To everyone who thinks Joe Prebul was guilty - he wasn't.
Think about it, the Feds gave up and offered Joe a misdemeanor charge because the Feds "don't lose". Joe was innocent and had to balance the endless money and lawyers of the Feds against his exhausted funds. He took the plea bargain because he had no choice. Not because he was guilty.
This reminds me of the "debtor prisons" of old England time - stay in prison until you repay your debt. The force of the federal government is overwhelming.
Joe's sister lied about him. Joe's brother-in-law lied to the Feds, who finally gave up for the lack of a case.
Joe is innocent. He didn't steal anything. He had a plan to repay his brother-in-law, who is an evil man who went after Joe rather than get his money back. It is tragic. Joe has lost the fruits of his and his father's labor.
The Prebul family personified the freedom we enjoy in America. Why do those who write so harshly about him assume he is guilty? The newspapers and other media said he "allegedly" did it so many times that everyone thinks he was guilty. This is 'not' the way we as a country became great.
Where was the headline story that the charges against Joe were dropped? The mighty Feds gave up. Regrettably, that didn't make "news".
If Joe could have kept his business going and provided all of those jobs, he would have. He's an honorable man in an terrible situation with his incredibly rich and evil brother-in-law. Don't believe anything you hear from the Bensusan family - they lost their honor long ago and have no sense of family. They will say anything and are not to be trusted.
This is a family affair and it has had terrible consequences for many families in Chattanooga. Joe is an honorable man, an innocent man and has been trapped in the worst application of justice by a powerful federal government.
Frank McDonald, AIA, LEED AP
* * *
I am not an attorney, but I do know that the prosecutors in New York City area are a media-hungry vicious bunch. History confirms this. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows that if the vultures of New York City prosecuting office had the evidence they would have used it. They did not.
What surrounds this case is hype, and many have taken it hook, line and sinker. The evidence did not warrant any more than they could squeeze out of the case.
You who are throwing stones should not live in glass houses. What happened to understanding, acts of kindness? Remember clemency is the support of justice, and helping another cherishes the heart.
The judge, jury and prosecutor are mean and cold-hearted as evidenced by their comments towards this case. Justice spoke; live with it.
Chuck Mehan
* * *
Mr. McDonald, your comment is the biggest cock and bull story I have ever read.
Six months before this happened the word on the street was circulating his businesses were in trouble. I am not in the car business, never have been. When this information is readily available in neighborhood bars it usually is dismissed as bull. Lo and behold six months later bingo.
The court records show his lifestyle to be totally out of control. Over 200 people lost their jobs because of front row Joe.
What are they not guilty of? Joe is lucky his brother-in-law didn't send some of his New York, New Jersey buddies down here to collect.
May he do every second of his sentence and then the soup kitchen in the dirtiest, crime-filled, unemployed area of New York. He is a convicted thief. The worst kind - he stole from his family.
Carlos Dempsey
Red Bank
bamafancd@comcast.net
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In reading this, I have to laugh at the apparent need to blast Joe Prebul into sainthood. Mr. McDonald, I can't help but laugh at what you think this country was built on..specifically of late... (robbing people of their 401k's? running businesses into the ground, when you had a strong business 20 years ago..and needing a bailout now?...or the ever popular Ponzi scheme?). I think Mr. Prebul may be somewhat innocent about a few things, but I do not think, not by a long shot, that he is as pure as the driven snow.
This country was built on a lot of things, but in the last decade or so, this country has has been embarrassed by some "fine, upstanding citizens" involved in "under the table" dealings and back room deals. How many "executives" have we all seen being put in the back of police cars? How many hearings, trials, investigations have we seen, even in the last 5 years?
I think Mr. Prebul lived beyond his means and made some fairly stupid, truly desperate decisions. Desperate always equals stupid. We have a whole lot of people in this country that want things easy and quick, and they truly believe the rules do not apply to them. I think Joe Prebul was indeed one of those people. I do, however, applaud your loyalty, no matter how displaced that might be.
You say, "He was an honorable man in a horrible situation". As I read this over again the only word that comes to my mind is.....really? This poor poor man had a "plan" to pay back the money. Again, give me a large personal break. If he had such a plan, he would have worked this out with his brother in law a long time ago and paid the money back.
He is an adult, and he is a business man. He knows the difference between right and wrong. He is not some poor innocent child, that can't possibly handle such big matters like money and business. As they say....you buy the ticket, you take the ride. So, Mr. McDonald, you may truly adore Joe Prebul, and that is fine, but sometimes people we think a whole lot of and care about do stupid, incredibly wrong things.
Anna Creer
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I'm not sure what the guy is. All I know is that someone owes me $1200 from my down payment I gave his auto group to buy a car the day before he was arrested. I had to give the vehicle back and get my trade in back. I have filed paperwork to get my down payment back, but haven't heard a word in over a year about it.
Whoever is responsible, I hope they can sleep at night, knowing all those people that lost their jobs and all those people like me that would like their money back because of this stupid situation.
Candice Davis
* * *
Fraud - lying to get something. Mr. Prebul told his brother-in-law that he was investing his money in a secure Chrysler investment account. In fact, Mr. Prebul was covering losses at his dealerships and paying for his extravagant lifestyle. These are facts.
Enough evidence has been released to the public to determine this. There is no question Mr. Prebul committed fraud.
It is amazing how delusional some people can be. Joe Prebul is a crook. If he stole your money, Mr. McDonald, I think you would see things differently.
I am assuming Mr. McDonald is a relative or close friend of Mr. Prebul. Otherwise, he must just be working for a PR firm Mr. Prebul has hired.
Jerry Yates
* * *
Mr. McDonald's feeble attempt to lionize a rodent was one of the most
misguided statements since Neville Chamberlain's declaration of "peace
in our time."
Mr. Prebul is most certainly guilty. I would like to know how Mr. McDonald bases his assertions of Prebul's innocence?
I have followed this case closely since the prisoner's arrest and read
the numerous filings as promulgated by the federal benches in both
Tennessee and New York. They reveal a man who had mismanaged his
businesses to the point of collapse - running up millions of dollars in debts while simultaneously living a lifestyle of excess.
The facts are abundantly clear: Prebul is a thieving coward who
callously stole millions from his own family and, in so doing, ruined
the lives of countless others.
"Nec audiendi qui solent dicere 'vox populi, vox Dei,' quum
tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit."
"Don't listen to those who only say 'the voice of people is the voice
of God,' for the uproar of the crowd is always very close to madness."
-Alcuin of York, letter to Charlemagne, AD 798
Lucas McNeeley
* * *
I have never met Mr. Prebul. I do not know the facts of the case. And, as I read these letters, it seems clear that no one (except those deeply involved in the case) can know the facts. Yet, we judge. Is it our role to do so?
Sandra L. Kilpatrick
slk@optimal-health.net
* * *
People that believe that Joe Prebul is innocent must also believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and the assumption that Obama is truly concerned with our health care, instead of full government control over our lives. They walk among us
and vote.
Bob Bogart
quasi17@comcast.net