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Libertad's Journal

libertad
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09/09/2009 13:38 #49731

Lon Coldiron's Sentence
Thanks (e:jessbob) for alerting me to Lon's sentencing. I was waiting for a news story because I knew that the sentencing would be on the 4th but none of the news outlets covered it. I am reposting it again here just because I have the other news articles in my past journals and want this one too.

How pathetic that he still professes his innocence and is going to waste even more taxpayer dollars on his appeal. I think 4-12 years is a fair sentence along with being ordered to pay restitution. Hopefully they will keep him for the full 12 years if he does go through with an appeal. Interestingly, I have learned that this is not Lon's first time with fire. Back when he lived in Ohio a garage was burned down intentionally that just happened to have Lon's car in it. I like what the judge said about it being a completely selfish act because that is exactly what it was. His life would have been so much better if he just admitted defeat, claimed bankruptcy and started over again learning from his mistakes.

Here it is again....

Coffee shop owner gets 4 to 12 years for insurance arson
ByMatt Gryta
News Staff Reporter
Updated: September 08, 2009, 5:04 PM

Former Buffalo coffee shop owner Lon Coldiron, still proclaiming his innocence, today was ordered to spend the next four to 12 years in state prison for setting fire to the building in a bid to collect insurance money.

Coldiron also was ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution to the insurance company for what Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk called his "terribly selfish" crime.

Coldiron, 43, was convicted by a jury July 27 of third-degree arson and attempted grand larceny for the Oct. 21, 2004, fire that destroyed his "Coffee &" shop and the three-story building it was in at 718 Elmwood Ave.

The judge denounced him for the "orchestrated" fire he falsely thought could generate insurance payments on his money-losing business.

It was Coldiron's second trial in connection with the fire. He was spared a jail term when an Erie County Court jury three years ago convicted him only of attempted grand larceny. However, an appellate court set aside that conviction and ordered a second trial because of juror misconduct in the first trial.

After Coldiron today insisted that "I'm still innocent and someday it will come out," Franczyk denounced him for the insurance ploy that prosecutors showed took place while his coffee shop was losing money and he was still gambling at nearby casinos "like a drunken sailor."

The judge also faulted him for causing damage to adjoining structures and putting Buffalo firefighters at risk in dealing with the early-morning arson five years ago. Franczyk also ordered him to repay Travelers Insurance Co. the $250,000 it paid the owner of the building destroyed in the arson.

John K. Jordan, Coldiron's attorney, said the conviction will be appealed.




08/31/2009 09:22 #49664

Birthday Boy!
Happy Birthday Mikey!

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Does anyone know why my pictures are uploading sideways now? As saved files they are upright.
ladycroft - 09/03/09 05:56
Happy Birthday Mike!
jim - 09/01/09 08:45
There are slight variations on how orientation can be recorded, but generally (e:strip) won't rotate something unless it's sure about what to do. It's not based on width vs height from what Paul has said.
tinypliny - 08/31/09 23:21
I think it rotates the picture when the height is much smaller than the width and the resize skews it even more - or some such thing. I have seen some of my pictures uploading like this. I pull them and make the height:width much much larger.
mike - 08/31/09 20:35
that was from my garage sale. I got it from my friend Katrina when she worked at media play and it was a display they were throwing out. The best part is someone like 20something guys bought it at the garage sale for like 5 dollars after much hemming and hawing about it
metalpeter - 08/31/09 19:19
I have no idea about the upload, the only guess that I have is that I really have no idea, but maybe the height is the same size as the regular width of (e:strip) so it puts it that way, but not sure I would think (e:paul) would know for sure.
james - 08/31/09 10:59
The more important question, David, is what is up with that Dawson's Creek picture?

08/26/2009 13:50 #49634

Deep satisfaction
The other day I was riding my bike behind the history museum and as is customary in any type of traffic in this country, stayed to the right hand side. This little punk decides not to move out of my way and play chicken. Sorry, my bike is bigger and faster so you move out of the way as I am on the correct side. So he veers out of the way and then turns his wheel at me sharply like he is going to hit me but instead falls off his bike and rolls away. I look behind me and see that he is fine but his front tire is completely bent in half meaning not only that he can't ride it but he will have to carry it back home. I yell back "Tough luck eh?"

I wish all situations with stupid jerks would result in this type of deep and immediate satisfaction.
james - 08/26/09 14:32
Magic.
jason - 08/26/09 13:54
HAHA. That's what we call instant karma. =)

08/21/2009 09:05 #49584

I smell a rat
I just got this post it note from a guest.

