San Diego Gay & l*****n News Johnathan Hale Thomas Guerra Roman Jimenez John A. Macoviak Lisa Sue Kove SDGLN Hale Media Gay & l*****n News SDGLN lies, spreads false info, targets people, and won't stop until people are hurt San Diego California

I have sat back for too long while members of the San Diego LGBT community attack one of their own over false information. I will start speaking out as are others. We've had it! I am sorry that I didn't speak out earlier but I was afraid as the people involved (Jonathan Hale, Roman Jimenez, John Macoviak, Thomas Guerra, Lisa Kove) are all very spiteful and vindictive people. And they will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who they feel gets in their way. They call themselves local leaders, publishers, activists, and jouralists, but they hide behind the guise of journalism and activism and then claim, "oh well, we just reported what we were told. Hence the reason we said 'annonymous'." HELLO? What about responsible journalism and the people's lives who are impacted when you don't report responsibly and factually. You harmed many people, including myself. Facts are important, otherwise your media outlet is just a rag piece which everyone is already starting to call it that (and a circuit boy fluff piece).

Because this issue is so convoluted which involves multiple people I'll do my best to list each person and their invovlement individually, then collectively show how they've worked together to abuse their positions of power and collude to spread lies and destroy people's lives, namely A. Latham Staples.

1) Johnathan Hale (a.k.a., Johnathan T. Hackett, Jr., & John T. Wyckoff) is the founder and publisher of San Diego Gay and l*****n News, locally called SDGLN, and owned by Hale Media. Hale also runs SDPix, a local circuit boy publication. SDGLN is the online media outlet that published the story about San Diego businessman, A. Latham Staples, calling him a fraud and labeling him a con artst, claiming Staples had taken corporate and/or investor funds because "annonymous sources" had told them so. It turns out the article was all a big lie concocted initially by Thomas Guerra (Staples' ex) and by the people in this post who forwhatever reason don't like Staples. I will get into the article in a moment but let me just point out who Johnathan Hale is. Carl DeMaio, the husband of Johnathan Hale, ran unsuccessfully for San Diego mayor and U.S. congress. During Carl DeMaio's campaigns the public learned that Johnathan Hale was originally named John Theodore Wyckoff, Jr. and he later legally changed his name to Johnathan T. Hackett, Jr., before picking Hale as his newest last name. Why the multiple name changes? Well it turns out Hale/Hackett/Wyckoff was convicted for felonies relating to theft from the company he then worked for in Arkansas (hum...once again, isn't this what he accused Staples of? - pot calling kettle black!). Anyway, two former roommates also filed seprarate restraining orders against Hale. One man claimed in his restraining order that Hale choked him and that Hale was stalking him and harassing his employer (hum....he did the same to Staples years later). The other former roommate said in his restraining order hearing that he feared for his life. Interestingly, Staples filed his own restraining order against Hale back on November 30, 2011. According to court documents (Case # 37-2011-00101778-CU-HR-CTL, https://dochub.com/badingsly/rZN4PB/hale?dt=cwks3pcah8p4pmmf) Staples feared for his own safety and he said Hale would not stop spreading false informtaion about him. There is more I could go into regarding Hale but it has nothing to do with Staples or the company which impacted my livelihood so I will leave it alone for now. Feel free to read up on Hale here: http://lgbtweekly.com/2012/05/24/why-the-background-of-the-mayors-partner-is-relevant/  or http://lgbtweekly.com/2012/05/17/tweets-ignite-questions-about-checkered-past-of-demaios-life-partner/, or here http://sdcitybeat.com/news-and-opinion/spin-cycle/johnathan-hale-hillcrest-s-drama-king/ 

Johnathan Hale ReCap:

• multiple names,
• convictions (felony theft conviction after stealing from the company he worked for),
• multiple restraining orders again Johnathan Hale.

