Unlawful Colorado Court Decision Under Scrutiny and not the one you may think.
By Joan Quinn Eastman
Denver, Colorado – These days the climate in Colorado courts seems to harken back to history:
The Wild, Wild West — “Shoot first, ask questions later” meets
The Napoleonic Code — “Guilty until proven innocent.”
This has been reflected in recent news, particularly where one man’s attempt to navigate the court system to prove his innocence continues to lead him to a dead end.
Colorado made headlines recently attempting to keep Donald Trump off the presidential ballot. The Republican front-runner was restored in a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the State lacked the authority to disqualify him.
The same principle applies to the shocking story of the legal injustice in a Colorado court suffered by John Sarina and his wife Maureen Steele. By what authority did the Family and Probate Court of Arapahoe County, Colorado garnish more than half his wages and clean out his bank account, as well as Maureen’s, and that of her adult son? Astonishingly, all this transpired without the defendant so much as stepping foot in a courtroom. Where is the liberty and justice for John Sarina?
Reflecting on the last years of his first marriage more than a dozen years ago, John and wife Shannon, were raising their three children in Cherry Creek, Colorado with Vail and Beaver Creek in their backyard. Avid athletes, the family skied the best resorts, surfed in California and Hawaii, golfed and vacationed at their leisure. He drove a Range Rover, she drove a Land Rover. Their two sons and a daughter attended the best schools and participated in a variety of sports and academic activities. They enjoyed all the luxuries afforded by their father’s robust six figure income, which earned him close to a million dollars just prior to their divorce.
“I never imagined I would be thinking back to a time when I was a thriving high tech start-up exec with a bustling family in an eight-room house in the burbs, as if it were someone else’s life and not my own,” John confides. “Now here I am approaching 60, at a time when I should be looking toward retirement, but instead will likely have to work until I die. Right now, I am living out of a trailer wondering how I am going to pay to park it.”
This is not a simple divorce battle. It is a warning. If it happened to this John “Doe” it can happen to you.
In a case that involves high-level executives and lawyers crossing five state lines, violates fundamental and civil rights, has had property taken without due process, notice, a hearing, trial by jury, or verification (other than a claim by an ex-wife), it begs the question: What could have possibly warranted such harsh punishment? Did John Sarina not pay taxes? Did he rob a bank? Did he harm another? No. His only mistake was trusting his ex-wife and the court system that swept all his bank accounts in one fell swoop, and in the process exposed possible criminality of the courts at the least, and/or lawfare at its best, as well as corporate complicity. And he’s got the receipts to prove it.
Sarina’s case originated in Family Court notorious for hiding under the cloak of “protecting the children” caught up in the system. Ironically, the “children” involved in this particular case, which originated more than a dozen years ago, are well into adulthood at ages 22, 26 and 28. Why and how has Sarina’s ex-wife cleaned him out for supposed back child support payments when they are fully grown adults, he grossly overpaid while supporting them in the past, and the former couple has moved well beyond their previous life together?
Unbeknownst to John, following 12 years of inactivity in the courts, and seven years since they settled their last “out of court” agreement, Shannon Bomgaars Sarina, a millionaire Senior VP of Sales for Marsh McLellan, and her team of attorneys reopened their divorce case and took action that rendered her former husband destitute.
Sarina’s Story
John Sarina stands with
all he now owns, a camper and two
St. Bernards just outside Denver.
– Courtesy Photo
John and Maureen have suffered from serious health issues over the last couple of years as a result of prolonged exposure to a highly toxic environment. Testing in the cabin they were renting in 2022 measured dangerous levels of mycotoxins in the home and revealed that their well was contaminated. They were essentially poisoned by the air they breathed and the water they drank. Further testing on John and Maureen themselves showed that he has a disabling 75% impairment rating, while she was shown to be impaired by 50%.
Prior to his health challenges, the former executive states that he paid a staggering total of approximately $325,000 in child support/maintenance over a five-year period up until 2017. He also absorbed upwards of $50k for miscellaneous expenses for his three children, such as cell phones, clothing, camps, sports equipment, ski passes and the like, half of which their mother was responsible for paying but did not. John was driven into bankruptcy.
