San Antonio lawyer, Netflix sued for defamation over elder guardianship of 83-year-old

By David Yates

SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio attorney has been sued for defamation over a Netflix series called Dirty Money, which featured the guardianship of an elderly man who had some $3 million in assets, according to a press release.

Tonya Barino alleges in her 29-page complaint that attorney Phil Ross and his paralegal Jo Anne Rivera participated in a conspiracy that destroyed Barino’s name and reputation while involved in the guardianship proceedings of 83-year-old Charles Thrash.

“Phillip Ross is an attorney of incompetent and reckless charlatan-esque repute,” Barino’s pleading states. 

As previously reported in Southeast Texas Record, Thrash owned an automotive shop on West Avenue in San Antonio for 50 years and had been in the news for marrying his divorcee girlfriend, Laura A Martinez, without his court-appointed guardian’s permission.

Plaintiff Barino also names Laura A. Martinez and her adult children Brittany A. Martinez, Jose H. Martinez, and Michelle C. Martinez as defendants.

“Through various platforms, Laura, Brittany, Michelle, and Joe published statements of and concerning plaintiff that each knew to be false, intentionally disregarded known falsity and intentionally defamed the plaintiff with a specific intent to defame and harm the plaintiff,” the complaint states. 

A Free Charlie Thrash website states that Thrash has not been seen in 741 days and a Youtube channel called Charlie Thrash's Friends features various videos.

Barino's lawsuit references the Netflix series Dirty Money, in which an episode portrayed the alleged misuse of legal guardianship proceedings concerning Charlie Thrash. 

“The gist of the episode is that Thrash and the sources, Laura and Brittany are victims of the plaintiff's overreaching and abusive conduct toward Thrash and that Ross is some type of hero and that the plaintiff is a villain,” Barino’s Austin attorney Carl Kolb wrote. “The episode also gave an audience to Ross and his paralegal Jo Anne Rivera. Both falsely and intentionally defamed the plaintiff.”

The Dirty Money episode aired on March 11, 2020, but has since been removed from the Netflix menu of offerings.

“Martinez’s children, Brittany, Michelle, and Joe, before and after the airing of the episode have all made similar online comments concerning the plaintiff,” Barino’s attorney alleges. “Hundreds of people around the world have chimed in the chorus of lies published by the defendants, republishing the defamatory material and further libelous and obscene comments, which continue today.”

The complaint further states that nearly a year before the episode aired in May 2019, Attorney Ross was sanctioned in the sum of $222,974 for conspiring with Laura to fleece the Thrash estate and is currently being subjected to disciplinary proceedings.

Netflix, Alex Gibney, and Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions are also named as defendants in Barino’s lawsuit.

“The degree to which the episode skewed the facts demonstrates that the Jigsaw defendant did so with actual malice or with a specific intent to sensationalize the defamatory information for the purpose of harming the plaintiff for profit,” Barino’s pleading states.

Gibney is an American documentary film director and producer who graduated from UCLA Film School and Yale University.

“In the midst of an ongoing global pandemic during which much of the world's population has been quarantined at home watching television, the above-named defendants published or caused to be published worldwide and or appeared in an episode of the Netflix series, Dirty Money, entitled Guardians, Inc., in which plaintiff was falsely and maliciously defamed," Plaintiff's attorney states.

The lawsuit was filed in Bexar County's 285th Judicial District.

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San Antonio lawyer, Netflix sued for defamation over elder guardianship of 83-year-old

Janice Dean calls for justice for NY seniors at nursing home memorial: 'We want answers'

By Evie Fordham

Family members of New York nursing home residents who say their relatives contracted coronavirus and died after Gov. Andrew Cuomo's March 25 directive held a memorial on Sunday with attendees including Fox News' Janice Dean.

Dean, who attributes her in-laws' coronavirus deaths to Cuomo's directive, said she and the other rally attendees had become like family.

"I'm here today as a grieving family member, not someone who is politically motivated, which our governor likes to call me," she said. "We are bound togther because we want answers, and we will not stop."