2) Thomas Guerra (a.k.a., Ashton Chavez & Tomii Guerra) is a landscape architect in California. He used to date Staples and they had what seemed to be a perfect relationship until August, 2014, when Staples uncovered information that he felt showed Guerra harming people. Staples went to the police and turned over the information. The evidence eventually led to Guerra's conviction in May, 2015 of him intentionally passing on HIV to his ex-boyfriend. BTW, Guerra laughed about this in a text message that was a part of the court evidence in which Guerra stated "haha, of course he thinks I'm [HIV negative], somone getting poz today." Between the public learning of charges brought against Guerra in August, 2014 and his conviction in May, 2015, Guerra turned against Staples and he set out to destroy him by teaming up with Roman Jimenez, Lisa Kove, and SDGLN (led by publsher Johnathan Hale and editor Ken Williams) in order to push a false story to tarnish Staples and to turn the story from himself. We all knew the story was coming as people were telling us for weeks that they were getting threating calls from Roman and others. Guerra had obtained the contact information for all of Staples' past and present business partners, investors, family and friends when they were dating. Not only were these people harrassed constantly, but we each stated the information they were seeking about fraud as claimed by Guerra just wasn't factual. Guerra was smart though in that he approached those who didn't like Staples (Hale/SDGLN/Jimenez) to let them run with the false story as he was going through his legal trial. Nothing like knowing your loved ones enemies and then using them to hurt some - the enemy of my enermy is my friend I guess? I'm not going to expand further about Guerra's trial, but some video from the beginning of it can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_wHVSHJ70c. Also, as reported by ABC News, Guerra posted online a sex tape he had taken of he and Staples. He sent the link to Staples' friends, family and business partners. The judge ordered Guerra to take down the post. Guerra did so, waiting until 1 minute prior to the deadline to do so.

Thomas Guerra ReCap:

• multiple names,
• convictions (willfull intent to infect others with a communicable disease),
• Restraining order again Thomas Guerra.

3) Roman Jimenez calls himself a freelance journalist and he founded The Media Prose, a now defunt media consulting company. He used to also be the assistant commissioner of the America's Finest City Softball League, where he first managed the team Staples' ex played for and where he first met Staples. Since 2010 Roman has also been a contributing sports writer for Johnathan Hale and SDGLN. Jimenez though has his own sordid past, having been convicted for corpoate theft (hum...that's odd, once again someone stating Staples did something that they themselves actually did.). Roman has for whatever reason had it out for Staples since they initially met. Staples complained of sexual harassment by Roman during a softball trip to Columbus, Ohio that he went on to support his ex. And Facebook messages and emails between Roman and Staples' friends dating all the way back to 2010 show Roman was trying to sabatoge Staples' relationships even back then. When Staples broke up with his ex prior to Guerra, Brent Kostelecky, Roman was telling everyone it was because Staples had cheated on Brent. In reality though, Brent was the one in a months-long relationship with Justin Webb, another member of the softball team. Staples had been he team's biggest cheerleader and he was even financially supporting another softball team at the time, which he quickly ceased when he learned of the affair and lies by Roman and the other softball team members who had been hiding Staples' ex's affair from Staples. Members of the softball team then attacked Staples for not giving the rest of the money he had committed to the team. Hello? You all let him believe he was contributing while all along his husband was sleeping with another member of the team. Nice! So anyway, Roman has been slandering Staples since 2010. This went on for years and Roman inspired other members of the softhall league to harass Staples. In 2012 Staples filed harassment charges against Joshua Tucker and Michael Stewart (a.k.a., Little Michael) (San Diego Superior Court Case # 37-2012-00103153-CU-HR-CTL, https://dochub.com/badingsly/N9r7DD/tucker?dt=ui7ir81f33qafta4. Court documents show that Tucker and Stewart were sending threatening messages to Staples via Facebook, in one message Tucker tells Staples he would "beat him". Another says "I will finish you". The judge was going to rule against Tucker and Stewart but the judge informed Staples that should he render his decision the outcome may impact the future livelihoods of Tucker and Stweart. Staples then authorized the trial to be resolved in private court-ordered mediation. Hum...sad that Staples was nice enough to look after their futures though they didn't care about his. It didn't end there though, Roman has harassed Staples' associates via Facebook over the years since. He would routinely messages members of the company about Staples. And he would threaten family members of Staples' friends, who Staples had never met. One example is from 2015 when Staples briefly dated Deximus Starr, a popular California dancer and the brand manager for Stoli Vodka. Though Staples had never met Starr's family Roman harrassed them. Starr has said this behavior by Roman continued for some time.

Roman Jimenez ReCap:

• convictions (felony theft conviction just like Johnathan Hale's, Jimenez also stole from his former employer. Jimemenz served his sentence but he is still paying restitution in excess of $100,000.)
• No known harassment charges filed against him, but he's clearly been harassing people.

