Dear _________                June 27, 2005                Sent to Columbus Dispatch

In a classic case of big corporate money taking advantage of the small private business person, The Ohio Farm Bureau vs Amos case is poised to wreak permanent havoc in the lives of a law-abiding Ohio family. Small family farmers Farley and Joyce Amos sought to operate their peat harvesting on their property in Lucas, Ashland County by the letter of the laws imposed by the federal and state government regulatory agencies.

When a disagreement over operational procedures led to an EPA decision to halt operations in the mid-90’s, the Ohio Farm Bureau solicited the Amos’ cooperation in an effort to overturn the decision. As the Amos’ advocates, the Farm Bureau saw the case as an ideal precedent-setting, property rights issue-based case. The Bureau spent money in defense of the Amos’ and assisted them in their effort to make ends meet while their livelihood was interrupted by the dispute.

A ruling in another case of similar content, at the federal level, caused the Farm Bureau to lose interest in the Amos case, sensing the winds had shifted, and they terminated the relationship. In the meantime, The Farm Bureau never so much as filed a single motion on the Amos’ behalf in spite of their agreement to do so. In a shocking turnabout, the Bureau has now won a judgment against the Amos’ for its investment in them, and is poised to claim their farm in payment. The Amos’ are on the verge of losing everything they have to the very organization that promised them assistance.

This case has a range of hot-button issues: personal property rights vs government intervention; legal contracts foresworn when inconvenient; the rich and powerful running roughshod over the poor and helpless; dubious decisions by courts with identifiable political connections; other similar operations (owned by bigger fish) permitted to run while the one in question (with potential to be a competitor) is shut down; opposition attorneys performing in ways that are demonstrably illegal, but are permitted to do so anyway; and more.

Can an investigation into the money behind the people involved with this travesty reveal something a judge would HAVE to consider? Can an expose into the true interests of the Ohio Farm Bureau, purportedly the friend to Ohio’s family farmer, but actually a powerful lobbying group run by insurance companies and other big-money interests, produce a change of heart in their plush headquarters?

I feel this is an issue of great general interest and broad public concern. Time is of the essence. Please, consider looking into this injustice-in-action.

Thank You Very Much,

Stephen Aron

 

 

November 9, 2007

ATTENTION: BARBARA TAYLOR

ATTENTION:   STATE DIRECTOR  JOHN RYAN for SENATOR SHERROD BROWN

ATTENTION:  SENATOR SHERROD BROWN
                          600 East Superior Ave #3450
                          Cleveland Ohio 44114
                    

This is a most seriously urgent plea and of request for help from Ohio Senator Voinovich, and Senator Sherrod Brown  to save our family farm, home and business from being sold at auction on
November 20, 2007.

We have been through the most degrading and life changing situation that could ever be imagined because Ohio Farm Bureau promised us  help in a Private Property Rights situation that began in 1992. Ohio Farm Bureau has ended up being the takers of our property because of our financially destitute situation.  We could not fight a proper legal battle. We could not even afford to do a deposition of Farm Bureau officers before a pretrial hearing in Ashland Co. Ohio courts and therefore had no witness of documentation of our case.  WE, FARLEY D. AMOS AND JOYCE C. AMOS HAVE NOT HAD JUSTICE FROM THE OHIO COURT SYSTEM.  Ohio Farm Bureau is now selling our farm with an appeal in this matter, still active in the appeals court in Akron Ohio.  Their attorneys are the largest prominent law firm. We had no hope against these two most powerful legal and political organizations. We have owned this farm since May 1, 1975. Our entire lives were invested in this and also future help for our children.

Here is the letter we sent previously for help below. Please read again.

 

MOHICAN ORGANIC PRODUCTS
FARLEY & JOYCE AMOS
May 8, 2007

The Honorable George Voinovich,
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20000   
                                                         Re: OHIO FAMILY EVICTED ILLEGALLY FROM
                                                                FARM BY OHIO FARM BUREAU

Dear Senator Voinovich
              
I am sending this letter to you on behalf of my husband, Farley Amos, and our family informing you of the heartache, stress, legal fees and business interruption we have suffered over a span of 8-10 years. It relates to an alleged debt owed to the Ohio Farm Bureau for $316,667.67. This so-called indebtedness was wrongly and fraudulently lodged against us. Enclosed you will find a copy of a write-up sent on our behalf to the Columbus Dispatch last year about our situation written by my son-in-law who is a professor at Akron University. He did his best to try to convey our struggle to the paper in the hope that we could get some help to deal with the Ohio Farm Bureau to no avail. To make a long story short, we have continued to work hard to find away to pay this alleged indebtedness. However, the Ohio Farm Bureau continued to pile on fees and interest which forced us into bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Despite the fact that our current attorney Jason Murray, Esq. of Brown, Bemiller, Murray, McIntyre, Vetter & Heck, LLP in Mansfield OH and business consultants were able to provide a Letter of Commitment from a private lender pledging to pay off the alleged indebtedness, the OFB kept to its arbitrary eviction deadline. Therefore, we could not proceed with the designated lender who was prepared to act on our behalf. Mr. Murray our attorney tried numerous times to reach Mr. Doug Mansfield of Jones Day (Attorneys for OFB) and unfortunately Mr. Mansfield called too late and they proceeded with eviction.