@ 08/19/09 01:02@74.78.96.175 Guest wrote:

How can you find someone guilty of something without sufficient evidence from what I've heard and read he did not collect any insurance money, the only one that benefited from the fire was the landlord why not check him out. And they did not find any gasoline on the clothes they took from him at the hostital. What about the threating phone calls he was getting? One of his employees answered and got one of the threating calls. I think you should not be so hard on the guy.



Lon is this you? Probably not considering bail is set at $50k. Whoever you are you must be delusional. $300k insurance policy a month before the fire?! He got angry with a worker who called 911 to have a fire put out in his Niagara Falls location saying to me "She should have just let it burn down." Yes Lon is a fine guy indeed.

Anyways this is the original reason I signed on. I think it is fitting....



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I think it is a huge rat. Do you agree? It seems water logged from the river.
libertad - 08/21/09 16:08
Yes, it is my picture. I took it for you Paul. I was about to post it and then I got that post-it note so I thought that the two went together perfectly anyways. I hope you enjoy the Sicilian Kiss I sent to you. Feel free to use it for your river kill post,
paul - 08/21/09 15:12
Did you take that pic? I love it. It goes with the river kill pic I will be posting.
mike - 08/21/09 13:37
insanity, maybe it is comb over
james - 08/21/09 10:15
Apparently, they did have sufficient evidence. Hence the arrest and two convictions.

07/28/2009 22:42 #49406

Guilty of arson!
Lon Coldiron was convicted of the Coffee & arson! Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard at rebuilding the case years after the fact. I am so pleased with this verdict. I always knew that one way or another justice would be served, but I never imagined that because of Lon's stupidity and arrogance he would put himself on trial a second time when he got off so easily at the first. I am really dumbfounded by this all. This really exemplifies to me that it can take a long time for a prayer to be answered, I spent many hours chanting about this situation. Here is a journal of mine three years ago about my anger towards the first verdict.




Coffee shop owner convicted of arson
By Matt Gryta
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
July 28, 2009, 7:02 AM / 3 comments


Buffalo coffee shop owner Lon Coldiron was convicted Monday night of third-degree arson and second-degree attempted grand larceny in the October 2004 fire that destroyed his business and killed one of his three pet dogs.

The jury found Coldiron, 43, not guilty of attempted third-degree grand larceny. Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk set bail at $50,000 and scheduled sentencing for Sept. 4.

Coldiron, 43, did not testify or present any alibi witnesses during the two-week trial, his second in connection with the fire that destroyed Coffee &, his shop at 718 Elmwood Ave.

Three years ago, Coldiron was convicted only of attempted grand larceny and placed on probation. He was granted a new trial 12 months ago by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court because of jury misconduct during deliberations before then-County Judge Timothy J. Drury.

The appellate court stressed that while it found "legally sufficient" evidence to support the arson and attempted insurance fraud charges, a new trial was warranted because of misconduct by unidentified jurors who sneaked legal documents into the deliberation room.

"The jury's possession of that written material" warranted a trial reversal, the Rochester court ruled, upholding arguments by Buffalo Legal Aid Bureau appeals attorney Nicholas T. Texido.

Prosecutors Mark A. Sacha and Amy B. Benedict proved Coldiron had applied for about $290,000 in business insurance on the shop about a month before the fire and that he had been awaiting an insurance company inspection of his business at the time of the arson.

The prosecutors also cited evidence of Coldiron had gambling casino debts at the time.

John K. Jordan, Coldiron's attorney, contended his client, who lived in a third-floor flat above the shop and had to leap to the roof of an adjoining business to escape the flames, had "cooperated fully with the investigation" of the arson.

Days after the fire, neighbors staged a benefit for Coldiron.

mgryta@buffnews.com



ajay - 07/29/09 13:49
I remember walking in and asking them if they wanted to put up a free WiFi spot in there, for the cost of $45/mo. Didn't get an answer....
tinypliny - 07/29/09 08:28
I just read your earlier post to place this in context. What an awful person! He deserves a nice spot in prison.
jason - 07/29/09 08:10
Didn't a pet die in the fire too? Or am I not remembering correctly? Either way, I'm glad this goon was brought to justice.
james - 07/28/09 23:04
Ah yes, the coffee shop where I met Libertad before all other estrippers.

Glad he got what was coming.
joshua - 07/28/09 22:53
This was a disgrace. I honestly do miss that coffee shop... I was a regular there until it burned down. Too bad it was owned by a psychopath.