The One-Two Punch
In August of 2023, just as John was climbing out of that hole, once again gainfully employed as Director of Business Development for SpyCloud, he was hit with the first blow of a massive one-two punch. After years of amicable modifications between the former couple in what had basically become a dormant divorce, John received an email notifying him that 55% of his salary was to be garnished for back child support and maintenance for a staggering total of $656,311. The couple was living in a tent within weeks.
Sarina had received no prior notice or communication before that time apart from an email in June of that year from his ex-wife’s attorney, David Lamb of Sherr, Puttmann, Akins and Lamb informing him of action on another matter. Nor was it explained how this garnishment of wages, and the subsequent sweeping of his accounts was decided without a hearing and most importantly without being afforded the opportunity to defend himself.
John and his wife of ten years, Maureen Steele, a trained paralegal, immediately went on the defensive researching this “decision.” Numerous consults with attorneys and inquiries at the courts all returned the same unsettling verdict, that this was “settled law” and that there was nothing that could be done about it.
The weeks that ensued had John and Maureen firing off communications searching for answers. They were in and out of courthouses and law offices, accruing legal fees that set them back another $26k, all to no avail. The response continued to be “what’s done is done.”
With more than half of his salary being taken, the unexpected expense of the lawyers and the strain on his health from fighting this battle, while continuing to conduct business, Sarina chose to resign from SpyCloud on November 28th, with his last day of employment being the end of the year, December 31st, 2023. And just when it seemed it couldn’t possibly get any worse, it did.
Spying at SpyCloud?
Although SpyCloud denies disclosing it, the news of John’s resignation immediately reached the court. Within 24 hours of Sarina announcing his resignation and again, without warning or apparently the authority, county clerk Shana Kloek activated a levy on John’s personal bank account that instantly triggered the draining of his and his family’s personal funds. Maureen received the devastating news by text during an appearance on a live broadcast to an audience of 5 million.
While Sarina prepares to sue all parties involved for damages for causing him and his family harm, this calls into question several issues with the Austin, Texas based cybersecurity company that would necessitate this case to escalate to the federal level.
Did they breach John’s privacy by directly informing Shannon’s attorney about his decision to resign? Does SpyCloud’s complicity in an uncontested garnishment across state lines constitute collusion? SpyCloud has repeatedly by email denied that they breached confidence, stating they could not release any employee information without consent. And yet, besides his wife Maureen and their lawyer, they were the only other parties to know he would be leaving the company at the end of the year.
“After the shock of the garnishment happened, we hired a lawyer. She took $10 grand, and took off to Europe for two weeks, leaving our complicated case in the hands of an inexperienced “associate” who had no idea what to do with it. So, in September, we hired another attorney for $15K, to find record of the hearing and to verify the support order. He took no action for almost three months when he finally filed a motion to stay. It was denied,” recounts Sarina. “Opposing counsel Lamb’s response stated that I was not even entitled to a hearing according to statute 14-10-122. He suggested that the courts would be bogged down by process if they had to retroactively litigate family law cases. He added that it was just “good public policy” to avoid it.
“Clearly there is ignorance of fundamental law and the inherent individual rights of the people they have sworn an oath to protect under the Constitution. Denying my basic right to due process because it’s “good public policy” is a stark example of the difference between a democracy and a constitutional republic.”
But deny they did, by phone, by email, in person, and in an unrebutted affidavit of truth delivered to Clerk Kloek, which has been entered into the case file and is now on record.
The clerks, justices, lawyers, and magistrates showed no interest in investigating the sudden resurgence of a dormant divorce case. The court didn’t bother to verify the accuracy of Shannon’s claims, nor the easily accessible lopsided financial data that would, at the very least, necessitate a hearing. She also purportedly signed an affidavit under pains and penalties of perjury that is contradictory to email evidence and eyewitness accounts from several others, including lawyers and a family therapist of the verbal modification and agreement between John and Shannon.
Verifying the Verified Support Order
“As unbelievable as it sounds, what this means is that they don’t actually verify a “verified’ support order. The court simply accepts the accusing parties’ sworn oath that what they claim is true. The fact that two judges, and a magistrate, swiftly accepted the false claims is deeply concerning,” exclaims Maureen Steele. “We have evidence to the contrary, but no one will look at it. A process like this makes for fertile ground for fraud. Any party can claim anything that is yours and they will just take it from you, like they did with us!”
