Mr. Cardine:
That was the most glossed over thing I have seen since observing a cheep black lacquered bedroom set in the window of a low-end furniture store.
You totally missed the entire point of an apology.
Soā¦ Itās been for five months that the USEF has been considering reinstatement.
Does USEF policy allow them to publicize their decision or will the names just disappear from the āsuspendedā list if they are reinstated? 
Apology well meant.
[QUOTE=JCardine;6133925]
Due to the release of a Court Order, I would like to take this time to express my sincere and heartfelt apology to ALL of the victims involved in the fraud case that I was involved in. This apology goes out to all of the immediate victims as well as to the entire Horse Community in whole.
This case centers around the fact that I took horses on consignment or " the cuff", marketed them and then sold them for a profit. The owners never received FULL DISCLOSURE of their equine's sale price nor sale status, therefore the victims were DEFRAUDED. For this, I am deeply sorry and extremely apologetic.
I never went into any of these deals planning to defraud, but without full disclosure, that is what I was doing.
I took a Plea Agreement in 2004, spent 15 months in the custody of the Federal Prison System, spent 3 years being supervised by a Federal Probation Officer and am now serving a USEF suspension.
Since being released from Federal probation, I have done my best to regain the respect and trust of the Equine community. I have worked in various aspects of the community as well as with Virginia horse people to assist them in any way they saw fit and to tell my story and express how important FULL DISCLOSURE is, in ALL aspects of equine marketing.
Please accept my sincere apology and understand that I am well aware of the damage I did to the individuals involved as well as the entire Equine community.
Sincerely,
Joshua Cardine[/QUOTE]
Mr. Cardine never ripped me off, but other respected professionals have, and/or have tried. Until there is a clear system regarding commisions and sales, etcā¦ the temptation to be unethical will be there. This method of āsalesā is as gross as it is common. This exact scenario happened to me with a trainer that is frequently praised and touted as being āone of the good guysā, here on COTH. It happens, it sucks. I forgave the trainer mentioned, but my confidence in people was shaken deeply.
I hope to not make a mistake of this magnitude - ever, but I am also not going to make the mistake of judging, and enlisting further punishment for someone elseās actions. It sounds like Mr. Cardine paid his dues according to the court. His letter on here took guts, 'cause face it, heās probably going to be slammed all over the place. Whether or not a hand-written apology was delivered to the personās he and his partned defrauded, is not to my knowledge. Itās possible he he apologized in person, in court - whatever, that part is none of my business. The public apololgy here, is what I am commenting on.
If he gets reinstated, he gets reinstated. I strongly doubt that he will ever be in a position to take advantage of any more clients. If someone does, in fact, choose to do business with Mr. Cardine - I am sure it will be with their eyes open. No doubt there will be a large number of people willing and available to share his history and past misdeeds. If not, there is always the internet, and it will haunt him for the rest of his career.
I was slightly acqainted with Joshua Cardine, 20+ years ago, when he groomed for Pam Baker. I remember that he was soft-spoken, and kind. It bums me out that he grew up to do this type of act, but life can twist just about anything. Iām sorry that it appears to have done so with Joshua, and I respect that he is trying to straighten himself out.
My sympathies for the people he defrauded.
as a trainer/coach, while your apology āseemsā genuine, the fact that you started it with the words: āDue the release of a Court Orderā¦ā makes your apology manufacturedā¦because if the court order hadnāt been released, then neither would your words. I still see red flagsā¦this reminds me of Barney Wardāthe difference being horses werenāt killed. Trainers like you make the rest of us in the industry strive to insist on ethics and honesty with our clientsāwe already are but now i will do more. your apology doesnāt come across as sincere. please just get out of the horse sport completelyā¦
[QUOTE=JCardine;6133925]
Due to the release of a Court Order, I would like to take this time to express my sincere and heartfelt apology to ALL of the victims involved in the fraud case that I was involved in. This apology goes out to all of the immediate victims as well as to the entire Horse Community in whole.
This case centers around the fact that I took horses on consignment or " the cuff", marketed them and then sold them for a profit. The owners never received FULL DISCLOSURE of their equine's sale price nor sale status, therefore the victims were DEFRAUDED. For this, I am deeply sorry and extremely apologetic.
