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     For years, Movie Collector's World (MCW) has been THE magazine of the movie poster hobby. The latest issue (#768, June 2012) contains an article entitled "GUILTY! 78 Months for Poster Fraud!" which provides a wonderful first person account by James Gresham (author of Children of the Night and They're Here Already!) of the sentencing hearing of Kerry Haggard, the vile monster who tortured our great hobby more than any Universal monster could have!

Brian Bukantis, owner of MCW, has given us permission to reproduce the text of the James Gresham article in this club message, and it appears below. There are also accompanying images for the article, but to see those you will need to obtain a copy of the magazine either from our site or from MCW directly. MCW has been the "Bible" of the movie poster collecting hobby for longer that many of you have been alive, and it is well worth subscribing to!

Here is the entire text of the article (please know that the contents are the property of Movie Collector's World and they are not to be reproduced or placed elsewhere in any manner whatsoever, without the express written permission of MCW):

"All please Rise," said the court bailiff. The crowd stood up. It consisted of my wife Peggy & myself, Robert Rogovin of Four Color Comics, Agent Michael of the FBI., collectors Glenn Damato, Danny Carlson, friend and dealer Ralph De Luca, some other people who were apparently collectors, one reporter , and attorneys from both sides. As we stood in courtroom 14C of the Federal District Court, in walked Kerry Haggard and his attorney. True to the end, Haggard was attempting another scam. Forty-Seven year old Haggard was slumped over with a cane, hobbling in, looking every bit the part of a sickly 70 year old man he was trying to portray. I actually laughed out loud. After three long years of chasing this guy, he was about to be held accountable for possibly the first time in his life.
    Haggard's attorney was the first to speak. "Your honor, I realize that my client's behavior has been about as bad as it could possibly be, since his first arrest." He was referring to the fact that Haggard had been caught obstructing justice, trying to sell the very posters he claimed under oath that he didn't have. This was a violation of an order in my civil lawsuit prohibiting him from selling assets. The attorney was also referring to the fact that Haggard had lied about having lobby cards and posters. The FBI had successfully found some of the posters Haggard said he didn't have.
    Haggard's attorney continued, "Despite his poor behavior, we are appealing to the court to have Mr. Haggard's sentenced on the lower end or even below the lower end of the recommended prison term. Mr. Haggard has an ailing Mother and is in fact very sick himself. He has high blood pressure and joint problems. Therefore we are requesting my client serve his time in a prison close to his Mother and on the lower end of the term range." Funny I thought to myself, who doesn't have high blood pressure and joint problems? "I would also like to point out that Mr. Haggard has a clean record to this point in his life."
    "Mr. Haggard, do you have anything you would like to say," asked the Honorable Judge. Still trying to look the part, Haggard slowly struggled to his feet. "Yes your honor. I would like to say that no one could be more remorseful then me!" This was an almost laughable lie. Haggard had about a year earlier sent a text message to a friend which stated, "I don't regret a single thing I have done." "Mr. Haggard I think the only thing you regret is getting caught," says the Judge with obvious disgust. The Judge held up a stack of letters, "I have never seen so many letters on one case in all of my life." (The Judge read the name of every single person who sent a letter into her.) "With this many victims, you are obviously a serial criminal. The only reason you don't have a previous criminal record, is simply due to the fact that you have never been caught!"
    It was now time for others to speak. Let's see, would someone say something on Haggard's behalf? Oh yes, that's right, there wasn't a single person there to support him. Therefore, first up was Robert Rogovin, my good friend who owns Four Color comics. Robert spoke about the negative impact Haggard had on our hobby and many collectors. Robert would have the best line of the day, "Mr. Haggard is the Bernie Madoff of the poster hobby!" Ironically, right after I first spoke to Agent Mike of the New York FBI, the Detroit Branch of the FBI also considered taking this case. After a discussion, it was agreed that New York and Agent Mike would keep the case. Bernie Madoff had just cheated many people in New York and it was felt that New York courts would be much tougher on a person like Madoff. So, without even knowing, Rogovin had not only hit upon a funny line, but also hit upon a real truth.