John Sarina and Maureen Steele celebrating Christmas 2022 in Montana.
– Courtesy Photo
“Sure, you can try to appeal after they have taken all your money, but that will take years, especially in the Colorado Family Court. They are known to be biased against fathers in divorce cases, labeling them ‘deadbeat dads’ and garnishing wages right out of the gate. It will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees that we no longer have, so it’s a nasty Catch-22. But we will continue to fight it with all we’ve got,” vows Steele.
John notes that the miscarriage of justice becomes even more evident when examining the nefarious actions of the court officials involved. Judge Echo Ryan, Magistrate Richard Ferro (both of whom recused themselves), Magistrate Frank Moschetti and Clerk of Court Shana Kloek who John has documented have collectively disregarded John’s fundamental rights, and “failed to ensure due process, acting in a manner that violates the Constitution.”
But perhaps that doesn’t count in Colorado.
No Proper Notice
When Clerk Kloek was asked to produce a copy of the notice of the action that Sarina was lawfully entitled to receive, John claims her response was simply, “There is none.”
Exhaustive examination of the case files reveals a feeble attempt at notification on another matter when a letter was sent by regular mail to a PO Box in a community where John and Maureen had not lived for several months. It was never received by them or forwarded. Another attempt was made when a letter was sent, also by regular mail, to an address where the couple had not lived for five years, which most likely ended up in a dead letter file. There is no receipt or tracking number on file, simply a manual entry of the amount of the postage and the old address. All the while, the ex-wife and her attorney had John’s current phone number and email address but failed to contact him to confirm a current address.
These actions, and lack of actions, not only destroyed John’s life but also undermined public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.
Several calls seeking clarification were made to the court, Sarina’s ex-wife, and her attorney. They all went unanswered with the exception of one. A public servant who handles media inquiries for the Arapahoe County Court who refused to answer questions and said she “could not be quoted.”
John with his wife of 10 years, Maureen, who had to take a temporary assignment in Arizona to help make ends meet. – Courtesy Photo
John has pointed out that the courts’ complicity in enforcing unconstitutional statutes and policies, along with their failure to uphold John’s rights, raises serious questions about the impartiality of the legal system.
“After the divorce, and my subsequent bankruptcy, Shannon was taking our kids on European vacations when I could barely afford to take them to lunch,” laments Sarina.
“Shannon and I amicably modified our agreement outside of court at least a dozen times. But when it came time to sign the final agreement to end future payments, she was not willing to do it. I was unemployed, while Shannon was earning a quarter million-dollar salary, so she would have very likely had to pay me child support. I could have taken her to court, and to the cleaners at that time, but I didn’t.”
In 2020, Shannon paid off her $1.2 million dollar home in Englewood, Colorado while her ex-husband has been struggling to make rent or car payments and simply build a nest egg.
Court Accountability
The implications of this case extend far beyond John and his family. It sheds light on the broader issue of judicial misconduct and the abuse of power within the legal system. The courts, meant to uphold justice and protect individual rights, have instead become tools for personal vendettas and financial gain.
In response to this apparent egregious miscarriage of justice, John and his current wife Maureen have taken a stand, not only for themselves but for countless others facing similar injustices.
Through their organization, thefathersforjustice.com, they aim to bring attention to the flaws within the legal system and advocate for reform. To support this effort, go here.
Maureen is also co-founder of the international empowerment movement, The People’s Operation Restoration. Their ordeal serves as one of the flagship cases used to illuminate court corruption and lead people toward solutions.
Maureen Steele speaking at one of the stops along
The People’s Convoy. As one of the key organizers,
she was known as the “Mother” of the movement.
– Courtesy Photo
As the spotlight continues to shine on this case, John notes that it serves as a stark reminder of the importance of judicial accountability and the need for comprehensive reform to prevent similar injustices from occurring. He believes that had due process been followed and had there been personal accountability for those who disregard the organic law that is the Constitution, none of this would have happened.
Justice delayed is justice denied, for John Sarina and many others like him. But despite losing everything, John and Maureen have faith that the truth will prevail as they continue their personal pursuit of life, liberty and most importantly, justice – enabling them to return to their pursuit of happiness.
Joan Quinn Eastman is media veteran and contributing writer at Boston Broadside.
Email her at: jqe@bostonbroadside.com
