Daniel Wooley in Sir Lanka with some Tamil Tiger rebels friends
when he was helping with relief after the big Tsunami in 2004.
Daniel was friendly with troops on both sides of the conflict
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED
by Sam Warren
Daniel Wooley in Sir Lanka with some Tamil Tiger rebels friends
when he was helping with relief after the big Tsunami in 2004.
Daniel was friendly with troops on both sides of the conflict
As many of you already know, in 2000, my B&B in Playas de Tijuana was raided
by the Tijuana police. They stole everything in the house and arrested everyone
in the building, including guests and workers alike, on trumped up charges.
The others were released after six months but I spent over three years in one
of Mexico's worst prisons.
After wasting money on corrupt Mexican lawyers, my friend, Daniel, who I met inside, recommended an honest lawyer and all my charges were dropped. Unfortunately, some people still think that where there is smoke there is fire, but I can reassure you there was no fire.
The main reason we were arrested was most of my guests were gay. If interested in the details, you can read all about them in my book: Tales from the Tijuana Jails, Vol. 1 & 2 from me or from Amazon.com. It is now in process of revision, but you can read a draft copy at www.bookwarren.com/tales.pdf.
Daniel and his wife, Kelli, were both in the same prison on marijuana smuggling charges. Daniel is a health nut and does not even take coffee, but his wife smoked pot and had some in their car. He is a former Special Forces sergeant and a world class martial arts expert. In the Mexican prison, after Daniel fought and beat five prisoners at one time, his reputation was made.
Using his power and prestige, he protected all the American prisoners and probably saved some lives, including my own. The commandante of the prison became a close friend of Daniel and he was on good terms with the prison gangs and drug lords. Daniel used his influence for the benefit of all prisoners.
After he was released, he traded rent for an apartment in a complex owned by my friend of over 35 years, Ed Esworthy. Daniel did maintenance and other services. Ed was getting senile and in bad health. Daniel saw to it Ed's bills were paid, his property maintained, his cars serviced, insured, and registered. Daniel probably saved Ed's life by having his medications adjusted so they would not conflict. He saved Ed over $100,000 on his mortgage, took him on two vacations, got him to exercise, etc. With all the work he did, Ed actually owed Daniel.
In addition, Ed invested and became a partner in Daniel's yacht hull cleaning business. Ed and Daniel would even buy old boats to fix up and sale. Unfortunately, other than the records of the business, neither Daniel nor Ed kept records of what was spent as they were like father and son. Daniel had Ed's verbal permission to signed checks on Ed's account and to use his ATM and credit cards.
However, Ed, who was worth over two million dollars, hired an illegal Mexican houseboy, Roberto, to take care of his house, cook and be a companion. Roberto,who first entered the country under a student visa, had applied for citizenship and signed a document under perjury to the fact he was not living in the U.S. He also was driving with an illegal driver's license. Roberto and a computer repairman friend, Joshua, transferred money from Ed's PayPal account into Joshua's account. Daniel found out about it and wanted to fire Roberto, but Ed asked him not to.
Roberto and Joshua, broke into Daniel's apartment to try and find some incriminating evidence. Roberto had an older friend of Ed's call Adult Protection Services and claimed Daniel was abusing Ed. Although Ed told the police he had absolute faith in him, Daniel was arrested and charged with Elder Abuse. Ed's mental condition had deteriorated to the point where Roberto could manipulate Ed to not bail Daniel out, although Ed wanted to at first.
The DDA was not interested in justice but just in making a conviction. He would not even investigate the facts nor interview the witnesses to show Daniel was innocent. The DDA probably thought, "He is a bit on the rough side with a prior record (over 10 years ago), he was in charge of Ed's finances, there were very few records; therefore he is guilty."
While Daniel was out of the country visiting his mother who was dying of cancer, Roberto and Joshua broke into Daniel's apartment where they searched for any thing incriminating. Daniel had a quirk of using more than one name. On his drivers license, he stated that he did not have any additional names. The DDA also charged him with perjury even though the evidence was obtained illegally.
Luckily, Daniel has a good memory and I helped him gather all the facts, records and witnesses to prove Daniel, not only did not steal Ed money, but the reverse was true. With Daniel's prior arrest over 10 year ago, Deputy District Attorney Michael Groch, threatened Daniel with 20 years if he did not take a plea bargain of only 7 years. The conviction rate in San Diego is 98%, the highest in the nation.
Because I tried to help Daniel, and with Ed's weakened mental condition, Roberto turned Ed against me, even though Ed and I had been friends and business partners for over 35 years. The DDA threatened to have me arrested as an accessory if I tried to help Daniel. It is on tape the DDA actually told Ed what to say when Ed did not say what the DDA wanted him to say. Unfortunately, no one is interested in this travesty of justice.
Daniel has always been a take-charge kind of guy and can be very abrasive. He spent over 6 months in Sir Lanka saving lives and rebuilding an orphanage after the big tsunami in South East Asia. He managed the orphanage, stopping all the corruption there, and saw to it the children were fed and cleaned. Before he took over, children were dying every week.
Some of the local staff, who Daniel prevented stealing from the orphanage, tried to frame him. In addition, an American volunteer Daniel fired had a very inaccurate, negative and false article published on MSNBC. So Daniel was forced out of the country. I have copies of faxes received from many officials in Sir Lanka who support Daniel and say he saved many of the orphans' lives. I believe this article helped to put Daniel into a negative light with the DDA without Daniel having a chance to defend himself.
While Roberto continued to take advantage of Ed, Daniel and I got desperate and did a dumb thing. At first I tried to get the police and the DDA to solve the problem. Nothing happened and we suspected that the DDA had a hold put on him because of Daniel's case.
After Daniel had been in the San Diego County jail for over 10 months, he had someone he met inside the jail, and who had been recently released, to make a citizens arrest and have Roberto deported. I was an idiot and agreed to help coordinate. The attempt failed and Daniel got seven years in San Quentin while I spent over six months in the county jail as an accessory.
Daniel agreed to accept the deal as he was threatened that I would have to go to a state prison with him if he didn't. The Elder Abuse charges were dropped because of lack of evidence and Daniel did not get credit for time served.
I am out and we are trying to make an appeal, which will take a long time. The DDA fixed my probation to prevent me from having any direct nor indirect contact with Daniel. There is a lot more information I have and many stories of how Daniel has helped others, including me. He deserves a medal, not a prison sentence.
Daniel may or may not be technically guilty, that is not my judgment; but, he doesn't deserve seven years in prison. Plus he should be given time off for the time he spent in the county jail on trumped up charges. frankly, I think the DDA should be fired for obstructing justice.
This was similar the case in Louisiana where some lacrosse players were almost railroaded by the DA. Roberto and Joshua should be arrested while Roberto should be deported and not allowed back in the US.
Ed died on December 24, 2006, of heart failure. I deeply regret he died before I could prove to him I was not a traitor to our friendship. Daniel is in San Quentin where he won the prison martial arts championship. He is also on the warden's prisoners advisory board.
BOOKWARREN
PUBLISHING SERVICES
Sam Warren
P.O. Box 920685
San
Diego, CA 92162
(619) 674-3066