, she rounded off the numbers to give me more money. That kindness equated to a .98 cent landslide for me.

Refer to Court minutes of the cross examination of Penny Barrow - 4/26/10 -

United States v. Oscar Hills IV, Criminal No. 3:09‐cr‐46.

EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE WAS OMITTED AT TRIAL

The US Government excluded several pieces of Exculpatory Evidence specifically personal property inventory forms. These forms gave detailed descriptions and calculations of each settlement claim. As a result of that, I was indicted and charged on 4 counts of wire fraud with each count carrying a sentence of 20 years.

I received my 1st settlement letter from State Farm that reads: Dear Mr. Hills, Enclosed is a draft in the amount of $2615.01 in settlement of your claim. Please refer to the attached estimate which outlines the basis for payment. The itemized estimated for the basis for payments was included in the US Government evidence.

Refer to Exhibits G and G (1) – US Evidence - State Farm’s 1st Settlement Letter

A 2nd settlement letter was received that states:

“Dear Mr. Hills, Enclosed is a draft in the amount of $8,783.27 in settlement of your claim. Also enclosed is the personal property inventory form that explains the basis of this payment”.

Refer to Exhibit H – US Evidence – State Farm’s 2nd Settlement Letter

No personal property inventory form followed this letter in the US Government evidence.

A settlement letter that states:

“Dear Mr. Hills, Enclosed is a draft amount of $18, 113.22 in settlement of your claim. Please refer to the attached personal property inventory forms which outline the basis for payment”.

Refer to Exhibit I – US Evidence – State Farm’s 3rd Settlement Letter

No personal property inventory forms followed this letter in the US Government evidence either.

Note: if these 2 property inventory forms ($18,113.22 and $8,783.27) were included in their evidence there wouldn’t be an indictment or case. It just so happen the 2 personal inventory forms that are missing are the ones that are in question.

During Mrs. Barrow cross examination on April 26, 2010, my counsel asked her where were the personal property inventory forms that each letter stated was either enclosed or attached and why weren’t they included in the evidence?

Mrs. Barrow stated that she sent the insured a copy and didn’t keep a copy. My counsel responded, “You didn’t keep a copy for you records?” She replied “no”. My counsel then asked her to look at pages State Farm 00143 – 00148 and he stated this is an itemized copy and summary  of  the  water  damage  repairs  which  gives  a  breakdown  of  what  you  paid  the $22615.01 ACV and you testify that you didn’t and don’t keep records of the personal property inventory of the contents? It states on each letter that enclosed or attached is a personal property inventory form that explains the basis of this payment. She again replied, “No, we sent it to the insurer”.

Refer to – Court transcript – 4/26/10 – Cross examination of Penny Barrow

In an email from Joseph P. Gahn to Rene Salomon it states, "Furthermore, Oscar Hills mailed a letter to State Farm on 1 July 2004 and list his telephone number as 25‐231‐2738, his fax number as 225‐932‐0041 and his internet address as staffers@bellsouth.net.

Clearly the ATFE agent had all my contact information, why did he only subpoena my telephone number 225‐231‐2738 and not my fax number 225‐932‐0041? The fax number toll records would have supported his claim better because he says in his claim I faxed over 5 fraudulent invoices on April 7, 2004 and he had my fax number of 225‐932‐0041 as clearly stated.

ATFE agent Joey Gahn left out the fax number toll records because it didn’t support his claim. That would have eliminated his evidence for an indictment. This evidence coming from ATFE agent Joey Gahn, State Farm and the US government represented by US assistant attorney Rene Salomon was altered and obtained fraudulently.

It is criminal to submit fraudulent documents to obtain an indictment. It is further criminal for the U.S. Government to omit exculpatory evidence whereas an indictment would not have been secured.

Refer to Exhibit O – US Evidence – Email from Gahn to Salomon

There were 3 quotes I submitted to State Farm prior to March 31, 2004 to assist them in getting an accurate RCV on the damaged professional music equipment “only: that had to be replaced. Mrs. Barrow asked me to get and submitted to her so she can take the one in the middle and pay the replacement cost, they’re missing from the evidence submitted. Prior to March 31, 2004 I submitted three invoices; from Musician Friends, Sweet Water and Guitar Center Music to Mrs. Barrow that consist of a detail list of the same professional music equipment I had and the prices of each item. This was done so State Farm can get an accurate replacement cost on the professional audio and video equipment to pay me the ACV.

