Jonathan Owens Declines Opportunity to Speak on his Own Behalf for Legal Fees He's Requested YOU Pay

When offered the opportunity to speak on his own behalf to personally request the county cover his legal bills for his own nefarious, unlawful conduct---- before discussion on this item at a public meeting ended-----Owens sat motionless like a wax statue of a ventriloquist's doll. Why?

Jonathan Owens,  the former county employee who worked for disgraced former county commissioner Doug Underhill and who is in possession of stolen county records----- recently had the gall to formally request a taxpayer funded legal defense for his transgressions and resultant troubles stemming from his unauthorized possession of said files.  

The County Attorney's Office added this request for a taxpayer-funded (i.e. YOU) defense from former employee Owens to our agenda on Tuesday.  And Owens even showed up to the meeting, sitting in the back row of the chambers.

Nevertheless----not one commissioner on the dais Tuesday showed any inclination of even countenancing this outrageous Owens request once it was up for consideration on the agenda.  (four of us were present, D2 commissioner Mike Kohler blew off the meeting and wasn't there) 

When offered the opportunity to speak on his own behalf to personally request the county cover his legal bills before discussion on this item ended-----Owens sat motionless like a wax statue of a ventriloquist's doll.

He had the opportunity to ask, speak, lobby, and request, --and he did nothing.

The thing that is incredible to me coming off of this awkward, cringe-worthy spectacle is the rank loyalty and feilty a handful of citizens and one radio talk show host are demonstrating toward Owens in this matter.

It really is both fascinating and sad.

But facts are facts and they cannot be surpressed no matter how much Kool Aid the Underhill/Owens/Tallman fanboy club chugs.  

FOCUS ON FACTS:

1.  The records at issue were stolen from the county, and the stolen records contain personal identification information (full photos of passports, Pictures of front and back of driver's licenses, bank account numbers and pins, social security numbers, tax forms, medical records, and a host of other data on more than a dozen citizens) that would never be released under any public records request, ever.

2. Jonathan Owens admitted he has all of these records, has read them all, knew much of the information was personal/private, kept all these files upon leaving employment from the county, did not report to relevant county staff he possessed them when he worked at the county, and has subsequently dissemenated these files to others unredacted.  He admitted this all freely and openly on Tallman Mckay's Podcast (which has been scrubbed from 1620's site) as well as in the News Journal.

3. Mere possession of this personal identification information as described above, unauthorized, on this many people is a third degree felony under Florida Law.  That's why the State Attorney and appropriate law enforcement agencies were notified and a criminal investigation was requested by the county on this matter back in June.  One week later--law enforcement investigators met me in my office and were given possession of the entire file--and both the county and I, personally, signed a waiver on that date allowing investigators to freely and without providing to us any immunity or amnesty-----free reign to search all the contents of all the files in question for ANY EVIDENCE of ANY CRIME. (Somebody wake up "letter-writers"  Mike Kohler and Steve Stroberger and let them know this)

4. Jonathan Owens is specifically NOT authorized to possess this type of data, nor was he ever authorized to possess it--- and his handling and/or possession of such data--which includes photos of my family members' passport documents, Photos of my Family's driver's licenses, my social security numbers, and my childrens' social security numbers, and my sons' tax returns----was never a part of his job duties and/or a normal course of his employment in the county.  What he should have done, if his story is true and this stick drive was shoved under his office door, was immediately turn the drive over to legal.  That would have been the appropriate course of action for him to take.  But Owens didn't do that.

5.  County staff that handles public records requests for the BCC have testified, under oath, that prior to the county becoming aware of this data breach and the theft of these records coming to light----no PRR's had been made for my text messages from my personal phone.  (for the geniuses reading this--it's because those who wanted these files were already given them by Owens, unlawfully, and outside of the PRR and/or discovery process--see the relevant testimony from the county's investigation, below)

Lying liars that lie, like Underhill/Owens/Tallman/Edler will say "Bergosh and the county were withholding these texts that were public records"  but the under oath testimony in this matter obliterates their lies:  No requests were made for these files prior to our notification that said files had already been stolen and disseminated unredacted.  

6. Nothing at all related to this matter implicates the whistlebolower statutes--Federal or State--as such status would have to have been determined and agreed to by the court PRIOR to the improper, unlawful

conduct at issue with respect to the handling and/or possession of confidential, privileged, personal information.  As it pertains to the separate Edler case--I was not a managment employee, not a fact witness in that matter, and the texts that mention her issue(s) on my phone are hearsay, and I would have never been called to testify in that case....

7. The county is suing those (including Owens, Arduini, and PNJ) who have admitted to and are in possession of these files unlawfully, and a hearing is set on this matter on February 5th.  Once we move past the hearing and begin subsequent depositions, we will amend the civil complaint for replevin and conversion-- to add to it anyone else who is or has been in possession of this file unlawfully and unauthorized.

Who else might have this file and possess it unlawfully?????  Inquiring minds want to know. 

We'll find out.  

Maybe Doug Underhill, Maybe Rayme Edler, Maybe Andy Marlette,  Maybe Pam Childers, Maybe Andrew Tallman? Maybe Kohler and Stroberger, Who else???

We will find out.  

And we will amend our suit for replevin and conversion as appropriate once we find out.  

And just so everyone knows--although the county's suit is a civil suit---all relevant depositions will be conducted under oath.  And I will personally, directly share whatever useful information comes from this civil trial, as appropriate, with the criminal investigators looking into this 817.5685 matter simultaneously and watching this all with interest.  

So my advice remains the same:  Don't lie to the FBI, don't brag about "dodging the FBI investigators", don't lie to investigators, and don't lie under oath in depositions.  Don't commit perjury.

Stay tuned as the old bull walks down the mountain.  Slow and steady, down the mountain to the pasture below.

We're not going to rush and do one thing like a young bull, we are going to walk and do everything, like an Old Bull.

Watch and see.