Just an overall quick recap since this is all confusing, the very confusion that SDGLN relied on so that readers couldn't fully follow the story and instead just believe the headline: Staples' ex, Thomas Guerra, who was convicted of lying, teamed up with Roman Jimenez, a sports writer, to do a business story, who himself has a conviction for corporate theft, and who teamed up with the publisher, Johnathan Hale, who also has a conviction for felony theft from his previous company, and most of whom have gone by multiple names. Maybe, just maybe though, Jimenez, Hale and Guerra had seen the light and they were on the rightenous path to fully uncover what they thought was a real crime? It would be plausible had Jimenez, Hale, Ken Williams (editor of SDGLN) cared to have followed up with the company, Staples or the executive team, or even been responsible enough to source the facts. We all offered to speak with Roman but our calls were not returned prior to the release of the article. George Schwartz, chairman of Staples' company, also called Roman and Ken Williams, telling them the information wasn't factual, but they ran it anyway, attributing "annonymous sources". The only people spreading the nonsense, their annonymous sources, were those I'm referencing and a few associated with the company who Guerra had befriended.

And finally, there are two more people who got involved.

4) John A. Macoviak states he's a practicing physician, though many of us have had difficulties finding where he practices. He goes by multiple online personalities too (check out his multiple Twitter acounts): https://dochub.com/badingsly/ozZOz9/macoviak-twitter? dt=ed90bcbfsjrc7z4r There is a lot about Macoviak I won't cover as he too has his own sordid past. People think though that Staples started the company, but he didn't. John Macoviak did. Macoviak was the individual misleading investors and business partners. And when Staples brought this to the shareholders attention John Macoviak was ousted by a unanimous vote of the shareholders from the company. It's too extensive to list but Macoviak attempted to sabatoge the company the day he was let go, including deleting the company's website and all the emails members of the company had sent and received. All of our business partners hated Macoviak and they were happy to see him go as we were too. He lied continually. Guerra knew that Macoviak wasn't happy with Staples causing his departure from the company, so it was easy for Guerra to have Jimenez use Macoviak for their gain to trash Staples. If you just Google John Macoviak online you'll see all of the other bizare stories about him.

John A. Macoviak ReCap:

• multiple online profiles,
• ousted by the shareholders of the company for fraud.

5) Lisa Sue Kove (a.k.a., Ali Sue) a San Diego activist was named chairperson of the company after Macoviak's departure, having served the company on its advisory council. She voted in favor of Macoviak's departure. She had been friends with Staples and she remains friends with Guerra. In August, 2014 when the news broke the story of Guerra's arrest Kove abruptly resigned from the company citing "health issues". George Schwartz, who had been involved with the company prior to Staple's arrival, was named her successor as Chairman. Though board meetings were held each month prior to our staff meetings, and though we saw her at nearly each one, she claimed to Roman Jimenez and SDGLN she was unaware of the company's financials. This is bogus as Staples was fully transparent, more so in some cases then he should have been, about everything going on with the start-up. He knew were were all excited about the company's future and he kept us aprised. During each monthly meeting financials were reviewed by the board with the chief financial officer. She never had a complaint before Guerra and Staples split up. And she should have known better anyway given she knew about Staples' daily activities and how he was living his life at the time (I'll conclude with this as it's the biggest tragedy in this whole story). What's even worse about Kove is that Staples had literally saved her life and then she lied about him. In July, 2013 Kove's house burned nearly to the ground. Staples and Sally Hall were outside when they noticed flames coming out of the windows and they both rushed in to save everyone. Staples ran upstairs past flames and heavy smoke to rescue her and her children. She then lied to fire investigators and committed insurance fraud by telling authorities she didn't know why the fire had started, though we all knew her austic son had started the fire because he was upset with his mother. Her son stated he had done it, but she asked everyone to not tell anyone the real reason. So once again, another person who is claiming Staples is the fraud, though she is. She also continued to harass Staples until he filed a harrassment suit againts her (Case # 37-2014-00029853-CU-HR-CTL, https://dochub.com/badingsly/aNqmJy/lisa?dt=mr8sqyc7h676n27v).

Lisa Kove ReCap:

• multiple names,
• lied to fire investigators and committed insurance fraud.

