By Greg Szymanski

The Ohio attorney who has fought corruption tooth and nail has finally had the wicked hand of fascism turn the jailhouse key, locking her away for a long and unwarranted prison term.

Elsebeth Baumgartner was sentenced Monday by Cuyahoga Country Judge, Shirley Saffold, to 8 years in prison on felony charges of intimidation and retaliation, charges Baumgartner said were “trumped up and bogus.”

Although Baumgartner was facing more than 109 years in jail and had already served more than 250 days behind bars, the sentence was dished out according to a last minute plea bargain which was supposed to be for probation, not jail time.

“The judge didn’t live up to the deal handed to Else by prosecutors, but she was given a $50,000 bond to stay out of jail pending appeal,” said her husband, Joe Baumgartner, Monday from his Ohio home. “The only problem is she is now serving 120 days on a misdemeanor contempt charges and she is having trouble being released on those charges.

“We are also looking for a way to overturn the sentencing since it wasn’t hat Else agreed to under the arrangements of the plea bargain. It appears again that the powers that be just flaunt justice and do whatever they want while Else is literally being persecuted.”

Baumgartner’s unique case has sent shockwaves through the patriot community as her many radio appearances illustrate how she has become one of America’s No. 1 political prisoners, showing just how far down the road of fascism this country has gone.

But in the mainstream press her story remains a virtual secret, unreported and hidden, showing how the press has become nothing but a propaganda arm for a fascist government hiding the red, white and blue American flag.

What makes Baumgartner’s case so outrageous is that all her troubles began over trying to do the right thing by uncovering corruption in her home state of Ohio which led all the way to the doorstep of the White House.

As incredible as it sounds and despite what Ohio and federal officials say, Baumgartner’s only crimes come from speaking out a city council meeting, sending emails in a non-threatening manner to a sitting Ohio judge and running a highly informative and controversial web site exposing massive corruption.

“If we can’t express ourselves and try to do good then what has our country become,” said Baumgartner recently on Greg Szymanski’s radio show, The Investigative Journal, one of the few alternative outlets even covering her story.

Close friend, Angie Caputo, who has been following Baumgartner’s travesty of justice, had this to say about Monday’s 8 year prison sentence:

“Else just called.  She got her appellate bond, $50,000, Saffold sentenced her to 8 years in prison, 4 years on intimidation, four years on retaliation to be served consecutively. 

“DuBois (her former web site partner)  didn't show, but Markus , Bratton, Mulligan did---Markus gave a "victim's impact statement", his hot button is that Else's charge that he's over billing the state and that the visiting judge system is illegal. 

“Bratton, sheriff Ottawa County, also there, testified that he has been monitoring the phone calls between Else and me, that she has shown no signs of remorse and is going to keep on suing people.  One of her conditions is that she can't criticize public officials and that she can't discuss any the terms for publication, other words, if I print anything she tells me, it will violate her.

“Plain Dealer was there, Channel 5. She wasn't allowed to bring up any mitigation evidence.  Now the deal is why 6th District won't rule on the motion for a stay on the contempt and an appellate bond.  If she's got an appellate bond on felony convictions with 8 year sentence, why won't they give her appellate bond on 120 day contempt of which she's already served 20% of the sentence. 

“Will tell you more when I learn it.  She's holding tough, sounds strong and in control.  The good news is that Helen Prosowski of Bay View finally produced the arrest report from the Erie County chase and she claims that the arrest warrant that Bratton produced was for failure to appear which of course is incorrect.  Derek Farmer filed a motion to dismiss in that case based on that fact, and that the judge, Adkins I think it was, made a false statement when issuing the warrant therefore the underlying warrant which they used to initiate all the other charges was totally defective and void.

“However, so far, neither Bratton nor Prosowski will produce the arrest warrant.

But can you imagine, 8 freaking years in prison for criticizing public officials.  No one in this country is safe.

“In that Bratton used my phone calls, which I paid for at $16 and $17 a pop and I'm gonna tell him he and Ottawa County owe me.  Plus there's now a block placed on my phone by Evercom who claims I don't have an account with them.  Bull crap.  My collect calls are paid through my phone bill to my phone company who in turns pays the long distance providers.  I don't need a separate account with Evercom.  Here comes another story.  They can try prior restraint in Else but it won't fly with me. Now that it's out of Saffold's clutches, I think the real games will begin.”

In earlier Arctic Beacon stories, Baumgartner, who graduated first in her class from the University of Toledo Law School, said this about some of her past jail experiences:

"I was essentially put in a hole for 10 days and held incommunicado as a domestic terrorist," said Baumgartner. "I wasn't allowed legal counsel, the right to clergy and even the opportunity to make a phone call."

And if anyone thinks Americans don't already have two feet buried deep into the mud of fascism, pay close attention to how and why Baumgartner was originally jailed for 234 days on a misdemeanor charge.

"I basically was jailed for standing up and speaking at a city council meeting," said Baumgartner about the night in 2001 leading to arrest five days later on technical charges of Falsification.

The charges stemmed from statements she made questioning a huge ferry boat contract awarded to an Ohio businessman, citing affidavits from some of her clients alleging the boats were being used for illegal drug running with full knowledge of state politicians, law enforcement and federal officials.

Further, she questioned the legality of awarding the lucrative Lake Erie contract since it amounted to nothing more than "a political favor" as another company was overlooked who was more competent and provided the same ferry boat service for less money.

"All I did was speak out and use my right as a citizen to question our government," said Baumgartner, adding that she must have struck a nerve that night, leading to corruption at the highest levels of Washington, as well as the Ohio Governor, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Ohio Attorney General.

Baumgartner said five days after the city council meeting she was arrested, the state twisted the law to say she falsified statements at an official public hearing.

However, legal observers say the technical law used in her "illegal arrest and incarceration" was never intended for mere statements made at open forum city council, but rather the Falsification misdemeanor law was intended for official government hearings when witnesses are placed under oath.

"They just twisted the law and I was jailed," said Baumgartner. "As a lawyer, respected in my community, I never thought this could happen in America, but I am living proof it can and it's not over yet."

As a bio-tech attorney representing influential clients, Baumgartner's original troubles also began when she notified state and federal authorities about sensitive bio-tech information being hi-jacked, information which could have been used to wage bio-tech warfare against the U.S.

But instead of receiving cooperation from the feds, she claimed any serious investigations were stonewalled, as she became the brunt of harassment and illegal surveillance for reporting the alleged bio-tech misappropriation of information.

Besides the bio-tech and ferry boat matters, Baumgartner also tried to save her local school district $1.5 million involved in a contract scam she uncovered, a scam involving top officials and only the tip of the ice berg, leading to how money may have ended up in the coffers of George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign as a for return on political favors.

"I think they wanted to contain the scandal brewing to the state and local levels and this why they came down hard on me," added Baumgartner.

For more informative articles, go to www.arcticbeacon.com

Greg Szymanski

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