UPDATES

PDF file of JB arrest on 9/9/10

is located here (right click the box) NOTE: people who use a MAC computer can not use right click, see the FAQs at this site for how to do it if you are not aware.

the EMOTIONAL impact of this entire ordeal (posted 9/11/10)

I am writing this message, not to get your sympathy but to hopefully give everyone (especially the skeptics) a chance to maybe put themselves in my shoes for just a few minutes. I guess it is appropriate that today is 9/11 and I am an emotional wreck over this football pool stuff because for the past 9 years i have been an emotional wreck on this day anyway. As most of you know, I lost family members on this date 9 years ago and I was working 2 blocks away at the time and used to work in the WTC myself a few years earlier. I know I am only one of many people who suffer thru this day every year but I find it ironic with the timing of this football pool legal situation - now for the rest of my life I will have 2 reasons to hate this day. While I tend to be the "tough" guy who rarely shows emotions, these past 48 hours have been a living hell and I have cried like a baby more times than the rest of my life combined. Besides the disappointment in loosing my teaching job and not being able to help the HS kids get ready for their upcoming SAT exam, this entire ordeal is already beginning to take a toll on my family life and marriage that has been GREAT for almost 30 years (10/24) which we were planning to celebrate by returning to Aruba where we honeymooned in 1980, but that seems off now since my passport was confiscated. While sitting on our couch on 9/9 watching our home being ransacked - my wife and I felt VIOLATED. i want to say THANKS for the outpouring of support i have received from 'true' friends (who have directed more legal experts my way than i can even find the time to speak to). Regarding my legal approach, a big part of me wants to go down this road myself and be my own lawyer since only I know the story of 21 years, but i seem to be the only person in the world who thinks that is the right approach. I am finding it more difficult to pick an attorney than it is to negotiate the sales price of a new car and the truth is finances may become a problem if the battle drags out for a long period of time. anyone who thinks i have stashed away a bunch of cash in a brown bag in some secret hiding place - needs to guess again - when the bank accounts were frozen every penny we own was in those bank accounts as well, not just the pool money. but like i always have - I will eventually find the way to stretch the dollars I do have as far as is necessary to solve all problems. As for my skeptics , all I can say is - I do not deserve your abuse - and I will do everything in my power to solve all problems to the satisfaction of everyone and maybe some day in the future my skeptics will say "sorry for doubting your integrity" and maybe they can say sorry by donating some money to buy me a round of golf at AUGUSTA (the number one item on my personal bucket list) or maybe help me find some employment, which i will need shortly, to help me pay my bills as i fight this legal battle. Thanks for taking the time to review my updates, I pledge to post as needed, but please understand that my counsel (officially not even selected yet, as I am still speaking to several potential options) hate it every time i make a posting, but I only know one way to treat people and that is with 100% honesty. I hope everyone still enjoys the upcoming NFL season, even if my pools are missing. Sincerely, John Bovery

Plan to document all money that needs to be refunded (posted 9/11)

Here is the plan I will implement (soon, but not yet) to document the money that needs to be refunded to some players. As you know, at the time of my arrest a lot of money had already cleared and was in the bank, but some checks had never been deposited. as long as i eventually get all my records back (envelopes and notes), i will be able to recreate perfectly who is owed a refund of their entry fee since the pools never started for 2010. Please make copies of canceled checks and retain those records. at some point in the future I will figure out what i need you to send me and i will send an email (or post here) when i am ready to start receiving that info. For now please just gather your own records and be ready to send them eventually. Any reference in this message as to a refund, is not a guarantee and is definitely contingent on the final resolution of this legal battle.

another update - more nonsense (sunday 9/12/10 at 6 AM ET)

At the end of this posting you will find a copy of the text from an email i received at 12:02 AM ET 9/12/10. i received it from the address jbarrested@yahoo.com - nice touch i must say, but i would request that nobody waste your time replying to this person because they are obviously a coward and a waste of your time. when all the dust settles, i hope they have the decency to come out of the closet and apologize. while my first instinct is to immediately answer every question and post my answers here, i am going to sit back for a little while today (try to relax and actually watch a football game for the first time in about 14 years on week 1 - usually too busy running a pool) and take the advice of others, which has never been something i do well. rest assured that every single one of these questions and all the other stupid questions i am still getting from restricted phone callers will be answered in full view of the entire world at some point in time. quick side note: i want to reach out and thank all of the players who have either called or emailed with their kind words and support, it helps me a ton (on sleepless nights) to read your emails (yes, i have borrowed another laptop, i still do have some friends). final comment for now: many of you have offered money to assist in my legal defense and while i am deeply touched by the offers, i will not be going down that road any time soon. i hope to be finalizing my choice of attorney(s) on monday (tuesday at the latest) and i guess at that time the ball will start rolling - where and how fast? - i have no idea. please read below and have a great sunday of football, enjoying all the other pools that you might play in. JUST A THOUGHT: while i will not do so, i was wondering if someone else should start a chat room about me and my issues. i decided to shut Trash Talk down at OFP because i was afraid the chatter would have become a nuisance to OFP and OFP is not the place where that stuff should happen.