I never went into any of these deals planning to defraud, but without full disclosure, that is what I was doing.
I took a Plea Agreement in 2004, spent 15 months in the custody of the Federal Prison System, spent 3 years being supervised by a Federal Probation Officer and am now serving a USEF suspension.
Since being released from Federal probation, I have done my best to regain the respect and trust of the Equine community. I have worked in various aspects of the community as well as with Virginia horse people to assist them in any way they saw fit and to tell my story and express how important FULL DISCLOSURE is, in ALL aspects of equine marketing.
Please accept my sincere apology and understand that I am well aware of the damage I did to the individuals involved as well as the entire Equine community.
Sincerely,
Joshua Cardine[/QUOTE][QUOTE=skydy;6137018]
Soā¦ Itās been for five months that the USEF has been considering reinstatement.
Does USEF policy allow them to publicize their decision or will the names just disappear from the āsuspendedā list if they are reinstated? [/QUOTE]
VERY good question! I just called USEF and Josh and Keg can apply for reinstatement, but part of that process involves them having another hearing at the USEF office before any decision can be determined.
They will not post the hearing time/date publicly, but I believe there might just be a back door open to get that informationā¦ :winkgrin:
I THINK the point is that the Court Order prevented him from communicating with his victims.
The release of the Court Order allows him to contact the victims, and make this so called apology.
Okay Josh, you say youāre sorry? Sorry for what, exactly? Are you sorry that you told me my horse was going great and you were crazy about him when he was really rotting away in a barn somewhere? Are you sorry that you sent board, training, farrier and vet bills to me when he was receiving no care whatsoever? Are you sorry that I paid those bills in good faith?
Or maybe youāre sorry that I sent 2 large men with a truck and trailer to pick him up in the dark of night once we pinned down where he was? Are you sorry that he was hundreds of pounds underweight when he arrived home? Or that his feet were bare and splayed and cracked? Or maybe that he was terribly lame and depressed? Were you sorry, Josh, that my 17.2 hand teddy bear was a vicious, aggressive monster when he came home? Oh, donāt worry, he came back to his old self quickly enough with love and attention, but if youāre so sorry Josh, hereās what I want to knowā¦
What did you do to a complete gentleman who wouldnāt so much as sneeze if a child were nearby to make him lash out, teeth and hooves, at any human entering his stall? What horrors did he experience and witness that turned his entire temperament upside down?
Answer that and Iāll consider rereading your apology.
On second thought, no I wonāt. And Iām not sure I want to know the answer anyway.
Letās hook him up to a polygraph machine. Not like those on tv, but with a real polygrapher like we had working for my state. Not so many questions, they only ask about 5 questions (in 3x polygraph run) after going over questions in advance (no surprises) with the defendant.
Heās sorry he got caught. Heās sorry heās been punished. Being āsorryā is a relative term. What is he āsorryā about? The question is: Is he sorry that he ripped off innocent and trusting people? Thatās what the polygrapher would determine.
And of course, what is he doing to pay back those he has wronged financially? Iām waiting for Debbie and J to tell me they got their money.
[QUOTE=JackieBlue;6139892]
Okay Josh, you say youāre sorry? Sorry for what, exactly? Are you sorry that you told me my horse was going great and you were crazy about him when he was really rotting away in a barn somewhere? Are you sorry that you sent board, training, farrier and vet bills to me when he was receiving no care whatsoever? Are you sorry that I paid those bills in good faith?
Or maybe youāre sorry that I sent 2 large men with a truck and trailer to pick him up in the dark of night once we pinned down where he was? Are you sorry that he was hundreds of pounds underweight when he arrived home? Or that his feet were bare and splayed and cracked? Or maybe that he was terribly lame and depressed? Were you sorry, Josh, that my 17.2 hand teddy bear was a vicious, aggressive monster when he came home? Oh, donāt worry, he came back to his old self quickly enough with love and attention, but if youāre so sorry Josh, hereās what I want to knowā¦
What did you do to a complete gentleman who wouldnāt so much as sneeze if a child were nearby to make him lash out, teeth and hooves, at any human entering his stall? What horrors did he experience and witness that turned his entire temperament upside down?
Answer that and Iāll consider rereading your apology.
On second thought, no I wonāt. And Iām not sure I want to know the answer anyway.[/QUOTE]
I am so sorry for what these people did to you and your horse. How horrible! 