Dean's in-laws, Mickey and Dee Newman, died in spring 2020.

Protesters against Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of nursing homes COVID-19 deaths, gather outside Cobble Hill Health Center nursing home on Sunday, March 21, 2021 in New York. (AP Photo/David Crary)

"We had no idea [Mickey Newman] had died of Covid until we saw the death certificate," Dean said. "We had no idea there was a March 25 order for Covid-positive patients to nursing homes. My husband had to deliver the news to his mother that his father was dead, and she was heartbroken. Two weeks later she got Covid."

Family members constructed a "We Care Memorial Wall" with photos of their lost loved ones.

New York City Councilmember Brad Lander and New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim also attended the rally organized by Peter and Daniel Arbeeny, two brothers who blame Cuomo for their father's death in 2020.

"There's 100,000 people like me and those around me who lost the ones they loved most," Daniel Arbeeny said.

Peter Arbeeny thanked nursing home staff and said he does not blame individual nursing homes or workers.

"As a Covid orphan, we need answers, we need an apology and we need a fair investigation," he said.

New York lawmakers are preparing an impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Kim was an early proponent of impeachment.

"When I got that call from Cuomo threatening my career and my livelihood to lie for him ... I was afraid he would escape accountabilty," Kim told the crowd, adding that he lost his uncle to coronavirus in a nursing home.

"His reign of abusive power will end soon because there are way too many decent people in the city of New York to let this guy go unchecked. ... We will find the truth," Kim said.

Attendees held signs with slogans including "Cuomo made our parents 'uncomfortable' #SeniorsToo" and "Apologize Andrew!"

Cuomo has faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his administration's March 25 directive that barred nursing homes and other long-term care locations from turning away thousands of coronavirus-infected seniors.

Despite Cuomo's efforts to attribute the controversy to partisan politics, as questions swirling around his handling of the pandemic continue, his administration was forced to admit that nursing home deaths had topped 15,000 – nearly 10,000 more than was originally reported by the state at the end of January.

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Janice Dean calls for justice for NY seniors at nursing home memorial: 'We want answers'

Group creates Easter baskets for those in assisted living, long-term care facilities

RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. (WLOS) — A mountain community is getting ready for Easter -- with plenty of baskets!

A group gathered at the Rutherfordton Clubhouse Sunday morning to assemble 600 of them.

All the Easter baskets are going to people in assisted living and long-term care facilities.

A special thanks was offered today to the woman who organized this special event.  

March 21, 2021 - A group gathered at the Rutherfordton Clubhouse Sunday morning to assemble 600 Easter baskets which will go to people in assisted living and long-term care facilities -- those especially impacted by pandemic shutdowns over the last year. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)

"I think this past year has been rough on everybody but I think the residents have had a really hard time not getting to see their family members," said Donna Bennett-Cobb, Rutherfordton resident. "As a community, it's good fellowship for us, too, and we've had a good time doing it and just spending some time together. Something good, nothing negative at all."

The group said that Bennett-Cobb did something similar on Valentine's Day, reaching out to pandemic-bound people in Rutherford County.

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Group creates Easter baskets for those in assisted living, long-term care facilities

San Antonio lawyer faces disciplinary proceedings in the guardianship of elderly military wife and her daughter

By David Yates

SAN ANTONIO - A State Bar of Texas disciplinary committee sued a San Antonio attorney alleging he was deceitful and dishonest in the guardianship of an incapacitated person, according to a press release.

The Commission for Lawyer Discipline filed the complaint in Bexar County’s 285th Judicial District alleging that when Attorney Philip Martin Ross represented Sybil Sims and her daughter Suzanne Sims Baker, he transferred Sims’ assets to himself through an irrevocable trust and also obtained $25,000 from her as assets for legal expenses.

“After Respondent [Ross] had been found by a Comal County court to lack authority to represent Sims because of her incapacity, Respondent executed a second trust instrument purporting to convey the assets of the first irrevocable trust into another, thereafter,” wrote Disciplinary Counsel Paul Homburg in the Original Disciplinary Petition.

