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Mark Turner - Another Look

MARK TURNER.  I'm an interested ex-corporate exec., now retired, and have little to contribute to this. Perhaps you can help? At first I thought Mark's story was so complicated it couldn't be true. I discovered later that  Mark's business may indeed have  generated as much money as he said it did. His story is long and complicated, but regardless of his guilt or innocence, there is definitely  something wrong with the legal process he encountered. Maggie Thornton says his business dealings were honest. I'm not thoroughly convinced, but she may be right.  There is no question that he was improperly sentenced in one court, and deserves an appeal process in another. 


I have received several comments from a blogger named "Anonymous". He (or she) has chosen to remain unknown but clearly has an inside track to information about Mark's problems. I have removed my original speculations from this blog and regret there were so many errors. Sorry folks, my fault entirely.
1.   When I first learned about Mark Turner I was told that he sold as many as 4,000 cars per year. Divided by 12 months that equals roughly 335 cars per month. Anonymous says that it never happened and that the quantity of cars sold was much less.


2.   Mark was accused by the D.A. of money laundering. There seems to have been no evidence to support this charge.


3.   Mark's civil lawyer (Jim Chase) was illegally threatened by the D.A. not to testify in Mark's behalf. He thereafter would NOT testify.


4.   The civil lawyer Jim Chase later decided to testify at Mark's criminal trial, but Mark's criminal lawyer (Beroset) did not call him to testify.


5.   Mark and Pete Moore had a verbal agreement whereby Pete would purchase 1/2 of Mark's Internet business.  Pete has not honored this agreement.


6.   David Turner (Mark's brother) is heavily involved in Mark's problems.
           a.  He tried to empty Mark Turner's bank account and failed.
           b.  He was involved in a suit against Hartford Insurance and the
                suit was dropped in a criminal trial by Judge Michael Jones -
           c.  who also dropped David Turner's charge that Mark Turner
                removed his name from the original business checking
                account to take sole control of the company.
            d. David Turner was not the owner of Mark Turner's companies.
                Mark Turner was.


7.   David Turner did tell his son in law Anthony Ramsey to give him the days deposit of nearly $40,000 which he then deposited into his (David Turner's) wholesale account. This money belonged to Pete Moore and Mark Turner.


8.   David Turner did write Anthony Ramsey a check for $5,000 and gave him a car for helping him (steal) Mark and Pete's $40,000.


9.   Curiously, Anthony Ramsey continued to work for Pete Moore?


10. Pete Moore and his Attorney Mike Guttmann did testify (I need to clarify civil or criminal trial.)


11.  Mike Guttmann testified that he personally handed Mark Turner's check for $205,000 to Pete Moore.


12.  Mark Turner sued Pete Moore civilly for $36,000,000. Pete's insurance company lawyers came after Mark Turner so they would not have to pay. 


13.  One of those (civil case) lawyers (perhaps Kevin Hausfeld) went to the Escambia Sheriffs Office and was given (by Sgt. Busby) all state evidence for a SLAPP case against Mark. This lawyer knew there was a legal case which included this lawyer's client Pete Moore. This act was in violation of the "chain of evidence custody".


14.  Per "Anonymous: It is our belief that Mark's CRIMINAL ATTORNEYS were in cahoots with the D.A. and Pete Moore. Mark's attorney had Pete as a previous client!  He should have excused himself from representing Mark and never should have taken Mark's money because it was a conflict of interest"!


Bump

 
http://www.markturnerandfriends.com/main.aspx?page=peopleinvolved.htm

Comments

Greybeard said…
Interesting stuff. With my Mother safely residing in Pensacola, I watched with interest when the murders initially happened and, like everyone else, thought... hmmmmm. WHY?!!