Mr. Cardine has only apologized for his lack of āfull disclosureā and denies intentionally defrauding you. If you reread his apology I can only imagine that it would make you even more angry than you are at present (and I wouldnāt blame you one bit).
I canāt imagine that USEF will be so lacking in judgement as to reinstate these people.
i still find his apology here not genuine. actions speak louder than words. so, restitution, in full, to those he de-frauded, would be the first step. saying lām sorry doesnāt quite cut it.
[QUOTE=cloudyandcallie;6139909]
And of course, what is he doing to pay back those he has wronged financially? Iām waiting for Debbie and J to tell me they got their money.[/QUOTE]
They swindled their way into Mrs. Turnerās life (and will) and after her death they sold the farm at auction. Iām sure the victims will be paid off with the money from that sale, but how sad is it that they feel they āpaid backā their victims? The way I see it, they defrauded a poor old lady and she is truly the one who āpaid backā the victims.
If they are really that sorry, I would think they would offer to pay back the victims that were not in the court documents. Even if that happened, itās not like it was their hard earned moneyā¦ it was Mr. & Mrs. Turnerās hard earned money that they defrauded from the Turnerās relatives.
After speaking with a few of the victims listed in the case and others who were not I want to take a moment to address some of the comments and answer a few questions.
Iām quite certain the ārelease of a Court Orderā refers to restitution. There was a Federal Court order regarding restitution to four (out of 8) of the victims listed in the court documents. I will gladly disclose my share as it is public records. The court awarded me/daughter $18,000+, to be paid in monthly installments. While under their 3 year Federal probation we received a check on a semi-regular basisā¦perhaps 7 per year. The checks were issued by the US Treasury Dept. The largest check we received was for $1,500+ and this while they were in prison. This money came from the sale of a horse they did not disclose owning during the court proceedings and were hiding from the Dept of Justice. The FBI found and seized the horse. The horse was then sold and monies were distributed equally amongst those awarded restitution.
I wanted to give you this background information so you would know where the money was coming from. Up until recently they still owed me/daughter in the neighborhood of $10-$11,000. According to my conversation with the US Attorneys office last week that money/debt has been paid in full and I/daughter should be receiving the final check soon. The others should as well.
This is one of the things I have a problem with. We (the victims) never thought we would see a dime nor did we ever ask for the moniesā¦it was Judge Williamsā decision. My issue is HOW the bulk of the restitution was acquired. This large final payment will be from an auction of a farmā¦one that was inherited. There was a recent thread about it on COTH, I believe, so I wonāt go into the details. Over $12,000 of the $18,000+ awarded to me/daughter was from the sale of a horse they had hidden and the sad situation surrounding the farm, which had a Federal lien on it. This was not money paid back from working an honest 9-5 job.
This āapologyā is a timely coincidence. The USEF banned both of them for 5 years. The 5 years ended in November. To be considered for reinstatement the USEF set forth a few requirements which included paying back the court ordered restitution to all the victims, admitting guilt, apologize to said victims and giving back to the horse community in some fashion. This apology seems to cover it all. We find it suspect given that none of us has ever received any form of an apology during all these years. Quite the opposite. We believe contacting us individually would have been a better approach rather than using a BB. I did contact the USEF asking if they would tell us if either had applied for reinstatement. I was told no and if they are reinstated it would be published in Equestrian magazine.
A few posters have mentioned the words ālawsuitā and āattorneysā. This was not a civil lawsuit, it was a Federal criminal court case. I never hired an attorney nor did the others listed in the documents. Many victims not listed did win judgments over the years and out of those, IIRC, only 3 hired attorneys because they lived outside the Commonwealth of VA.
Personally, I have a real problem with this statement, āI never went into any of these deals planning to defraudā¦ā In my opinion that is total BS. One bad deal is one thingā¦dozens are a whole 'nother ballgame. The craziness surrounding my daughterās pony was enough to make oneās head spin. And she was just one of many.
JB, I remember your story well and talking with you on the phone on several occasions. I, too, was heartbroken even though I had never met your gentleman of a horse. He deserved better. Sadly, he was not the only horse/pony to suffer while in their care.