Refer to Exhibit C (1) – US Evidence – State Farm’s Activity Log

This is a timeline of the date of events for the alleged insurance fraud ATFE Agent Joey Gahn put together, it states: “April 6, 2004, Oscar Hills contacts MusicianFriends.com made two orders for equipment.”

If 2 orders were made from Musician Friends only one was included in the US Government evidence. The quote I got from Musician Friends was prior to March 31, 2004, which was used by State Farm to get the RCV for the damaged professional audio and video equipment. State Farm ultimately paid me the ACV from that quote on March 31, 2004 out of the $18,113.22.

Refer to Exhibit J – US Evidence – ATFE Agent Joey Gahn’s Timeline

ALTERATION OF DOCUMENTS TO SUPPORT THEIR CASE:

Initially the US Government submitted to my attorney Kenneth Riche their evidence on 4/28/09. In turn my Attorney supplied me with these documents attached to a cover letter dated 4/30/09 requesting the informal discovery response of the US as well as request for reciprocal discovery. Unknown to him, my attorney supplied me with the original copies he received from the US government.

Refer to Exhibit AA – Ass’t US Attorney Informal Discovery Response

On April 7, 2010, the US Government provided my appointed attorney Rodney Baum more evidence pertaining to my case. This letter dated 4/11/08 is addressed to Mr. Rene Salomon Assistant US Attorney. It stated “pursuant to the subpoena served upon me, I am making return with the original of the claim file requested in the subpoena duces tecum. [SlantRight: I hope I am not the only one that has no idea what duces tecum is. If you want to know Here]

Refer to Exhibit BB – US Evidence – Request for State Farm’s Original Claim File

In this second evidence from State Farm they have some of the same documents that are in their first evidence but now they’ve been altered. The documents that were altered are the 5 alleged fraudulent invoices.

Agent Gahn’s original submittal of my alleged State Farm claims did not include any fax transmittal information at the top of each page. These were the invoices used to secure an indictment.

Refer to Exhibits K – US Evidence – State Farm Claim Invoices

The invoices the US Government submitted for trial are the same as the ones used for the indictment however now includes fax transmittal information to support their case. These invoices have been altered.

Refer to Exhibits KK – US Evidence – Alleged Fraudulent invoices

Why was the later evidence which were supposed to be the exact same documents of the initial evidence different? During the trial, why did the prosecutor refer to the later evidence and not the original evidence?

Reason No. 1: in the ATFE agent’s appeal for an indictment and in his “Timeline for 2004 State Farm Insurance Fraud” ( Exhibit L), he states on “April 7, 2004, Oscar Hills “FAXES” to the Office of State Farm, 5 invoices alleging that he had purchased new equipment. Hills or some other person had doctored three of the quotes into invoices. The Apple invoice has order will be shipped in 5‐7 days by UPS, as of 4/6/2004 on the bottom. The fifth invoice was Konica/Minolta and was also a fake invoice.”

Refer to Exhibit L – US Evidence – ATF Joseph Gahn’s Timeline

Reason No. 2: (Exhibit M) Memo to Rene Salomon from Special Agent Joey Gahn. Agent Joey Gahn sends to Rene Salomon a summary of toll calls I made to all the vendors between 4/6/2004 – 4/7/2007 only, which were Musician Friend and 5’Oclock computers.

Refer to Exhibit M – US Evidence – Email From ATF Joseph Gahn

Included is a toll sheet for my phone number at the time which is 225-231-2738 showing the call I made to the different vendors on 4/6/-4/7/2004 that he subpoenaed from Bell South.

Refer to Exhibit N – US Evidence – Bellsouth Call Log

ATFE agent Joey Gahn or some other person had doctored the 5 alleged fraudulent invoices in the second set of evidence sent to Rene Salomon on April 11, 2008 to make the invoices look like they were ‘‘FAXED” from me to Penny Barrow on 4/7/2004 to support their evidence and claim.

ATFE agent Joey Gahn subpoenaed my phone records for phone number 225-231-2738 and only used the evidence that best fit his claim.

Additional altered documents

Subsequent faxed transmittal between me and State Farm that have been altered whereby the second copy has been altered to include fax transmittal information not found on the original evidence (Exhibit P).

