---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 20:29:44 -0800
From: Wes Thomas <west@sonic.net>
Subject: Ghostwolf's latest scam: fake Miami Circle
Ghostwolf's latest scam: fake Miami Circle
http://sightings.com/ufo2/miamicircle.htm
Mystery Miami 'Circle' Is Known Railroad Excavation
By Robert A.M. Stephens <sti3818@montana.com>
February 13, 1999
In 1911 The Narrow Gauge Railway Co. operated by Teddy
Collins and Sons, known as the Narrow Gauge Starfire Co.,
originally from the Oak Hill area of Pennsylvania, was
contracted in May of 1910 by the operations board for the
then fledging Florida East Coast Railway and Navigation Co.
to begin dredging in the Miami byway area for an intended
spur link from thier interchange 'Y' at mile post 289. In so
doing, since the Florida East Coast Railway was standard
gauge (4' 8 1/2" as per modern AAR standards) the large road
engines and the lighter switcher s, were much too heavy to
operate on the required light rails (30 lbs. per yard) that
construction trains running on the sand based ground in an
around the area were using, resorted to c ontracting a narrow
gauge railroad builder and operator to perform the works.
Teddy Collins was the outfit. The man himself was a lumberman
who fell back on railway co nstruction work to offset the
downturn in lumbering that was vexing the nation in the 1906-
13 time frame.
He got the contract to construct the following:
1. A 6 mile long elevated standard gauge RR bed from the FECRwy.
junction in western Miami, then curve through downtown Miami
proper, crossing the waterway-mud area in question, then
terminating with a branch that would come to the ocean side
stead.
2. A twin turntable pier structure for a low slung Howe-Truss
center span bridge. (the 'Circle' in question).
3. Laid course to be with 100 per yard rail. In 1913 Collins
finished construction but the excavation of the waterway nearly
broke him. The remnants of native American artifacts in the area
is a result of the deep muck removal of material on the site in
the attempt to form a more stable road bed. The attempt in this
area failed. The FECRwy. abandoned the 6 mile spur in favor of
Teamsters moving freight from the FECRwy. railhead to downtown
loca tions. The circle in question was the standard design base
at the time of building a Howe-Truss, center bearing bridge
traverse.
Thought I would let you know.
References: 'The Railroad in the Sun'.
The FECRwy.Co.'
Howell North Books, 1962
John T. Labbe 'Lumbering and Logging in Pennsylvania'
Veron Goe and John Kasler 1970-(out of print--collectors
edition) '
The Locomotives that Baldwin built' Coronado Press, 1969
Elgin Meeks 'Rails Through Dixie' Peach Tree Press, 1975
John Vilden and Ennice Kregg 'The Climax Locomotive. A Geared
Wonder' Narrow Gauge Pictorial Dann James Historical
Publishers, 1980 (Pg. 133. Pict. of locomotive used in the
dredging work. Locomotive CN # 190,. Climax Locomotive
Works, Corry Penny.)
'Mikado: The Locomot ives of Florida' (a trieste to the 2-8-2
Wheel Arrangement For Fast Freight on Light Ground.'
Locomotive Historical Quarterly.
DoT Document number 388.55.A (19 89) And lastly, there are
far more compelling 'circles' of note that are real, not
railroad excavations, at the sound end of the Kennedy Space
Center along the Banana River. Wonder why no one is talking
about that. Perhaps a little too close to 'Space' based
subject matter?
sincerely, Robert A.M. Stephens
NASA Documentation Program Stillwater Mills Contractor-
Aerospace
KSC-PIB/shuttle 406-745-3818
sti3818@montana.com
http://198.116.116.10/gallery/arts/samples.html
That makes perfect sense to me. The first time I saw the pic, I figured
it was some sort of old construction site or rubble dump. The holes
seemed to be just drill holes for steel rebars for a pier base of some
sort. Funny how we never get a really good, detailed picture of the
thing, isn't it?