When we fly over some neighborhoods here my passengers will frequently ask incredulously, "WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE DO FOR A LIVING?"
And my answer, only half jokingly, is "They sell drugs!"
The "conspicuous consumption" of some folks is incredible. It's sad really...
I don't resent them the things they own, but no one can possibly use all those THINGS and truly enjoy them.
I'll be reading with interest, Dix.
Anonymous said…
Mark had a successful website business where he sold used cars. He bought a few but, mostly sold used cars on consignment for other dealers who were unsuccessful with used car sales. He sold used cars on his website for many other dealers other than Pete Moore. Mark's brother David had a used car business in Alabama where he would wholesale used cars and it was unsuccessful. David and Mark started a used car lot together. Mark later came up with an idea to sale them on the internet. So Mark had someone help design a website under Mark's direction. Later, The Auto Auction called David and Mark to a meeting in order to clarify the two different accounts. It was made clear to her by both David and Mark that there were two seperate accounts. One being owned by David and the other Inc. account being owned by Mark. See court testimony on trial transcript. At some point Mark was at the bank and was asked to sign a new signature card because the bank had been sold and they were updating their records. Since David never had much to do with the business (see court transcript) he never went to the bank and therefore never signed the signature card. At some point David and Mark had a falling out. David asked his son-in-law to take the checkbook. Mark went to the bank to see if he could get his outstanding checks paid. The bank watched the account and asked Mark to open a new account where they would cover incoming checks against the old account to avoid a returned check. David claims Mark took him off the account. This could not be proven in court. The judge threw it out. There was no money laundering going on even though that is what the DA charged. Mark later put the money in a trust account with his lawyers. Later he opened another account. The moving of his money from bank to trust account to bank is where the money laundering charge came from. The DA threatened Mark's civil lawyer if he tesified on Mark's behalf he would charge him with money laundering for holding monies in a trust. This is witness intimidation! The lawyer didn't want his named trashed to later be found out to be innocent of wrong doing. The damage to his reputation would have already been done, causing him to lose business and income. He decided later to testify but, was not called by Mark's criminal Attorney. The civil trial is still in limbo. It has not gone to court as of yet. There has been delays and legal stalling. Thus, Mark was hit with a SLAPP suit. Look up what a SLAPP suit is. A retaliation against a civil suit with claims of crimal charges. Pete Moore NEVER filed a claim against Mark because he had no reason to but,the DA said in his closing arguement that he decided to charge Mark. Pete did file a civil suit on David Turner for failing to make payments on mortgaged property on which Pete held a lein and that property went into foreclosure. Mark had a civil suit against Pete for failing to pay him for the theft of his internet business. Mark and Pete had an agreemet to buy 1/2 of Mark's internet business. It is a long and confusing story. Read More at MarkTurnerandfriends.com.
Anonymous said…
Why are you trying to tie Mark Turner in with the Mexican Mob? He had nothing to do with that type of Dealings. He sold used cars over the internet and was very successful. He even received a letter from Ebay stating such. He is a very inventive person because he has a learning disability and has learned to compensate.
Anonymous said…
What are you talking about when you say Mark was getting duplicate titles from someone in Alabama? Mark got the titles from the dealer who held them until the car was sold on his website and the buyer came to pick it up. Would you please explain where you got this information?
Anonymous said…
Dear Mr. AOBH,
please check your facts against the website trial transcripts at Markturnerandfriends and maggiesnotebook.blogspot
Mark Turner's civil trial is pending. Beroset was Mart Turner's criminal attorney. Chase is Mark's civil attorney. There was never any Mexico transactions or sales, ever. There was never any "loan" from Pete Moore to Mark Turner. There was a revolving line of credit where cars were sold for Pete on the internet and then when Mark Turner was paid by the customer, Pete Moore was paid by Mark Turner. There was never any 335 cars sold from Pete Moore to Mark Turner at any one time. There was never any connection between Bud Billings and Mark other than they both had similar deals structured through Rick Hamilton under the Pete Moore business model. The Christianson brothers were wholesaling cars on the side and both colluded with David Turner to fraudulently file against Hartford Insurance Company's bond for the car dealership on a vehicle they had already been paid for. Their charges were dropped in the criminal trial by Judge Michael Jones, as was David Turner's charge that Mark purposely removed his name off the original business checking account to take sole control of the company. David was not the owner of Mark Turner's companies. David Turner was the owner and paid taxes on his wholesale car businesses, Auto Gallery of Pensacola Wholesale out of Florida and Stateline Auto Sales out of Alabama. See his CPA's testimony. David Turner DID instruct his son in law Anthony Ramsey to provide him with the day's deposit of nearly $40,000 which he fraudulently deposited into his wholesale account. This money belonged to Pete Moore and AFC cars that Mark sold on his website. David Turner admits in trial he "lived off the money" he took.
Anonymous said…
David Turner DID try to empty Mark's business account because he had been a signer on the count and had recently written himself a loan from Mark's company checkbook, signed it and cashed it at the bank. David Turner's name was never added to the signature card when the bank changed hands from Horizon Bank to Bank of Pensacola. That is not Mark Turner's doings. Annette Cruz, Mark's banker phoned Mark to let him know that David was trying to empty the account. David traveled to Tallahassee to make a Corporate change of officers and have it faxed to the bank so he could get them to release the funds. The banks attorneys froze the account and Annette Cruz personally opened a second account for Mark so that incoming money on the original account could be deposited and checks written on the original account could be covered and paid out. If David Turner had been successful in emptying the account, Pete Moore and AFC checks for cars sold would have been returned. Instead, they were honored. The banks attorneys reviewed the corporate documents and the tax returns and issued an $8,000 cashiers check for the remainder of the original account and the balance of the second account to Mark Turner. Mark Turner gave both these checks to his civil attorney Jim Chase to maintain transparency and they waited to see if there was any further issue as to the claims against that money. In the meantime, David Turner was out hiring any attorney he could get to file a civil suit against Mark and the bank because he was still claiming the funds were his. A bank doesn't ask you to close an account, they close it for you. A customer can not freeze funds in an account, the bank does that to protect their interest. If someone did some digging, they will not find an account application filled out by Mark for account #2 because Annette Cruz did this to protect the individuals that were paid checks off the original account. Business still had to go on despite David Turner's attempts to take the money and his mistress to Belize.