In the doctored sheets the fax number was omitted as well as an incorrect time at the top of the page (Exhibit P (1)).  Refer to the sent time right under TO: Benny Barrow. It reads “4/7/2004 at 3:15:28 PM. My fax software stamps at the top of every page the date, time and second it was sent. It stamps the “EXACT” time it was sent on the cover page in the sent column at the top of every page. Now refer to the top of every page including the cover page, it reads “Date 4/7//2004 Time “3:17:22 PM”. The time is off by 1 minute and 54 seconds.

Refer to Exhibits P AND P (1) – US Evidence – Facsimile Cover Pages

To prove my case I’ve attached an authentic fax cover page (Exhibit Q). All bare the same time and date to the second at the top that’s identical to the sent column on the cover sheet. The 2nd evidence submitted by Rene Salomon and Joseph Gahn where altered and strategically placed in evidence to support their case.

Refer to Exhibit Q – Authentic – Facsimile Cover Page

PERSONAL VENDETTA:

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Joey Gahn tried and failed several times to get an indictment on me for an alleged arson fire at a restaurant my family operated.

The document states on top; Title of investigation: The Palace Fire.” Also, public records would include several subpoenas to testify in front of a grand jury between 2005 and 2006 in the Middle District of Louisiana Federal Court.

Refer to Exhibit R – US Evidence – Report of Investigation

This Agent promised me and my brother no matter what it takes he was going to make sure he gets us behind bars.

Agent Joey Gahn made good on his promise starting February 16, 2006 as noted when he started probing into my life history.

An email from State Farm representative Tommie Jean Howie and two other State farm employees; Phil Dixon and Lorina Tate dated February 21, 2006 4:08 PM. It states: “I rec’d a call yesterday from federal investigator, Darrel Sanders. He wants a copy of our claim file 18-A190-047, teen Summit. Lorina is sending me the claim file from the BR Leadership office. Mr. Sanders said they have been trying to get Oscar Fields and other parties for a while now and he knows Teen Summit filed this claim and was paid”.

At the bottom of the email it states: “Lorina, would you happen to have this claim file in your closed cabinet? It was closed 03/05.

Note: Daryl Sanders is a Baton Rouge Fire Department investigator. He accompanied ATFE agent Joey Gahn in the initial interviews we had after the fire. The “quote, “they’ve been trying to get Oscar Fields and other parties for a while now” Fields meaning Hills.

Refer to Exhibit S – US Evidence – State Farm from Tommie Jean Howie

SA Joseph Gahn faxed a letter over to State Farm attention Mr. Phil Dixon asking Mr. Dixon to please forward copies of the closed claim and check made payable to the Baton Rouge Teen Summit Foundation. He also asked Mr. Phil Dixon not to disclose this ongoing investigation to anyone because it might be compromised if he does so.

Refer to Exhibit T – US Evidence – Cover Letter and Request for Claim Copy

Activity Log dated 06-12-06 entered by State Farm’s employee Phil Dixon:

“Returned from OKC and Bllomington (sic) (2 weeks). Tommie advises the underwriting information was received and sent to ATF Gahn for his review, as requested. Nothing more for us to do at this point. Closing file pending contact from ATF on any follow up request or investigation.”

Activity Log dated 08-23-06 entered by Phil Dixon:

“Discussed with Detective Gahn. His investigation continues. He advised that an arrest may be forthcoming and if that occurs, would State Farm be interested in criminal restitution. I advised him we would. I will not open the file at this time pending any criminal arrest and possible restitution.”

Activity Log dated 10-10-06 entered by Phil Dixon:

“Spoke with Detective Gahn yesterday afternoon and his investigation continues. He asked whether State Farm archives emails into databse (sic) advised him was not sure Specifically he is looking for any email interaction between CR Barrow and Mr. Oscar Hills during the handling of the claim If there was he is planning to add wire fraud to the charges he plans to file against Oscar Hills advised Detective Gahn would check on this and get back with him.”

11-27-06 entered by Phil Dixion:

“There are no emails archived on this checked with Fire Mgmt There was no email interaction between CR Barrow and the insured Most all was done over the phone or in person Advised Detective Gahn of this”.

01-09-08 entered by State Farm’s employee Tommie Howie:

“At request of TM Phil Dixon and ATF Joe Gahn reopened archieved (sic) file assigning to SIU C/R Steven Mullins. Updated confidential status to include corporate atty Eric Daley.”