Two new newgroups, alt.fan.robert.ghostwolf and
alt.fan.robert.franzone, have been formed and are accessible via
dejanews.com. I have interviewed some of the victims of Robert
Franzone (AKA Robert Parry, Robert Wolf, Robert Wolff, Robert
Ghostwolf), who confirm many of the statements below. I have
hard copy documentation for some of his identities, including
his use of a fraudulent social security number. I have also been
in touch with one of the Miami television reporters mentioned
below. If anyone has additional information on "Ghostwolf" or
any of his other identities, please send it to me.
alt.fan.robert.ghostwolf discussion of the huckster robert ghostwolf
Charter and FAQ
1. What the heck is a "Robert Ghostwolf?"
Robert Ghostwolf aka Robert Franzone is a scammer posing as a "Native American." He has no card with the Native Nations and is
actually of Italian descent. He poses as a "native American
medicine man" for fun and profit$. He is a frequent guest on the
Art Bell show, and like most of Art's guests he is a snake oil
salesman. There are pages about him all over the net and many
usenet articles written by real, card carrying nations people
who have condemned his various new age "indian medicine man"
$cams. And apparently he is also wanted in a couple of states
for fraud.
Never mind all of this, Art sure doesn't mind, since this Miami
Circle hoopala started it seems that Art Bell is having the
shyster on his show just about every night the past couple of
weeks.
2. Why not just ignore him instead of naming a newsgroup after
him?
Because he is insulting to an entire race of people. Because he
has ripped people off with his frauds and scams. Because Art
Bell continues to have this idiot on his show. Because I have a
personal problem with $3.99 a minute medicine men.
3. What are the topics to be discussed in this newsgroup?
Any topic that has to do with Mr. Franzone (his real name) and
his various aliases and scams. Also other discussion of scamming
new agers is welcome as well, but the group's topics should
generally be about Ghostwolf.
Robert Franzone History
Author: twohorse <twohorse@u.arizona.edu>
Date: 1999/02/11
Forum: alt.fan.robert.ghostwolf
Robert Franzone: Thief, liar, abuser of women and children, con
man, etc., etc., etc.
Here's a timeline:
Sometime prior to the late 70s, Robert Franzone assumes the name
of Robert Parry, who he confides later to a girlfriend is a dead
person. This name change is due to some action on Robert's part
which probably does not carry a statute of limitations. Fear
not, though, justice is served: in a 1986 New York Supreme Court
case in Nassau County, NY, Robert's name and his alias are
linked in court documents; Robert and his mother, Frances, are
sued by a law firm for contractual breach and Robert is listed
on the filing as "Robert Franzone A/K/A Robert Parry."
The "Parry" identity is linked to Robert's fraudulent claim of
Indianness as "Ghost Wolf" by the Washington state bail
documents on which "Wolf Lodge," Robert's current scam, is
listed.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves:
Late 80s: Robert takes $38,000 from a woman in Santa Clara
County, California, to remodel her house and leaves town.
Robert is later arressted in Barstow, California, and is
returned to San Jose, stands trial and is convicted of a felony.
He serves six months, and is required to pay restitution, which
he fails to do.
However, while in Barstow, he has been involved in a real estate
scam with his friend John Bowen; after abandoning the house
involved in the scam, Robert cleans the house out, removing even
the appliances.
More on this later.
Robert becomes involved with a plumbing contractor from LA named
Nello Olivo, convincing Nello to become involved in a currency
commodities plan with another bad actor named Stafford Mew,
currently serving time in Washington for the $250,000 ripoff
that results. Robert lives with Olivo and his wife, Danica, for
a time, even moving with them to Lake Tahoe. As the currency
conspiracy nears its end, Robert begins to realize that he is
going to take the heat for it and forges documents linking him
to Olivo's company, documents that allow him to obtain a $30,000
loan for a new pickup truck from First Interstate Bank and to
obtain a corporate American Express card on Olivo's corporate
account. He never makes a single payment on the truck; he then
splits for Yelm, Washington.
Once in Yelm, Robert begins to associate with a group called the"Thunder Family," a group of Wanabis that help set him on his
way into the "Wolf Lodge" scam. Even this group of knuckleheads
realizes that he's a bad apple, and he's sent scurrying off to
Spokane to seek the protection of another woman...