9/13 7:30 AM ET update

I do not expect to make this a daily thing but it might become just that, as a form of therapy for me after a night of tossing and turning. I have a day of meeting lawyers today to begin the process of selecting who will represent me. but i need to first update the jbarrested@yahoo saga. at about 8 PM ET Sunday night i decided to just reply to his questions, so i emailed him my answers instead of boring the rest of you with this nonsense, but i will continue to post all of his replies to me. he emailed me 5 AM ET this morning and it is attached here. a few minutes after that email, he had one last thought but sent a blank email with just the subject: "Tick Tock.. Tick Tock, clocks ticking Jack".

another email from a critic (posted 9/13 at 9:30 PM ET)

here is the text of the most recent email harassing me and i have been advised not to post his email address this time, it was a different email for this one, and just like last time, my reply was made just to the sender. for those that might be (erroneously) thinking i am fabricating these emails, I will hold a copy for your review some time in the future.

answers to jbarrested email, posted 9/15 10 am et

attached here is my reply to the jbarrested email of a few days ago, i am going against all advice posting them here but even so called friends are telling me i am looking bad by saying i replied to him directly and not to everyone, so here it is and this will be the last posting (hopefully) until some time late next week, i need to take a step back and let the dust settle a bit.

update from JB on 9/23 at 9 PM ET

i do not have much of an update tonight as i still do not have a date for my court appearance (arraignment) which is likely to be the next step to get the legal wheels of progress in motion. while every lawyer who plays in my pools has advised me to shut up and stop posting, i just can not go along with that approach, for 21 years i have prided myself on being a good communicator with the players in my pools and i am not going to stop now. i firmly believe that i have operated these pools in accordance with all NJ law and at some point in time the judicial system will make their final decision, so please do not judge me until the verdict is in. only a few close friends and family members know the pain (both emotional and financial) that me and my family are going thru right now. all i ask is that you not judge me too soon. while my writings and my rules may come across as pompous to some - that is clearly not my intention, but in order to manage 4,000 people and almost 9,000 entries, you have to be tough with your words to some degree or people will take advantage. earlier tonight i was alerted to 2 message boards where people (mainly people who do not play in my pools) are chatting with some very inaccurate info, maybe some of my players can go in there and add your own comments. if you google "john bovery" on the first page you will see a yahoo message board started by my old friend "jbarrested" with just a few posts, but further down in google you will see a message board at footballguys.com with lots of postings and suffice to say is very hard to read and see my integrity being challenged and not be able to fully reply to all the comments. i would much rather people email me and i will reply, i am not going to check multiple message boards every day. i will be back with an update as things warrant it, and at least once a week even if i have nothing to say, rest assured i am not "on the run". thanks for all the support i have received from true friends, JB.

quick update from JB on 10/6/10

in reviewing this site, i just realized i promised to update once a week, which i probably should not have since the judicial system works too slowly for me, but i will try to update as often as the situation dictates. there is no change in legal proceedings, i still do not have a date for arraignment. i do expect to have an email out (by the end of October) to all players (who were registered at the OFP database as of 9/8/10) - it will be instructions on sending me documentation supporting the fact that your check cleared and was part of the money seized from my accounts on 9/9/10. look for that email soon and if my updates are not as often as you would like, please feel free to email me with any questions. thanks, JB

copy of NY post article (on my arrest) from 9/28

is located here, for those who missed it

update of 10/31

once again no real update to report (no date for arraignment and no indictment as of yet). but since i had indicated that i was planning to send an email to all players by the end of October (regarding documentation of your losses) i just wanted to touch base and let you know that i am not quite ready to do that yet. the main reason for this delay is that i have changed legal representation as of this past week and my new counsel has a slightly different approach for the short term. there was really not any huge problem with my original counsel, i just found a different lawyer who had a different angle and i made a change. i am still planning to collect that documentation of losses, and i do expect to have an email out to all players in the near future. as always, if you do not feel i am updating you often enough just send me an email and i will answer your questions. thanks again for all your understanding and support in these tough times. JB.

