From Solar Irony To Iron Bars:

Sean David Morton Arrested

Sean David Morton

During Solar Eclipse …

Morningstar - America's Eclipse over NYC 8-21-2017 (1)

“America’s Eclipse” as seen in  New York City

(Photo above courtesy: Robert D. Morningstar)

This article orignally appeared in UFOblog.Com

<Edited for The UFO Spotlight by Robert D. Morningstar>
Sean David Morton, the well-known psychic who gained notoriety thanks to late night radio was taken into custody on Monday (same day as the eclipse) by federal agents from the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
Also taken into custody was Morton’s wife Melissa Ann Morton.  The arrest ended Sean David Morton’s run as a fugitive for the past sixty-one (61) days.

The Morton’s were both convicted in early April 2017. on over 50 felony counts involving fraud and conspiracy stemming from their involvement in a tax scheme that netted them thousands of dollars from victims in a “straw-man/redemption bonding scheme” in which The Mortons told people they could erase anyone’s debt.

DEFRAUDING The IRS
The Mortons also obtained a nearly $500,000 fraudulent tax refund from the IRS.  
When the IRS discovered the mistake and went to retrieve the funds, The Mortons moved quickly to hide the money, withdrew $70,000 in cash, bought a new BMW, and later lied to investigators about bank accounts involved in obtaining and hiding the funds.

Sean David Morton was scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2017 but did not appear as ordered by the court, resulting in a warrant being issued for Morton’s arrest for failure to appear.
During his time as a fugitive, Morton appeared on a YouTube show claiming he had left the country and was in Iceland.  But several things in the video led ufowatchdog.com to believe Morton was still in the California area and this information was passed on to the Department of Justice.  It was also during this same YouTube interview that Morton claimed there was not a warrant for his arrest.

Morton’s co-defendant Melissa Ann Morton (pictured right) was the subject of a conditonal release agreement prior to her criminal sentencing next month.  That release agreement included the stipulation she have no contact with Sean David Morton.
The same release agreement also had the condition that federal agents could monitor Melissa Morton’s computer and mobile phone.

In spite of the release agreement, documents show Melissa Morton  had been in contact with Sean David Morton, Melissa Morton was arrested on Monday at approximately noon according to records obtained by ufowatchdog.com stating she had been arrested for “violation of pretrial release” and “non-compliance with condition of supervision; contact with fugitive co-defendant”.

Sean David Morton was arrested approximately thirty-minutes prior to his wife – it remains unclear if they were together when the arrests occurred.

The Mortons were arrested at a hotel in Desert Hot Springs, California on Monday when agents from the U.S. Marshal’s Service tracked Melissa Ann Morton to the location after discovering she’d be meeting with Sean David Morton, both were taken into custody without incident.

The Mortons appeared before a federal magistrate on Tuesday and both were ordered held without bond.  Melissa Morton’s criminal sentencing for her conviction in the tax scheme is scheduled for September 19th.  A date for Sean David Morton’s sentencing in the tax scheme has yet to be set.

The government has asked that The Mortons be remanded to custody due to them both posing a significant flight risk.  On Tuesday a judge ordered that Sean David Morton be held in custody.  It is unknown when a hearing on Melissa Morton’s custody will be held, but she is likely to also be held in custody.  With Melissa Morton having violated her her release agreement she must pay $10,000 as she had been released on a signature bond in which the person being released agrees to pay a certain amount if the conditions of the release are violated.

Both Sean David Morton and Melissa Ann Morton were initially lodged at the Federal Metro Detention Center in Los Angeles, but have since been moved to the San Bernardino jail pending their next court appearances.

Sean David Morton was the subject of an in-depth investigation by ufowatchdog.com entitled The Shameless Psychic and his Prophecy of Lies.
The investigation exposed many of Morton’s background, UFO, psychic, and educational claims as false.  Morton filed a lawsuit against ufowatchdog.com in 2003 claiming he’d been the subject of libel.  Unable to provide proof of his claims in court, Morton lost the lawsuit and was ordered to pay $16,000 in legal fees to ufowatchdog.com.

Morton and his wife were sued by the SEC in a securities fraud scheme where Morton claimed he could use his so-called psychic powers to predict the stock market.  Investors lost more than $6,000,000 and it was discovered that Morton and his wife had diverted investor funds to their personal and business accounts without investor knowledge.

The Mortons were ordered to repay 11.5 million.
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GUILTY VERDICT REACHED IN STAN ROMANEK CRIMINAL TRIAL

August 8th,  2017

Stan Romanek

Alleged alien abductee Stan Romanek’s criminal trial concluded and the jury began deliberations on Monday.

Earlier this afternoon the jury found Romanek guilty on one count of sexual exploitation of a child.  Romanek was found not guilty on a second charge of distributing child pornography.

The Department of Homeland Security was investigating a larger child pornography case and provided Loveland, Colorado police with information about Romanek allegedly possessing and distributing child pornography.

Loveland police arrested Romanek on February 13, 2014, charging him with possessing and distributing child porn.  A search warrant served on Romanek’s home resulted in police seizing a laptop computer on which  over 300 images of child pornography and video were reportedly discovered.  The laptop had Romanek’s name engraved on it.

According to an affidavit filed by police, during the execution of the search warrant, Romanek admitted he had seen child pornography on his computer but was unsure of how the images got onto his computer.  Romanek and his wife claimed they were the target of hackers because of what they supposedly know about UFOs and aliens.

Romanek pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial before a jury.

While Romanek’s wife, Lisa, publicly stated that they would “bring UFOlogy into the courtroom”, Romanek’s defense attorney did not use UFOs or aliens as part of the defense.  Romanek’s attorney argued many people had access to Romanek’s computer including his wife and step-son.

The case was not without drama.  The trial was delayed for over a month while prosecutors provided Romanek’s attorney with new evidence they discovered.

A former Loveland police officer was accused of tipping off Romanek about the pending search warrant. Romanek’s wife spoke before the Loveland City Council about the lead detective in the case.

The detective leading the investigation was discovered to be on a Brady List kept by the prosecutor’s office.

Brian Koopman

Loveland, CO Police Detective 

The Brady List stems from a precedent setting US Supreme Court case known as Brady v. Maryland.
During that case, prosecutors charging a man with murder failed to provide evidence showing the defendant had not committed the murder.  The US Supreme Court ruling states that prosecutors and police must turn over all evidence to a defendant including exculpatory evidence.  Exculpatory evidence includes knowing when a police officer has been dishonest or has any credibility issues.

In this instance, Loveland police detective Brian Koopman was placed on the district attorney’s Brady List after he was accused of lying during a murder case.  Koopman faced a felony charge of influencing a public official in the matter, but was found not guilty.

Koopman remained employed by Loveland police and his name was placed on the Brady List after the district attorney’s office determined he had lied during an investigation.

Koopman was also previously sued for allegedly targeting a man for manufacturing meth, but the “meth” turned out to be SUGAR!

Just prior to the trial, Netflix released a documentary about Romanek’s claims of being abducted by extraterrestrials entitled Extraordinary: The Stan Romanek Story.  The company that produced the documentary, J3Films, sold it to Netflix for an undisclosed sum.

The documentary was completed about a month prior to Romanek being arrested and was supposed to stream online via pay-per-view. The film was not released as scheduled and it is likely that Romanek’s arrest was the cause of the film’s release being postponed.

Romanek is currently free on bond and his sentencing is scheduled for October 19th, 2017 at 3:30PM.  The prison term for possessing child pornography in Colorado is 4 to 12 years.

 

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