I believe I have answered all the questions within the above posts, however, I shall go back and re-read. And if anyone has any othersā¦please just throw them out there and Iāll do my best to answer them. If youāre more comfortable PMing, that is fine as well.
Debbie Hanson
[QUOTE=Bethe Mounce;6140532]
i still find his apology here not genuine. actions speak louder than words. so, restitution, in full, to those he de-frauded, would be the first step. saying lām sorry doesnāt quite cut it.[/QUOTE]
Of course his āapologyā is not genuine. He denies purposefully de-frauding anyone.
Sorry Mr. Cardine, your crimes were obviously much more than a simple lack of āfull disclosureā and your refusal to admit that fact speaks volumes. :no:
So, the victims will not be allowed to offer testimony at the USEF hearing ? āThe USEF has responded saying the proceedings are private and confidential.ā
Why is USEF protecting convicted criminals? Am I the only preson outraged by this?
Response to horseladi78 and TWF
I know this is old, but I was reading through this thead when I came upon comments about myself, my daughter, and other people I know and care aboutā¦
[QUOTE=horseladi78;4829620]
So Helena Berlin has been showing locally in and around Williamsburg and Smithfield. She has been showing a horse called Love Me True and not sure who the trainer is. Its a guy with a beard who sports all western clothes. They come with an older woman and a younger woman with long black hair. How nuts is that that they just show up and show and act like its all good?? They told me they are from Suffolk. And the kids name is always announced as Helena Berlin. Really canāt the local guys realize who she is and who she is affiliated with??? Totally nuts[/QUOTE]
I met Helena Berlin in late 2009, early 2010 when she moved two of her horses to my uncleās barn. My daughter, who was 11 and is autistic, was without a horse to ride and show. We had gone through no less than ten horses over the course of a year, trying to replace her recently retired hunter mare, but her autism made it nearly impossible to find a horse that she was ācomfortableā with. Then she rode Love Me True, and love him she did!
That being said, I am the āyounger, slender woman with long black hair.ā My daughter is āthe kid.ā āThe guy with a beard who sports all western clothesā is a very dear friend of mine, and he is definitely a trainer who has ridden and trained for two of the top Arabian trainers in the nation, Tommy Garland and Virginia Godwin.
āThe kids nameā was not always announced as Helena Berlin. One class, at one show, the announcer accidentally said owned and ridden by Helena Berlin, but he immeditately corrected himself, over the loud speaker.
I find it amusing that you state that the trainer āalwaysā does anything, as he only came to one show with us, as a favor to me. Interestingly, it was the same show where the announcer gasp made a mistake, leading me to believe that your āinformationā about anything other than that particular show is nothing more than gossip and speculation.
Why would we show in NC? We live in VA. We are all VHSA members. I havenāt done anything wrong. My daughter hasnāt done anything wrong. Anyone who knows anything about this case, knows that the FBI investigation went on for YEARS, so obviously, Helena didnāt do anything wrong. Do you honestly think that if Helena was in any way culpable, the FBI would have just let her slide? Not likely! If the VHSA had a problem with Helena, she, nor her horse would be granted membership.
I sure did have a smile on my face! I was a proud mama! My daughter was smiling, too. She took reserve in a three way ride off where she was the only rider wearing jod straps. Helena was all smiles, as well. Her horse and her little rider just made her day!
If you and others would like to steer clear of us, thatās fine by me, but we arenāt going to stop showing here, or anywhere else. Sorry. We pay our entry fees. We act respectfully and appropriately. Our horses are pretty, mannerly, well groomed and perform well. My children are kind, courteous and always make a point to congratulate other riders in their division, no matter how they made out. Thereās no reason for āthe local guysā to not want us at their shows.
This all sounds very much like sour grapes to me. Did my daughter out ride your rider? Did Helenaās horse out perform your horse? Where is your sportsmanship?!
Lastly, your birds of a feather comment is highly insulting. I highly doubt that you personally know Helena. I know you donāt know me, therefore, donāt judge or make assumptions about me or Helena, and for Godās sake, leave my daughter out of it!!!
[QUOTE=TWF;4832267]Helena was in the court room when Keg denied owning any horses. He lied.
Helena Berlin was not charged as an accomplice in this case although Keg and Josh operated out of her house for years. She was questioned before Federal Judge Williams and testified in Federal Court that she didnāt know how many horses she owned.