The lawsuit further alleges that despite court orders, Ross continued to act as owner of the assets of the trust, including Sims’ homestead property from which he sought to evict Sims’ son, and which he purported to list for sale. 

“Respondent took actions in the litigation regarding the Sims guardianship and property that were for his own benefit and adverse to the interest of Sims whom he claimed to represent,” Homburg stated in the pleading. “Respondent engaged in conduct involving deceit, dishonesty or misrepresentation.”

Sims was the widow of USAF Lt. Col. Harold "Hal" Sims Sr.

The complaints alleging professional misconduct, which initiated the disciplinary proceedings, were filed by Sims' adult children Harold Sims, Jr. and Cynthia Sims Kirkland. The Supreme Court of Texas has appointed Judge Robert Cadena of the 83rd Judicial District Court to preside over Ross’s disciplinary action. (Case #2019CI21028)

“Respondent [Ross] represented a person when the representation was adversely limited by the interests of the Respondent or another person to whom Respondent owed obligations,” Homburg wrote. “Respondent failed to comply with orders of the court regarding the property of Sybil Sims. Respondent engaged in conduct intended to unreasonably increase the burdens of litigation regarding Sybil Sims and her property.”

The lawsuit further states that Ross purported to represent the interests of Sybil Sims at a time when she did not have the capacity to execute contracts, deeds, or other similar documents.

As previously reported in the Southeast Texas Record, Ross was also sued by Tonya Barino last week for alleged defamation after he appeared in a Netflix series called Dirty Money, which featured the guardianship of Charlie Thrash, an elderly man who had some $3 million in assets. 

“Phillip Ross is an attorney of incompetent and reckless charlatan-esque repute,” wrote Barino who had been appointed guardian of the estate for Thrash.

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San Antonio lawyer faces disciplinary proceedings in the guardianship of elderly military wife and her daughter

Michigan lawmakers re-introduce bills to offer more protections for seniors

Photo by: WYSM

House lawmakers are re-introducing a package of bills that stalled out last session. The bills would seek to offer more protections for elders and guard against abuse.

By: Erica Murphy

LANSING, Mich. — A package of bills aimed at putting stronger protections in place for the Michigan’s senior citizens has been introduced again after stalling out in the state Senate last year.

House Bills 4472 through 4479 are making their way through the state House again this session.

The eight-bill package seeks to improve protections for seniors and add some that aren’t currently part of state law.

The bills would re-work some penal codes to create a category called elder adults, people who are 80 years old or older. The proposed legislation would also impose stiffer criminal penalties for stealing from or assaulting an elder adult.

“We know that there’s been lots of scams and lots of folks who are using a health crisis to exploit folks, to particularly exploit senior citizens and other vulnerable populations," said state Rep. Sarah Anthony, one of the lawmakers sponsoring the bills. "So I think COVID is even more timely to finally address elder abuse in our state."

According to the Michigan House of Representatives, people aged 85 and older are the fastest growing segment of the population segment in Michigan. Current census projections forecast there will be 2.7 million Michigan residents age 60 and older by 2030. 

The American Bankers Association estimates that over $2.9 billion dollars has been stolen from seniors across the country in the last year alone.

Anthony says she fully expects these bills to become law.

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Michigan lawmakers re-introduce bills to offer more protections for seniors

Magnolia man receives probation for exploitation of his father

by Becky Bell

William Paul Hunter, charged with abuse of adults and two counts of exploitation, pled guilty to charges Thursday in the 13th Judicial District Court in Magnolia.

Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Rainwater said the state’s proof against Hunter is that on April 4, 2018 and on Oct. 26, 2018, Hunter took an unauthorized credit card from his father, who was a resident of what was then the Community Compassion Center (now Magnolia Health & Rehabilitation).

Hunter owes $7,278 in restitution and was given five years’ probation.

He also has to pay all court cost and fees associated with the crime.

Because the case involved abuse of an elderly person, the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office was also involved on John Hunter’s behalf.

He is paying $125 per week of restitution to the county now.