On May 1st without any notice from the court, Doug Mansfield of Jones, Day law firm, came all the way to Lucas, Ohio along with three Sheriff's deputies to evict us off the farm that has been in our family for more than 32 years of which we had operated profitably for more than two decades.  We never owed the OFB any money or had any loan with the OFB until we were illegally shut down by EPA and Army Corps of Engineers. The illegal actions of these two regulatory agencies were rendered null and void by the 5th Circuit Court in Washington D.C. in Jan. 1997. We have tried to make arrangements to pay this alleged debt in order to save our land but the OFB would not entertain a viable satisfactory payment plan by which to do so. Yet they got a spurious judgment which now exceeds $575,000.00 against us in a court where we were never permitted to speak on our own behalf.

Senator Voinavich, we believe our civil rights have been trampled upon and we have been denied due process by our Ashland County Court.

This court and judge have continuously denied all motions filed by my husband and me on our behalf.  My husband and I now believe she is clearly prejudiced against us.

All of the additional details concerning this tragedy will be soon put on a web site to show all documents, intents of actions and truth of the matter for any one to read. Does truth not matter anymore?                                                                                                      

I will not try to retell the story in this short cover letter, but there's far more to our situation than can be told in a letter or article. The numbers of people involved in this lawless action are simply too numerous to mention. From lawyers to judges to agencies who are aware of what we have had to go through, Senator, my husband Farley and I are asking you to please review our situation.

The Farm Bureau now owns our land and the mineral deposits upon which our livelihood depended upon. It has been the worst miscarriages of justice we have ever been a part of. I would have never thought that in this country, a state Farm Bureau would go to such lengths to take someone's property for such a small amount of money. They would not even let us make payments to save our home that we have been on all of our lives and raised our six children. The children are also   devastated because, they too lived on or near the farm and worked in the family business.

Senator Voinovich, I can't tell you how hard this has been for us, we fought as hard as we could and tried our best to get the Ohio Farm Bureau to work with us. I hope the article and the website enclosed will fill in some of the blanks about our case. We would be so thankful to you if you would ask the Attorney General to review our case and the judge's actions, rulings, and conduct.  I might also add that a number of other government representatives both state and federal have contacted us so we are sending all of this information to them and national and state media as well. As it turns out, Senator, we are not the only people to have been victimized by illegal shut down of legal business activity the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which are the agencies that caused the OFB to get involved with their own agenda in the first place.
 
Senator Voinovich, Farley and I are just a couple of hard working individuals in our 60s trying to run a business and provide a livelihood and a small inheritance to help our children and grandchildren.  In spite of all that has happened, we hope and pray that you and others will appeal to the Farm Bureau to settle this case honestly and prudently as soon as possible.  We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Joyce C. Amos                                                                                                                                                                                    Mohican Organic Products
2214 TOWNSHIP ROAD 1265 . LUCAS, OHIO . 44843 Now P.O. Box 541, Lucas, OH 44843
PHONE: 419 564 0978. or  419 564 9104                                                                                       FAX:
E-Mail:  JOYCEAMOS83040@peoplepc.com
Cc letter to:

Senator Sherrod Brown

NO REPLYS!   NO REPLYS! from Senator Brown or Senator Voinovich FOR THIS LAST EFFORT BEFORE TOO LATE.
POLITICAL LETTER BELOW UPDATED IN MAR, OF 2001 AND SENT OUT WITH REPLYS OF SHIFITING BACK AND
FORTH QUESTIONS THEY ASKED AGENCIES AND THEN AGENCIES BACK AND FORTH CONTRADICTING.
THEN SENT BACK TO SENATORS AND REPRESENATIVES BETWEEN THEM AND AMOS... BUT TO NO AVAIL.

About 100 correspondences of wasted time except for one only that is setting in jail.
Congressman  Traficant really got on it, but they gamed with him.  OFB had Senator
Bill Harris come to Amos farm meeting with agencies present to only deny
use of bog.  Senator Bill Harris lives very close to us we went to his
farm and pleaded for some help just before the sale of farm with all documents in order for his
inspection and he gracefully said that he was so sorry for our situation and
he knew when we excepted the involvement from OFB  that we may be in
trouble. He stated his hands were tied and that we should know that he could
not change courts rulings. His prayers were with us.  

We knew political help was useless because of the item below, but did it anyway for the records