David Turner did write Anthony Ramsey a check for $5,000 and a car for helping him steal Mark's $40,000 plus the checkbook plus the file of Titles to most of the vehicle inventory. David Turner also stole a vehicle from Mark's inventory to give to his mistress Linda Kehoe. To date, Anthony Ramsey continues to work for Pete Moore and David Turner continues to leach off his faithful wife Lisa Culpepper Turner.
Pete Moore DID testify numerous times. His civil attorney Mike Guttmann DID testify numerous times. Mike Guttmann DID state clearly in trial that he "personally put the check for $205,000 from Mark Turner's closing agent in Pete Moore's hand". Roxanne Sawyer DID testify that she never saw the check and thought Mark owed a balance of $106,000 which was the figures she gave to the State's Forensic Accountant. The State's Forensic Accountant never started with the corrent balance before subtracting the check/monies Mark paid Pete Moore Chevrolet. Rick Hamilton was also paid by Mark Turner. Rick Hamilton also sent a W2 for the balance owed, claiming it as a write off to the IRS. Pete Moore wrote off the balance owed with the IRS. How does someone get that done?

Mark did not owe Pete Moore any money. Pete owed Mark for the internet business he stole.
Dixon Webb said…
Mr. or Mrs. Anonomous . . . and all of the ships at sea. The Mark Turner problems are indeed complicated. I made an attempt to sort them out - and failed. Maggie says Mark is the victim of a corrupt legal system and dishonest testimony. She says he is innocent of the crime he was sentenced to jail for. I believe Maggie.

But there are many indicators that something (probably illegal) was going on between David/Mark/Billings/Pete and others. I finally gave up trying to piece it all together. Now you have brought many of my errors to light. I shall look over your comments carefully and make whatever changes appear to be warranted.

It may take me a few days.

Appreciate your comments.

Bump
Anonymous said…
Mark sued Pete civilly for $36 million the lawyers from the insurance company came after Mark so they would not have to pay. If you go to Mark's website as you research more about Mark's case, please be aware of an important fact that Pete had insurance on his business for legal issues, most businesses do. When you look through the bar complaint letters from the attorney's back to the Florida State Bar you will find the name Kevin Hausfeld. He admits to going to the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and seeing Sgt. Busby. Busby gave all the evidence the state had (on trying to build a SLAPP case for 4 years against Mark) to this civil lawyer knowing there was a legal case in which included this lawyer's client Moore. So, this firm that represents Pete's insurance company had full access off premises to all the evidence the state had and the state was unable to build a case but, all of a sudden this CIVIL lawyer NOT licensed or practicing in CRIMINAL law gives Busby a list of what Mark can be charged with. It is our belief, he more than likely and certainly had the opportunity to take out evidence that would have helped Mark prove he was not guilty of these charges. (The DA changed these charges more than 20 times as Mark showed evidence he had in his records of his innocence.) Also, this act was in violation to the chain of evidence custody. This was only found out after the trial and conviction when Mark filed the bar complaints with the Florida Bar. That alone should get him a new trial, in my opinion! Then you add in the findings in the restitution hearing! Fraud all the way around and it is our belief that Mark's criminal attorneys were in cahoots with the DA and Moore. Because Mark's attorney had Pete as a previous client! He should have excused himself from representing Mark and never should have taken Mark's money because it was a conflict of interest!
Anonymous said…
New info on the Mark Turner Story! Here's the link http://usobserver.com/
Steven Jones said…
I worked with Mark and KNOW that his dealings were honest. It breaks my heart knowing he's innocent while serving time in prison. Hey Pensacola and beyond....spread the word about this case! Email someone NOW!!

Steven Jones
Albany, GA
Anonymous said…
With the exception of trade-ins, used car dealers get their
inventory from auctions. The cars on this list were chosen under the assumption that
the buyer is paying cash, rather than taking out a loan which carries a monthly payment.

Be armed with indisputable knowledge of the vehicles worth.
Here is my web blog : used car
chill said…
Per "Anonymous: It is our belief that Mark's CRIMINAL ATTORNEYS were in cahoots with the D.A. and Pete Moore. Mark's attorney had Pete as a previous clientCriminal Attorney NY

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