...oh, by the way, did I mention? Robert believes that he draws
his power from women, needing approximately twelve of them more
or less in service to him at a time. His treatment of them is
something else, though...
He's introduced to an Indian woman in Spokane, who he winds up
living with until she brings the Marshals back to her house to
remove him after he beats her.
>From Spokane, he latches on to another woman, this time on
Orcas Island, Washington, where the "Wolf Lodge" scam begins to
run full tilt. I should mention that this is where I first met
Robert; curious about what I had heard about his scam, I showed
up at one of his little medicine shows with two other Indian
people. When we asked Bob some pointed questions about his
background, we were asked to leave...I guess we didn't have the
right kind of energy.
At any rate, while Robert is with the woman on Orcas, he is
arrested on the California and Nevada warrants and is extradited
back to Santa Clara County to face the music for not paying the
restitution. He spends another six months in the slammer, and
then is extradited to Nevada. However, the Nevada charge falls
apart because his lawyer successfully argues that the fraud
occurred in California, not Nevada...so much for justice.
Robert's legal troubles continue, however: he is extradited to
Barstow to face charges of grand larceny...remember the
house-cleaning in Barstow. However, the evidence is
circumstantial, and he gets out of this one as well.
Needless to say, all these legal troubles cost somebody some
money, right? Right you are...his girlfriend on Orcas winds up
paying out about $75,000 to end Robert's legal problems. They
remain together for a bit longer, but she has had some problems
of her own with Bob: Robert has beaten her and both of her
teenaged daughters repeatedly during his tenure with them. She
has had enough, and gives Bob the heave-ho.
Bob, true to form, cleans out two of her bank accounts, runs up
$20,000 on her credit cards, vandalizes the house they share,
and splits (again) for Spokane, where he immediately takes up
with Laura Lee Mistycah (does the name "Mistyc House" ring any
bells?) and brings the "Wolf Lodge" scam online there. That's
his present base of operations.
In the time since he's been in Spokane, I've received e-mail and
other communications from Indian people who have been treated in
exactly the same way as I and my friends were on Orcas: when
he's questioned by skins, the skins get shown the door. He's
also pulled another heinous trick: by visiting Arvol Looking
Horse at Cheyenne River, he's associated himself with Mr.
Looking Horse. In the material he now sends out, he uses
Looking Horse's name freely to grant himself authority.
Josh says he doesn't care about Robert Franzone's past, only his
present?
Fine: Josh, Robert Franzone-Parry-"Ghost Wolf" in the present
tense is the same scheming, lying thief he's been from the time
he began his scamming. Such a person has no business whatever
near a sacred site, nor has he any business with Indian people
(except perhaps to apologize profusely for his scamming carried
out in our names).
He is in the present what he's been in the past, and that's the
reason he should be run out of Miami on a rail. He's not doing
good, he's doing for himself, as he always has.
I have court records, bail records, taped interviews, and other
material to back up everything I've said above. On that note, I
should also add that I'm in contact with the New York, Queens,
Brooklyn, and Nassau County District Attorneys to establish what
bad act prompted the initial name change and to help them to
build the connection between the names necessary to bring this
criminal to justice.
You also might like to know that there are Miami television
reporters looking into his criminal record.
One more note: Robert's mother, Frances, and his brother, Ron,
both live in Florida near Miami. Robert is persona non grata
with them, for reasons which I can only guess (educatedly,
however) at, and he has not been in contact with them.
Considering Robert's record, I can imagine that the estrangement
is due to something on his part; as discussed above, there was a
lawsuit in New York in which his mom was named as a
co-defendant, so I would guess that she had to pay for something
he pulled. Not the way I'd treat my parents. If you still think Bob
All information posted on this web site is
the opinion of the author and is provided for educational purposes only.
It is not to be construed as medical advice. Only a licensed medical doctor
can legally offer medical advice in the United States. Consult the healer
of your choice for medical care and advice.