    Next up to speak was Glenn Damato. Glenn garnered respect in this court, as he actually worked for the New York Federal Court System. Glenn talked about the impact Haggard had on our hobby as well as the hobbies restorers. Glenn also shared a very interesting story about an encounter he had with Haggard. Basically, when Haggard didn't follow thru on a deal, Glenn told Haggard this will have a bad effect on his reputation. Haggard replied, "I don't care about my reputation!" Wow, would he live that out.
Finally it was my turn to speak. I thanked the Judge and congratulated her on her obvious grasp of the true nature of Haggard. I wanted to also especially take the opportunity to thank Agent Mike for a job well done. I spoke from the heart thanking him for his efforts. I also wanted the judge to know I represented all the victims in this case. I wanted to have a voice on the victim's behalves who were not able to be there. So, finally, I got to tell my story. First, I addressed Haggard's lie of "No one is more remorseful then me, your honor." I said "Kerry, actions speak louder than words. If you are truly remorseful, prove it. Where are the posters? " Of course he simply looked down and did not respond. I talked about Haggard's friendship and betrayal. About the long battle we had fought to hold him accountable. He had transferred assets, drained assets, hid assets, divorced to split assets, and filed for bankruptcy. It had been a long three years. I had more to say, but the fact was the judge seemed like she had had enough and besides, I was getting chocked up with emotions. So I concluded that Haggard had once said, "I am set for life and there isn't a thing anyone can do about it." I said, "Your honor, Haggard was wrong. Agent Mike did something about it and now you can also. Make him responsible for what he has done and give him the maximum sentence you can." I couldn't say another word. I hadn't gotten everything out, but I had said enough.
    As the judge stood, I knew the plea agreement sentencing range was from 48-78 months. "Mr. Haggard you should have thought of your sick mother before you cheated all these people. I will not change my recommendation as to where we send you. And, as for your health, I will make sure you do your time in a Federal prison that has a good medical facility. Mr. Haggard, I hereby sentence you to 78 months in Federal Prison." I looked over at Peggy and wanted to high five her. We were excited as the judge had given him the very maximum she could possibly give. Then the judge went on for at least ten more minutes just verbally spanking Haggard. "You will do this & you will not do this." After awhile, I almost had a twinge of sorrowâ ¦.. almost. She verbally spanked him good.
The crowd cheered as the judge stood up to leave. Afterwards, Ralph De Luca, Danny Carlson, Robert Rogovin, Glenn Damato, Agent Mike, Peggy, and I, all stood around celebrating for a moment. We discussed how the case had gone. We all felt very elated. I am pretty sure Haggard wasn't feeling nearly as well. I truly hope, for his sake, that Haggard changes his ways down the road. My thoughts floated back to June of 2009 when I had asked Haggard to give me my posters back. His Attorney sent us a note saying show us the signed trade agreements and bill of sales and they would consider returning posters. Of course the attorney knew we had traded lobby cards like kids traded baseball cards. There were no signed trade agreements. I wonder if Haggard now regrets the arrogance of that letter to us? In the end he got 78 months in Federal Prison with 3 years supervised probation afterwards. The Judge promised that any false move he makes would be rewarded with more prison time.
    It was truly a great day for our hobby. It was a great day for every victim with $1.38 million in restitution split between victims. It was a great day for the FBI. After three years I was relieved. That night in the hotel, I had a migraine headache. But even then, the world looked brighter and I thanked God for what he had done."

Thanks very much to Brian Bukantis, publisher of MCW, for letting us print this (and to James Gresham for writing it!), so thousands more people can learn of this. But there are lots more great articles in MCW that you will never see unless you subscribe, so shouldn't you consider doing so today at http://www.mcwonline.com/index.html?