update as of 11/24

between earlier today and late last night, all players from my pools were sent an email with an update. if you did not get it, please send me an email to jackbovery@aol.com (from the same email you used at OFP) and i will send the email to you. thanks and happy thanksgiving to all, JB.

another email update sent 12/8/10

on 12/8/10, all players from my pools were sent an email with another legal update. if you did not get it, please send me an email to jackbovery@aol.com (from the same email you used at OFP) and i will send the email to you. thanks and happy holidays to all, JB.

another email update sent 1/15/11

on 1/15/11, all players from my pools were sent an email with another legal update. if you did not get it, please send me an email to jackbovery@aol.com (from the same email you used at OFP) and i will send the email to you. thanks, JB.

another email update was sent 2/5/11

on 2/5/11, all players from my pools were sent an email with another legal update. if you did not get it, please send me an email to jackbovery@aol.com (from the same email you used at OFP) and i will send the email to you. thanks, JB.

additional email updates were sent 2/20/11 and 3/14/2011

on 2/20/11 and 3/14/2011, all players from my pools were sent emails with another legal update. if you did not get them, please send me an email to jackbovery@aol.com (from the same email you used at OFP) and i will send the emails to you. here is an update on who the key players are in my legal matters with Monmouth County, NJ: the civil (money forfeiture) judge is Judge McCann, the civil prosecutor is Andrew Fried and my civil attorney is Ralph Ferrara (Obermeyer law firm out of Cherry Hill, NJ), the criminal judge is Judge Perri, the criminal prosecutor is Christopher Matthews and my criminal attorney is Brian Neary (Hackensack, NJ).

there was a status conference on 4/11/11 (this posting is being made on 5/13/11)

The judge assigned my criminal case (in Freehold, Monmouth County, NJ) is Judge Jamie Perri and we had our first 'status conference' meeting on 4/11/11. At this meeting dates were set for motions, replies to motions and another status conference date was set for June 13, 2011 (always subject to change, so check back here as the date gets closer).

6/13 court still on (but??)

I have been informed as of today 6/8/11, that the 6/13 date for my next 'status conference' is still on, but my appearance has been waived, so I will not be there. If anyone really cares, it will be Judge Perri's court room Monday morning but my lawyer does not expect anything major to come out of that conference, other than the announcement of a new set of dates for future motions, replies and another 'status conference'. as always if you have any questions email me or call on 908 510 3787 and once i have new dates i will post them here JB

update of 6/13 court date - next date is 8/22

nothing really happened in court on 6/13/11 other than the setting of deadlines for motions and replies which all lead up to my next court date (another status conference) which is August 22,2011 at 9 am in the courtroom of Judge Perri. any questions call or email me, JB, 908 510 3787.

update - 8/22 court date has been changed

it is now Monday August 29, 2011 at 9 AM in the courtroom of Judge Perri.

update - 8/29 court date has been changed

my next court appearance (status conference) is now Tuesday September 6, 2011 at 9 AM in the courtroom of Judge Perri in Monmouth County (Freehold) NJ.

update - 9/6 court date has been changed

my next court appearance (status conference) is now Monday October 3, 2011 at 9 AM in the courtroom of Judge Perri in Monmouth County (Freehold) NJ.

update - 1/3/12 is my next court date

I did have the court date on 10/3/2011 but nothing happened due to a change in the judge handling my case, the new judge needs time to get up to speed. My next court appearance (status conference) is now Monday January 3, 2012 at 9 AM in the courtroom of Judge John T. Mullaney (new judge) in Monmouth County (Freehold) NJ and the prosecutor handling my case is Christopher Matthews.

update - 1/20/12 is my next court date

i did have a quick court date on 1/3/2012 but all that came out of that meeting was to schedule a date of Friday, January 20,2012 for an afternoon of hearing 'motions' and hopefully to get some rulings from the judge. It is by far and away the most important date yet regarding my legal matters and hopefully we can get some direction coming out of this day of motions. It is scheduled for 1:30 PM at the Monmouth County courthouse in Freehold, New Jersey in the courtroom of Judge John T. Mullaney, which should be room 248 in the east wing.

update - 2/21/12 is my next court date

On 1/20/12 oral arguments took place on several motions I filed back in July, the judge will be ruling on these motions shortly, and my next court date for another status conference is 2/21/12.