My name is Ryan Masters, I was recently released from Jail in Jacksonville, Florida and I am trying to alert the public of the injustice I have endured.

In Summary, I was extradited from my home in Las Vegas, Nevada and I was incarcerated for a year, to be followed by 4 years probation, and as a condition to pay back restitution to the State of Florida in the amount of $57,000 for investigation costs for a fraud case totaling only $1,300.

Case Number: 2006-CF-008965, Jacksonville (Duval County) Florida

What I want? I want out of probation, I already served my time and lost everything because of it, I want out of the State of Florida, I cannot transfer my probation to another state because I have no family in another state (See Interstate Compact Rules)

In June of 2006, The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO), In conjunction with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)  and the Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSWP) obtained a warrant for 4 defendants on a credit card fraud case involving only approximately thirteen hundred ($1,300) in victim losses. (S817.034a, Organized Fraud, 3rd Degree Felony) The defendant names are as follows: RYAN MASTERS (I was extradited from Las Vegas Nevada); CHRISTOPHER MCCLELLAN (also extradited from Las Vegas, Nevada) RICHARD WARD (extradited from Georgia) and BRANDON LANDIS (from Jacksonville, also a "material witness" in the investigation) the date the offense occurred was said to be between December 2004 and January 2005.

Mr. Ward and I have no criminal background, (with the exception of a misdemeanor worthless check, which was paid and withheld from record), the criminal histories for McClellan and Landis are unknown. At the time of my arrest, I was held in the Jacksonville jail with a $250,000 bond, and advice from my attorney (and Mr. Ward's attorney) was that the Judge would not agree to a lower bond due to several reasons that were never substantiated.  At the very least, I feel that based on the type of crime, the loss to the victims, and in comparison of other charges in which that same bond was afforded to others in jail, that my 8th amendment right to a fair and reasonable bail was violated.

The prosecutor after the arrest filed a motion to reduce the bond for Mr. Landis, citing reasons such as "continues to cooperate with law enforcement" down to $25,000, and subsequently  bonded out of  Jail and became the State's primary  witness in this case.

When my attorney attempted to file a motion to reduce my bond, my attorney was told by the prosecutor, that if I had continued to go through with my bond reduction, that the lead officer/investigator would testify at the hearing that myself (and other co-defendants) where under active investigation of "using money or proceeds from the stolen credit cards to fund purchases of illegal firearms" and that such a statement, even with no formal charges being filed, would form a bias or prejudice in the Judge's mind and make him reluctant to lower the bond, and further make him reluctant to accept any plea bargain other than the maximum sentence of 5 years prison that the prosecutor was originally seeking.

After several court appearances, I was confronted by my attorney with a plea bargain for 1 year in jail, followed by 4 years probation, and to pay the following fines/fees: $57,000 to the FDLE for cost of investigation, $1, 340.90 in restitution to the victim, $5,000 to the Office of Statewide Prosecution, and $341.00 in court costs. I was informed that if I rejected this plea bargain, that the case would in turn go to trial, and the state would be seeking the maximum penalty of 5 years prison, and that the time it would take to have a trial would take longer than if I were to take the 1 year in jail and be out in 8 months. Furthermore, because a plea agreement would waive trial, I could not question, contest, or otherwise ask the prosecutor to justify the amounts of restitution or costs of investigation, and that I must accept whatever they said the amounts were. I could not afford a $250,000 bond, so I knew I would not get out of jail any other way but to be coerced into taking this 1 year plea and knowing when I was getting out of jail, had I been afforded the opportunity to post bond, I would have almost certainly have taken the case to trial, for I feel that I would have won trial based on the evidence (or lack thereof) that the state claimed to have in their possession, furthermore, the only primary witness, Brandon Landis, was also a co-conspirator himself.

Each defendant received a different sentence, and was sentenced at different times, which I believe was part of the overall scheme to prevent anyone in the case from withdrawing their plea once any of the defendants knew what the other had got, here is a summary of the sentence that each defendant received:

RYAN MASTERS: 1 year incarceration, 4 years probation (Felony active probation), $57,000 cost of investigation*, $5,000 cost of prosecution*, $1,340.90 victim restitution, $341.00 court costs. *A special condition in my probation stipulates that the above fees and restitution must be paid over the course of my probation, my monthly payment (as stipulated by my probation officer, makes my payment approximately $863 a month, and that a special note exists in my order of probation that says failure to meet this financial obligation shall be considered a violation of probation) So, by me not being able to afford this $863 a month, I am actually committing a criminal offense.