According to the affidavit filed Nov. 9, 2019, Community Compassion Center Administrator Patricia Bullard reported to the Office of Long-Term Care that William Hunter had made unauthorized withdrawals on the account of his father.

On March 15, 2019, Bullard was interviewed by authorities. She advised that the senior Hunter had been admitted to the facility on April 18, 2018 but said no payments had been made to the facility, the affidavit reads.

“Bullard started the process of applying for Medicaid on behalf of the resident; she discovered this theft when she obtained three months of the resident’s bank statements,” the affidavit reads. “The records indicated that William Hunter was added to the account on 03-02-2018. The records showed withdrawals and purchases to various merchants, including Walmart and Best Value Rental.”

The suspect’s father gave a statement on March 20, 2019 that his son was not authorized to make these charges.

Video was obtained from Walmart and Best Value Rental showing William Hunter using the debit card on his father’s account numerous times.

Additional records were obtained from Farmers Bank. The records indicate that $4,563.08 was charged on the debit card from April 19, 208 to October 26, 2018.

“On May 6, 2019, William Hunter was interviewed after being advised of his Miranda rights in writing,” the affidavit reads. “Williams admitted to making the unauthorized charges on this account, and agreed that he exploited his father.”

William Hunter’s attorney, Gary McDonald of El Dorado, said his client would rather pay the $7,285 in restitution than go to trial.

“There is a real question in my mind if he was really guilty,” McDonald said. “He was actually placed on the card by his father.”

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Magnolia man receives probation for exploitation of his father

I-Team: Elderly, vulnerable adults lived in rat-infested group home with closet-sized bedrooms, others slept in tents, police say

Unlicensed group home houses 7 people, some in tents, police say

 

by: David Charns

 

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas woman is facing charges after police found several elderly and vulnerable adults living in closet-sized bedrooms in a rat-infested home, court documents said.

Luz “Eleanor” Larock faces seven counts of abuse of an older or vulnerable person and seven counts of neglect or an older or vulnerable person.

Police said seven people were removed from the home that were in Larock’s care. Investigators said three of the adults were unable to care for themselves.

When police entered the home, they were “overwhelmed by the strong odor of what seemed to be mildew, spoiled food, animal waste, water damage and smoke,” the arrest report said. Police also reported seeing rats in the home and animal waste on floors and countertops, the report said.

One resident told police he moved to the home in 2018. He had recently started living in a tent in the backyard “because ‘rats the size of cats’ infested the home, so he refused to go inside,” the report said.

Another resident lived in a room with a “filth, feces-stained twin mattress with no bedding,” the report said.

Police said a man died in the home just days before a second inspection. He was found face down on the floor without a pulse, the police report said.

Larock was convicted on charges a decade ago “related to abusing and neglecting her residents” at a licensed group home. Investigators believe Larock used her former license to run an unlicensed group home out of her personal residence.

According to court records, in 2010, Larock pleaded guilty to a charge of neglect of a vulnerable person and was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence. A judge ordered her to complete 120 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine.

As part of the 2021 investigation, the city issued Larock a code enforcement violation for several make-shift bedrooms that were in the two-bedroom townhome, according to the arrest report. The report describes the make-shift bedrooms as “the size of large closets.”

According to the arrest report, “[Larock] said she was aware some of the residents, including those who were removed, should not be living in her home due to their high care needs and needed to be in a licensed facility.”

Larock dismissed allegations she was mistreating her residents and claimed they were better off living in the closet-sized bedrooms than living on the streets where she said she found most of them.

A judge released Larock on bail. She is due in court in April.

Earlier this month, Metro police told the I-Team they had discovered 36 unlicensed group homes over the past two years.

Adult Protective Services (APS), a state program investigating claims of suspected abandonment, abuse, exploitation, isolation or neglect, classifies a vulnerable adult as someone who is in the care of another person between the ages of 18 and 59.

A person older than 60 is considered an older person when it comes to the state definition.