I try not to think about how many I feed but I do know how many I have![/QUOTE]
So what if Helena was in the court room when Keg lied? Was she supposed to stand up and scream āHeās lying! Heās lying!ā? Youāre making the assumption that she knew he was lying.
I know that you know that the investigation was long, and it was thorough. If Helena had any part, she would be a convicted felon, also. Since when do we punish the mother for the sins of the child??
They operated out of her house. How many women have gone to bed every night with serial killer and not known. How many kids have sold drugs from their parentās home without the parentās knowledge. Helena had a full time job, and a life. Keg was an adult. I doubt Helena spent her days trying to figure out what her son was up to.
As far as her not knowing how many horses she hadā¦ I feed and care for my horses, by myself, 365 days a year, but every single time someone asks me how many horses I have, I have to stop and count, and Iām not standing in a court being questioned by a federal judge.
[QUOTE=Prime Time Rider;6140973]
So, the victims will not be allowed to offer testimony at the USEF hearing ? āThe USEF has responded saying the proceedings are private and confidential.ā
Why is USEF protecting convicted criminals? Am I the only preson outraged by this?[/QUOTE]
Just my best guess but USEF, being an organization and not a court of law, have their procedures in place. Iām sure they have all the relevant information at hand (along with plenty of "insider " knowledge).
I think that the privacy factor is there so they can discuss the matter frankly amongst themselves and make decisions, not unlike the board of directors of a corporation.
Neither would like to āair the dirty laundry in publicā as the publicity would likely draw attention to the negative aspects of the sport/business.
I have faith that USEF wonāt cave on this one. Weāll seeā¦
They do publish the end result of their proceedings and are held responsible for their decisions by their membership, as any board would be responsible to their shareholders.
OMG now if victims and reputable trainers or owners complain about these crimes, itās āsour grapes?ā Family members who sit in court and support defendants are there to support their family members who are on trial. Iāve seen some get up and walk out when they realized the family member had done something illegal. Iāve seen them apologize t o victims before trials because they felt bad that their relative did something illegal to the victims.
Iāve also seen family members totally deny the evidence and support their little criminals against everyone else. And assist the defendant in any way they could. And oh yes, they can be very nice to others. Some blame the victims for bringing down their criminal relatives. And so go on with their lives as before. And front for their relatives who are legally barred from participating in a profession.
We have a disbarred lawyer here who served time last year and then got out of jail. Heās not supposed to practice law, but he went to work for his own firm (now run by his son) and was doing legal work. Had to be brought back before the fed judge and ordered not to go to offices of his old firm. So Iām thinking this might be somewhat similar to what the victims in this fed fraud case are complaining about here. If a family member is fronting for a relative, i.e. pretending to run a business while the convicted felon is really running it, then that person is helping circumvent the order/sentence of the judge.
hereās what they should do ā use the same deceptive āhorse traderā methods on themselves
rename - re-age - etc
Joshua Cardine and Kenneth Berlin can become Jerry Smith and Ben Jones - they can be younger, eligible for pre-greens againā¦
[QUOTE=skydy;6141039]
Just my best guess but USEF, being an organization and not a court of law, have their procedures in place. Iām sure they have all the relevant information at hand (along with plenty of "insider " knowledge).
I think that the privacy factor is there so they can discuss the matter frankly amongst themselves and make decisions, not unlike the board of directors of a corporation.
Neither would like to āair the dirty laundry in publicā as the publicity would likely draw attention to the negative aspects of the sport/business.
I have faith that USEF wonāt cave on this one. Weāll seeā¦
They do publish the end result of their proceedings and are held responsible for their decisions by their membership, as any board would be responsible to their shareholders.[/QUOTE]
One small problem with this logic. If the proceedings are held in private and not open to USEF members, then USEF members wonāt know how Board membres voted on this issue (or any other issue, for that matter).
If members arenāt informed of how individual Board members voted on an issue, how then are the individual Board members going to be held accountable for their actions???
Well, sadly, I have no faith in the USEF doing whatās right. I have every faith, however, that they will do whatās easy, whatās popular, and what serves them best. Maybe Iāve been at this horse game too long, but Iāve gotten used to seeing the unthinkable become the commonplace.
After reading the above, I think I need a vacation.