Now that everyone can get a sense as to the people responsible for this article and their own behavior and character, I would like to conclude with what I know about A. Latham Staples, the company and the article. I was a part of the company from near the inception to the end. The company had no direction prior to Staples' arrival. Macoviak was a mess and every week there was a new direction, confusion. Staples came in as CEO and he quickly took control. Under his leadership we grew immenesly and saw great partnerships coming to life. There was much growth and progress. The only chaos I saw under Staples' tenure was at the end when the article came out and everyting fell apart.

In the article Staples is portrayed as someone who was taking lavish trips, going out for expensive dinners and abusing his financial duties to the company. This couldn't be farther from the truth. When this article came out Staples had chosen to live in a room of a friend, Michael Sauceda, so as to save money. Michael Sauceda testifed to this in court (public court document):
https://dochub.com/badingsly/pn9WYN/michael-declaration-1?dt=q1mfeyiqo2y6l2pn. Staples was using his own funds to support the company and he also did not take a salary for two years so that the monies could be used by the company for our product and corporate development. The monies Guerra claimed to be fradulent were for repairs of a car, which was necessary for his company travel, and Apple and Andoid expenses for the company's IT platform that we were developing, both expenses Kove had earlier approved and that she was aware of. The article also makes it seem like Staples' bilked investors for millions. Guess what, the total amount in question was around....$2,000. In the article Roman did a masterful job of tweaking the truth, and spinning it into lies to make Staples look bad. Yes Staples had some fancy dinners and trips. But those were all for legitimate business purposes (investor and corporate partnership meetings). Staples never hid those, he posted on his social media what he was doing and photos with our partners. The rest of the time he was home eating normal meals. Staples could have done a better job though of explaining to the team how financially tight start-ups are. Some just didn't understand when Staples would be seen at a four-star restaurant with an investor. This was just normal business and it wasn't for his own personal time though.

Additinally, the article claims Staples and the company didn't have the partnerships it claimed. False! I was a part of many of those meetings and contracts were in place with all of our partners. Once such partnership brought into question was with UCSD Health System. Roman and SDGLN claimed there was no working relationship. Well, here is an email showing proof of our partnership: https://dochub.com/badingsly/1yQ9Mv/ucsd-partnership?dt=exao1melqftgweo7. We have numerous photos with all of our business partners at our office and some at theirs, and also from the company party too.

Investors were also crying foul about the article, claiming it was hurting their financial interests. One investor even reached out to a city attorney investigator out of concern about the SDGLN article: https://dochub.com/badingsly/jaZoaN/investor-email-to-city-attorney-investigator?dt=2zqf0zvd3pjm8suq

Eleven other people associated with the company also filed court declarations. Here are two as all of the others are over 6 pages each: https://dochub.com/badingsly/rZN3yl/alex-declaration?dt=b3il87c75jg7ft3a, https://dochub.com/badingsly/6DOeke/larry-declaration?dt=n1fha7kju9oty0f0

It's because of shaddy and unethical behavior by Roman Jimenez, Thomas Guerra, Johnathan Hale, Lisa Kove and John Macoviak that hundreds of people got hurt. You all used your grievances with Staples to further an agenda to harm him when Guerra presented you with an opportunity. And you fell for it, from the con man himsel - Guerra. In doing so you not only harmed Staples, but you destroyed the company that many of us were excited about. You act like he's the only one you targeted, well you hurt us all. You not only impacted our livelihoods but those of our investors, business partners and all of the future health care clients who would have benefited from the product Staples had come up with. It's a shame! You hurt many, many people and all because you didn't take the time to verify information and because you wanted so bad to hurt someone.

And btw, even after all of this came out the shareholders voted 80% to keep Staples as CEO and the board voted unanimously to retain him. Why? Because we knew the truth. The company had also conducted two audits, at Staples' request, one conducted internally by the board of directors and chief financial officer, and the other, an external audit, conducted by a CFO of a Fortune 100 company. Neither audit found any wrongdoing.

In conclusion, you know what the craziest thing about all of this is? Staples didn't tell too many people other than the board, the executive team and his personal assistant, Alex Leloux, but Staples had gifted the majority of his millions of shares in the company to hundreds of people. Alex had been reaching out to Staples' associciates and his loved ones to gather their contact information as Alex was finalizing the documents to transfer the shares to each of these individuals. Staples gave up the majority of his ownership in the company as he never cared about that or the money. He saw the company as an opportunity for him to share the wealth, not take it. So the group that destroyed the company basically destroyed their own financial interests and they themselves each lost millions.