The Wizard Of Cons Is Back!Part 5: Mike and The Crime "He Didn't Commit"

How does one go onto the internet and profess to everybody that one is a changed man, who has taken responsibility for all past actions, when one can’t even acknowledge the crimes committed?

How does one try and implicate a man whom one obviously has it in for and at that same time attempt to destroy the reputations of others who have nothing to do with that man?

How does one solve a problem like Michael Osborn?

For months now, Michael has been posting that I have had him convicted of a crime he did not commit.  Within those posts, he’s claimed that I was involved with jury tampering, but he has not offered a shred of proof to neither his readers, the court, the DA or the State Attorney general.

Mike has also claimed that the only reason that the Deputy DA prosecuted the case is because she was terrified that I would ruin her career.  Where does he think I get that kind of power?  Here’s his statement:

“The ADA who tried my case from the Orange County District Attorney’s office stated in the judge’s chambers that she was pursuing my matter out of fear for her professional career because of George Sharp’s use of the internet and what he might write about her. These facts as well as other details are currently under both State and Federal investigation and I hope will aid in bringing George to justice.”

Really? What "facts"? Mike would not have been privy to the Judge’s chambers, so I wonder how he would have heard this.  Furthermore, almost two years later, I still haven’t heard anything from the so-called State and Federal investigators.  What happened Mike?  Is the whole world up against you?

As it was, I was at odds with Deputy DA Renee Jones, because I believed that she had screwed up her prosecution of the case.  I still believe her questioning of a couple of the witnesses was weak, but she got the job done and that is the bottom line. I offered my congratulations to her upon the reading of the verdict.

Here’s another unsubstantiated statement from Mike:

“In 2010, due to the efforts of George Sharp, Mr. Osborn was sentenced and served more a year in a California State Prison for a crime that is currently under appeal”, stated Russell Willis, spokesman for IFF.”

That’s funny.  Considering it is supposedly under appeal, nobody seems to know about it, including the court system.  Interesting.  And how did my efforts get him convicted?  With the exception that the victims came across my very substantiated blog upon GOOGLEing Mike, I was not involved in the case until the sentencing stage, at which time I presented a brief to the court reviewing all of Mike’s past schemes and a list of victims which could be contacted.  In fact, by the time I went to the Fullerton PD to file a complaint for the latest $153,000 in bounced checks that Mike had written for my benefit, there were already three other complaints against Mike, filed by others, in the PD’s Fraud Department.  There was also a request for extradition of Mike by the Nevada State Attorney General for fraud he committed against The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas.  And he also had  a 10 year old warrant for check fraud in San Diego County.  Were all these a result of my efforts?

Let’s look at the crime that Mike “didn’t commit”.

In July of 2009, Mike went to the Car Max location in Buena Park, CA and purchased a Mercedes Benz automobile with a $15,000 postdated check, intended to act as a down payment, and a false and fraudulent credit report under the name Michael Ison.  Mike had not used the name "Ison" in years, further proof of his intent to defraud. Three days later, the day before the first postdated check was to be deposited and when Michael already knew that even if Bank of America hadn’t already closed the account, it would bounce sky high, like almost every check he has ever written has done, he went back to the dealership, wrote another $5,000 bad check and using the same phony credit report, drove off with a BMW automobile.

After the checks has been returned to Car Max, dishonored, the dealer attempted to reach Mike.  No luck.  It was at that point that Car Max began to look into Principal Capital Group  and found this blog. That’s when they realized that Principal Capital Group had been kicked out of its Fullerton offices for non-payment of rent and several bounced checks.  Having recognized that they had been the victims of theft, Car Max called the police, who then had the cars’ anti-theft devices turned on.  They found the cars in San Diego, where Mike had been hiding out at a friend’s house after being outcast by the family of his wife, Shanney.  At the time, Shanney had been living with their two children in her mother’s La Habra home on Pine Tree Court.

On August 6, 2009, police drove down to San Diego, where they waited for Michael to drive the Mercedes before pulling him over and arresting him.  They then dragged him back to Orange County in handcuffs.  This arrest occurred less than a month after Brea police had arrested Mike for writing $3,000 in bad checks to the Embassy Suites hotel, once those idiots finally caught on to the fact that they were being taken for a ride.  Needless to say, management at that hotel was quickly replaced, following that incident.

Mike was charged and convicted on two counts of automobile theft, two counts of intent to defraud and two counts of check fraud.  Because Mike had written the checks on a Principal Capital Group account, he was also charged with two counts of receiving stolen property, but those charges didn’t stick once it became obvious that Principal Capital Group was nothing more than one of Mike’s several alter-egos.

At the same time, Mike was charged with writing several other bad checks, including one to a former client and several to the owner/landlady of the house he and Shanney were renting in Fullerton.  Those charges were dismissed because he made restitution to the former client and the landlady couldn’t keep her story straight.  Yes, much like his current landlady.

A judge and jury heard his case and the jury deliberated for several days.  Post-trial reports from some jurors state that the week long deliberations were held up by one juror who, not understanding why the specific charges applied to Mike’s crime, required discussion.  It wasn’t that the juror thought Mike was innocent of any crime, it was just that the juror didn’t understand how those particular charges applied.

I was not privy to most of the trial itself, as I was excluded from the courtroom for a time, since it was thought that I might be called as a witness.  As it was, I did not end up being called to the stand and spent a few days in the courthouse’s hallways. Ironically, I spent many hours chit chatting with Mike.

I was in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing and I have already reported on what was said by Mike and Shanney during that process.  In a nutshell, Mike tried to convince the judge that all he was guilty of was a debt and that there is no such thing as debtor’s prison.  Oh and this is "all George Sharp’s fault".

At the end of it all, Mike served 13 months of a 32 month sentence.

Those are the facts and they are unimpeachable.  In review:

Mike deliberately wrote two bad checks on closed accounts and deliberately filed false credit reports to obtain two automobiles.  That’s theft, even if his actions were not deliberate.  But they were and that makes it Intent to Defraud.  And the bad checks make it check fraud.  So I am loathe to ask, where’s the crime he did not commit?

Much like the accusations of wrongdoings he makes against me, Mike’s claims of innocence and wrongful conviction are not based on any facts, laws or statutes that he can cite and/or proof he can provide.  He says he was convicted of crimes he did not commit because he is delusionary, as many felons are, and because his trumpeting might enable him to con others. As always, he does not provide any explanation, proof or substance to back up his statements.  OJ also said he was innocent and although he got away with those crimes, nobody believed him.  Not that I am comparing Mike’s crimes, of which this account is such a small sampling, to OJ’s crimes.  I guess I am saying that the world is full of innocent convicted felons.

Are my efforts and this blog the reason behind his convictions?  Maybe and maybe not.  But the accolades from his many, many victims over the years keep coming in.

STILL TO COME (approximately):

Part 6:  Mike and His New Band of Merry Men and Women

Part 7:   The New Old Mike

Part 8:   A Look at Mike’s Victims Over The Years

Part 9:   Shanney’s Support Of Mike and What She Was Doing While He Was In Prison

Part 10: What Mike’s Vendetta Against Me Has Accomplished So Far & What It Will Accomplish In The Future [clue: nada]

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