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I-Team: Elderly, vulnerable adults lived in rat-infested group home with closet-sized bedrooms, others slept in tents, police say

Kirsten Gillibrand: Prosecute owners of nursing homes who allowed abuse, neglect

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., arrives at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021. Joshua Roberts | Pool via AP

By Mark Weiner

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants the federal government to probe problems in the nursing home industry and start prosecuting owners of nursing homes who put profits ahead of patient care.

Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said she read a series of reports by syracuse.com revealing numerous cases of horrific abuse and neglect at the Pontiac Nursing Home in Oswego.

Federal and state regulators this week added the for-profit, 80-bed facility to a list of the nation’s worst nursing homes.

Gillibrand said it’s part of a nationwide problem that needs urgent oversight and a full government review of the industry.

“There needs to be prosecution of the owners of these nursing home facilities who did cut costs, who did cut corners,” the senator said Thursday at an editorial board meeting of syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

“I think the fact that we give a pass to all white-collar crime in this country is a serious problem,” Gillibrand said. “And I’m very concerned about the private equity firms that have owned nursing homes and have cut costs that resulted in the death of people.”

Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, said she will use her position on the panel to push for more oversight and accountability of nursing home operators.

In Oswego, Pontiac Nursing Home has been cited for failing to protect residents from sexual abuse, not sending gravely ill residents to the hospital for emergency care and letting water from a leaky roof drip into residents’ rooms for years.

Federal and state officials designated Pontiac as a “special focus facility” because of its “persistent record of poor care,” a state Health Department spokesman said Thursday.

Pontiac is owned by Cosimo Mastropierro of Long Island, who owns three other nursing homes in New York state.

Gillibrand said the coronavirus pandemic has helped expose the structural problems of for-profit nursing homes. She’s particularly concerned about nursing homes owned by private equity funds as investments.

“Those private equity firms, they want profits over anything,” Gillibrand said.

In January, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., slammed a privately-owned nursing home chain for paying a $5.2 million bonus to its CEO during the coronavirus pandemic. Genesis Healthcare had 2,812 patients die from Covid-19 across its 350 locations, Warren said.

At an Aging Committee hearing Thursday, Gillibrand also brought up the issue of the undercounting of nursing home deaths from Covid-19, an issue in New York and other states.

Gillibrand last month confirmed that federal authorities are investigating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a report Jan. 28 that found the state was undercounting Covid deaths in nursing homes by about 50% during the pandemic. The attorney general’s findings were similar to those of a syracuse.com investigation published independently on the same date.

Cuomo’s top aide later admitted the state intentionally kept the data from the public over fears former President Donald Trump would use the information to launch politically motivated investigations.

The governor faced criticism for his order in March 2020 that required nursing homes to accept Covid-positive patients discharged from hospitals.

Cuomo rescinded the order in May. He has said repeatedly that his earlier order was based on federal guidance.

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Kirsten Gillibrand: Prosecute owners of nursing homes who allowed abuse, neglect

Police arrest caregiver accused of stealing from disabled Newark woman

Terralyn Jackson-Whitehead

By Josh Shannon

Police have arrested a Philadelphia woman accused of stealing from a disabled Newark resident for whom she was working as a caregiver.

Terralyn Jackson-Whitehead, 27, turned herself in Wednesday to face charges of felony theft from a disabled adult and unlawful use of a payment card, according to Lt. Andrew Rubin, a spokesman for the Newark Police Department. After being arraigned, she was released on her own recognizance.

The investigation began in November 2019, when a different caregiver for the victim called police to report suspicious activity on the victim’s credit card.

The woman, who lives in the 400 block of Stamford Drive in Fairfield, told police there were multiple charges on her card that she did not authorize.

“Newark Police developed evidence that her caregiver at the time, Terralyn Jackson-Whitehead, used the victim’s credit card to make various purchases for the benefit of herself and not the victim,” Rubin said.

Police obtained a warrant for Jackson-Whitehead’s arrest a year ago, but officers were unable to locate her. In July, they issued a public plea for information about her whereabouts.

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Police arrest caregiver accused of stealing from disabled Newark woman