The Orange County probate mafia
Wayne Dolcefino latest exposure examines the rot in Orange County's probate system.
The old saying goes, “what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive.”
In Orange County, California’s probate system, this tangled web may be referred to by a different name: a mafia.
That was how Wayne Dolcefino referred to it in his latest exposure.
In Orange County- like in the rest of the country- there’s a rotting cabal of lawyers, judges, real estate professionals, and others who prey on the elderly- particularly those with large estates.
These folks use false pretenses to force folks into conservatorship, isolate them, while pilfering their estates.
Two of the worst vultures in Orange County are Eric Becker and his law partner, Samantha Morris Jones.
In May 2023, Becker and Jones sat directly to the right of Jodee Sussman in an Orange County courtroom, as Sussman tried to stop them and others from continuing to pilfer the estate of her mom, Marty Adair, who has been dead since June 2022.
That hasn’t stopped these two vultures from trying to continue to get paid.
Becker and Jones find their way on many cases. Before Jodee’s hearing, she gathered several probate victims at a rally in front of the court. One of those victims was Rita King.
Rita’s father has been in a “temporary conservatorship” for five years. Rita’s first lawyers were none other than Eric Becker and Samantha Morris Jones.
“Little did I know they were part of this ring and brought on more of these people,” Rita said at the rally.
The probate mafia also killed Woody Shirley’s mom, in ninety days he said.
Eric Becker was involved in that case as well.
Becker and Ms. Jones did not respond to my email for comment.
One of the judges on Rita’s case was David Belz, who also presided over Jodee’s mom’s case until late last year.
Another character is David Shaver, the guardian ad litem (GAL) for Jodee’s mom, Marty Adair.
Shaver met with Marty a whole two times in three years, according to his own testimony in May, but that didn’t stop him for asking to court to reimburse him for just over $50,000 for his services.
Shaver was also involved in Rita’s case.
Shaver did not respond to my email for comment, but in November 2022, we had a nice chat.
Then, there is Theresa Gorman and her husband, Ruben Martinez. They run Fiduciary Real Estate Services (FRES). When it’s time to sell real estate which is pilfered in these conservatorship cases, Gorman and Martinez are usually the ones to go to in order to make the sale.
They sold Marty’s prized piece of real estate, the American Way Cultural Center. Gorman and Martinez collected a cool $825,000, according to Dolcefino.
Gorman pops up in Woody Shirley’s case as well. Gorman also helped herself to some real estate in the case of Yvette Dobbie’s mom.
Jodee also alleges that Gorman sold the American Way Cultural Center at significantly under market value.
Gorman also popped up in my interview with Lori Schiller.
She said that her nightmare started from a family squabble. Her sister tried to take over care of her parents, Lori told me, though Lori lived nearby and had been taking care of them.
The case wound up in Orange County’s probate system.
Lori immediately made a huge error. Trying to save money, she asked the court to appoint a lawyer for her parents.
That lawyer was Teresa Gorman.
I reached out to Gorman and her husband, Ruben Martinez, but received no response.
Gorman quickly recommended that Cicerone be appointed the conservator.
As soon as Cicerone was appointed a conservator, Lori told me that Cicerone recommended that Lori stay away from her parents for at least two months.
Cicerone is Sally Cicerone, a corrupt player who was finally busted.
State regulators have accused an Orange County probate conservator with transferring tens of thousands of dollars without consent from the financial accounts of a former client who died.
An accusation filed this month by the state Professional Fiduciaries Bureau alleges Sally W. Cicerone of Laguna Hills repeatedly transferred money out of financial accounts for the Santa Barbara-based Brouhard Trust even though she no longer represented the client, and failed to notify the probate court.
The state bureau, represented by the California Attorney General’s Office, could suspend or revoke Cicerone’s license to work as a fiduciary if the charges are sustained. The bureau is not seeking criminal charges.
Cicerone, one of the most prolific conservators in Orange County, did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
I reached out to Gorman and her husband but received no response.
Postscript:
Check out the previous articles on the series on Orange County. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8. Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25. Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, and Part 36.
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The same exact stories in Massachusetts, our Justice system from the top down is organized crime .
The corruption and fraud has been allowed to take place for so many years that it all became part of their game . One of ex husbands companies created the disgusting app for Parental Alienation.
His crew wrote the rules to the game .
Michael when and if I get money , I will pay you to come to Massachusetts.
Thank you for trying to expose a broken system that destroys kids lives .