In State Farm’s own activity logs dating back to 4/27/2006 when ATF agent Joseph Gahn initially requested the closed claim, State Farm’s employees were hesitant to reopen the claim. As you can see in the logs ATF Joseph Gahn continued for approximately 3 years to stitch together a bogus case on me, until 2009 when he broke the law in doing so. If this isn’t a personal vendetta, what is?

Refer to Exhibit T (1) – US Evidence – State Farm’s Activity Logs

The question now is where do the other 3 fraudulent invoices come from?

We can rule out me because I previously explained how I was paid and proved my case with attached evidence produced by the US Government.

Even though State Farm had a lot to do with the corruption of this case, we can rule them out also. As stated, this was a closed and paid claim as of 03/05.

The remaining person of interest would be ATFE agent Joseph P. Gahn who requested and received the closed claim from State Farm and proceeded to present his one sided evidence. His evidence conveniently excluded Exculpatory evidence. ATFE agent Joseph P Gahn works for an entirely different agency that handles Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive(s). He crossed jurisdictions into the Federal agencies that handles wire fraud, mail fraud etc. which are the FBI and Postmaster. Instead of upholding justice, ATFE agent Joey Gahn used his authority to obstruct justice. There were several others that aided this venture including his superiors who allowed him to proceed. They include the US Marshalls that bust down the doors of my resident to arrest me. US Assistant Attorney Rene Salomon in July of 2009 told attorney Ken Riche “Yes, this is a personal vendetta against Mr. Hills. Agent Joey Gahn and US assistant attorney Walter Green couldn’t get him in the initial Palace Fire arson case so now they feel they got him”. [SlantRight: Italics Mine]

Refer to Exhibit 3 – Complaint Letter to US Justice Dept. Additional proof of a personal vendetta

This piece of evidence provided by the US government is an email dated 3/13/09 from Romeo J. Somera (ATF) to Rene Salomon (USALAM) it reads “REDACTED” at the top of the page and it states: “The incident that allegedly caused the loss (property damage) was on 3/14/04. Here are the breakdowns when the checks were issued.” [SlantRight: Italics Mine]

This email depicts the dates the checks were issued by State Farm, which says fraudulent claim down the list. At the bottom of this page right below the total and the total amount of $63,091.06 there’s 3 lines of a black sharpie pen across the entire page to obstruct information from view.

Rene Salomon not knowingly gave my attorney Ken Riche the original documents. Though a black marker was used, the words are still visible to the naked eye.

The three blacked out lines states:

“Theses checks were issued as a part of settlement on property damage claimed by Teen Summit Foundation, Inc. (not Palace Restaurant) that Oscar Hills co-own with his brother, Manjaro. If I am not mistaken, Fraud has a Statue of Limitations of 5 years, so probably you are looking at the very latest July 2, 2009”.

“I hope this info would help. Thanks” Romeo J. Somera, Esq. CFE, CFF, CPA

Refer to Exhibit V – US Evidence – Email from Attorney Somera

I am still in possession of these original documents for viewing. It is evident that ATFE agent Joey Gahn, the Baton Rouge area AFTE department and US Assistant Attorney Rene Salomon worked in collusion to indict me as a result of the restaurant fire and as previously stated would stop at nothing until they got one.

In conclusion, I was under a tremendous amount of duress and coerced into taking this plea by my Attorney Rodney Baum. He didn’t present any of this evidence though we discussed it at great length. He told me that the Government was out for revenge and they would be successful. I felt as if I had no choice. Immediately after accepting the plea I wanted to withdraw but my Attorney told me it couldn’t be done. I immediately went to work in attempts to secure a withdrawal of my plea in proper person but I initially was unsuccessful. I attempted to submit the withdrawal of my plea pro se but the clerk of courts forwarded my motion to my Attorney since he was still my Attorney of record. I immediately asked Rodney Baum to withdraw as my counsel. It took him almost three weeks to do so knowing time was of the essence. I eventually filed my motion to withdraw and was granted a court hearing on July 12, 2010. The hearing began and the judge informed me that I had the burden of proving why the court should allow a withdrawal of my guilty plea. I am a lay person and representing myself pro se and not knowing proper court procedures, my motion was denied. I now await sentencing for a crime that I didn’t commit. My only fault dates back to being at the Palace Restaurant’s fire which for me turned out to be the wrong place at the wrong time!

Refer to Exhibit 1 – US Evidence – Indictment a True Bill

Refer to Exhibit 2 – Motion to Withdraw Plea – Pro Se

Sincerely, Oscar Hills IV