CHRISTOPHER MCCLELLAN: 21 months incarceration, no probation following probation, prior record includes a few felonies and misdemeanors relating to theft.

BRANDON LANDIS: No jail time, 3 years probation, probation may be terminated early by payment of court costs, a $1,000 fine, and recommendation by his probation officer.

RICHARD WARD: 1 year incarceration, 3 years probation, fines and restitution was ordered "joint and several" with my fines and probation, however he has a limited payment obligation of only $150.00/month. Also adjudication was withheld in this case.

In October of 2007, I had went back to court to try to get my monthly payment lowered or limited to a reasonable amount, the prosecutor rebutted my attorney's argument stating that "by lowering this payment the total amount due to the State would not be fully paid over the term of probation (4 years)", well that was the idea. The Judge denied the lowering of the payment because the plea agreement stated that I had "agreed to pay this amount during the course of my probation".

During my incarceration, I was not afforded the opportunity to be part of the Work Release program offered by the Community Corrections Division, while no official documentation exists (or is willing to be released by JSO) citing reasons for my denial, it was by advisement by the Work Release Program Coordinator that I was considered a high-risk inmate due to my charge having such a high bond before I was sentenced, and that I was a possible risk to the community. Because I was not able to meet my financial obligations while I was incarcerated, I have lost my home, my vehicles, and nearly $7,000 in personal property. Furthermore, debt incurred from unpaid bills and credit cards total nearly $10,000.

To this date I still do not know the name of the Judge who initially signed our warrants back in June of 2006, jail records indicate that it was possibly Judge Jack Schemer, however after arrest our case was switched over to division C, which at the time was Judge Lance Day. (Knowing that Judge Day was about to move off the bench at the end of this year, and that a new Judge would be reluctant to review the  case post-sentencing, was a possible motive by the State to make sure everyone was sentenced and the case was closed as quickly as possible.) Any honest Judge would see that our bond, let alone the costs that the state claimed to have spent, was not justifiable and that the State's case would have fallen apart should any of us (other than their key witness) have been able to bond out. The cost of extradition alone far exceeded the victim restitution, not to mention the fact that the victim in this case does not even reside in Florida.

Below is a live example of persons currently incarcerated in Jacksonville, with charges for more serious then my own, their bond, and if sentenced, their sentence. The following is a list of individuals that in the Judge's and officials in the corrections department I would be compared to (even alleged child molesters received the same $250,000 bond that I was held against):


(The list of inmates with better bail amounts and sentences has been included in the latest motion filed in this case, and is available for review here)


The list goes on and on, I highly doubt that a case involving some items purchased over the internet, justifies the risk and criminal intent of a violent criminal or sexual predator like shown above, I believe the State and the FDLE/JSO tried to keep this case as low-key as possible, realizing their mistake in investing $57,000+ of tax payers funds to investigate what they thought, without probable cause, a multi-million dollar crime ring. I can only imagine the embarrassment they felt by prosecuting a $1,300 crime and by paying $57,000 to do it, and the Sheriff wants even more money to fight "an increase in violent crime in Jacksonville", perhaps it s not money they need, but someone to manage it for them. Florida Criminal Statutes of Limitations 775.15 suggests that this offense must be prosecuted within 3 years after it is committed, with no new evidence since January of 2004, wouldn't filing charges a few months short of a Statue deadline, knowing that most of the defendants were not from Florida, had no local family to support them, and otherwise would be unseen by being removed from society, be a questionable reason for filing such charges?

For the next 4 years, I am forced to live in the State of Florida, where I do not want to be, I have only ever lived in Florida for a very short time a few years ago, and then moved on, but because of this probation, I cannot transfer the probation back to where I was arrested from (I lost my home and everything, what am I supposed to do?) I just want to go back home to Las Vegas, and until I do, I will make every effort that the public sees just what corruption and how fraudulently tax dollars are being used to prosecute petty offenses. As far as I am concerned, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Office of Statewide Prosecution, are guilty of a greater fraud then one that I could ever be charged with.