RIP KEITH CONTARINO - CONDOLENCES to his family+ friends

[Dale Roberts]

If you have to have that rush, then you can deal with the consequences when they come.

 

Note that one of the links had a passage where Contarino complained of chronic pain due to fused neck vertebrae. Not that it excuses what he's accused of, but there are multiple paths to addiction, many of which don't start with trying to get a rush but instead attempting to escape the type of pain that makes you want to commit suicide to not have to live with it 24x7. Hard to say if that's what he was facing.

 

Maybe you are right. I am sure everyone who has been addicted has some reason or another (chronic pain, abuse of one form or another, etc), and some of them may be "valid" in some people's eyes.. Still, doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it excusable.

 

I am not without sympathy for Keith. I hope he can get his life straightened out, and make right all the things he has done wrong. But I don't think he needs to be given a pass, just because he was a "good guy" .

[Legion HQ]

Sad story. Sorry you have to go through this. My gut tells me though that Keith will some day make this right. Once he slowly digs himself out of this situation and gets his head back on straight. Maybe I read too many comic books, but he sounds like a good guy underneath all the troubles. This situation will leave a huge pang of conscience hovering over him. As much as a simple email back to you would answer some questions, my guess is that his priorities are elsewhere (ie. straightening out his life), and he probably has no idea how to tell you that he doesn't have that $26k currently. I know I wouldn't know how to tell someone that that kind of money is gone, even if I had every intention of paying it back in time. His money is probably going towards lawyers and court costs. Paying you back has to take a back seat, but again, how do you tell someone that? My guess....he'll reach out to you in a year or whatever, once this legal stuff is behind him, and want to make things right. On the other hand, if he goes to prison....

[Transplant]

I hope the OP gets his money back. But I just have to say there are many conclusions being jumped to and wild "pulled out their " hypotheses being thrown about, this thread has little factual value. Thankfully, it has some entertainment value.

 

It would do better to simply act as a warning to others about this one person, much as the OP seemed to intend. But let's not let that get in the way of a CG thread inevitable course to stupidtown.

[Kreton]

Sucks about Keith. He has always been a class act in my book. Reading the link, seems he and his wife were unfortunately the sort of parents who created a safe house for their kids' recreational drinking etc. Never a good idea as its bad parenting and frowned on by neighbors and the police!

 

However, only the syringes sounds worrisome to me, based on the article. Prescription drugs! Less than an ounce of pot! Liquor!! All pretty tame --- except when they add up to 18 counts on the police blotter. Cruelty to their children? That's a stretch, but legally, probably accurate.

 

 

To the OP, I wouldn't lose hope of full restitution. The Keith you and I knew and trusted is the same. If it were you or me in his present condition, I'd hope we'd be excused for having other more pressing thisng to deal with right now. Doesn't excuse him not replying to,an email... Or a hundred emails, but if he never ripped you off before, why would he start now?

 

Doesn't get you your money back I know, sorry you are involved in his problems...

 

There is nothing about the misuse of prescription medication that is tame, particularly opioid based meds. I doubt blood pressure, antibiotics, etc. were the types of medications that were seized. Most likely prescription pain meds.

[comix4fun]

I hope the OP gets his money back. But I just have to say there are many conclusions being jumped to and wild "pulled out their " hypotheses being thrown about, this thread has little factual value. Thankfully, it has some entertainment value.

 

It would do better to simply act as a warning to others about this one person, much as the OP seemed to intend. But let's not let that get in the way of a CG thread inevitable course to stupidtown.

 

 

Agreed. The most damning thing is Keith not contacting Doc back in the last month. That lack of communication is probably the most frustrating thing leading to most of the assumptions of nefarious intent. The rest is very unclear.

 

Still, if the silence persists he's got to take some formal action if he can document his ownership of the funds.

[fantastic_four]

Maybe you are right. I am sure everyone who has been addicted has some reason or another (chronic pain, abuse of one form or another, etc), and some of them may be "valid" in some people's eyes.. Still, doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it excusable.

 

I am not without sympathy for Keith. I hope he can get his life straightened out, and make right all the things he has done wrong. But I don't think he needs to be given a pass, just because he was a "good guy" .

 

Not valid, just understandable. Addiction sucks and is an awful problem no matter how you get there. I just know people who have never experienced the type of pain that makes you not be able to sleep at night and begin to think about committing suicide usually isn't possible for people who haven't experienced that pain to understand unless they're the open-minded type who try to empathize with situations they haven't experienced themselves. They usually aren't able to reconcile the idea of committing suicide with the challenges related to the available painkillers to remove the pain--and there are many pain conditions where euthanasia is absolutely the most attractive option. You start just trying to escape pain, and within months or years you're addicted and don't fully realize it since escaping pain seemed like a reasonable enough motive and you haven't yet noticed what it has done to you.

 

Rush Limbaugh typically makes NO attempt at empathy whenever he's complaining about someone else's problems, and only occasionally does he ever express sympathy, so when he got addicted to painkillers after having unsuccessful back surgery, I wondered if that would change. From what I've heard from him the last few years, it hasn't, but it may have softened his typical unforgiving hard line a bit, I don't listen enough to know.

[Dark Knight]

Sad sad story, I really hope you get your money back.. On a side note, I won a book from Keith last month on ebay. Right when I won the book, he asked if I can pay right away because he needed the money to pay for taxes. I paid the same day, but never received the book nor an email back after 2-3 weeks. I filed a complaint with ebay and received my money back. I even had to call his cellphone which went straight to voicemail to see what was going on. When I checked his feedback a few weeks ago, it seemed that a number of buyers complained as well that he never shipped their item.

 

I just checked his feedback profile right now to see if he had anymore negatives. He left a reply towards the negative I gave him saying that he was gone and that his son couldn't find the book.

[blazingbob]

Is it possible that he used your money to post bail? If he did and he shows up for his charges/processing etc he would eventually be returned the bail money. Not saying this would happen quickly. Or based on those mug shots he liked the Breaking Bad business model and was running a meth lab on your money.

[Dr. Balls]

I think it pretty much sucks to have a long-time friend make off with your money. In any amount.

[the blob]

It costs very little to file a lien on him under the UCC. That's a good place to start before initiating legal action. Basically anyone who is owed money can do it. (And some people who have no legitimate claim do it as well.) It shouldn't cost much to have a lawyer local to him file the lawsuit, particularly if you do some of the leg work in writing down the sequence of events, etc. so they can plug it into a complaint. Lots of lawyers are killing for any work, even if it's $800 to get something like this going. If he doesn't contest, you have a default judgment. If he still has any assets, those can be firther attached. But if you don't have any liens/judgments on him, you don't have much leverage. Obviously if he fights it the legal fees start piling up.

[revat]

Is it possible that he used your money to post bail? If he did and he shows up for his charges/processing etc he would eventually be returned the bail money. Not saying this would happen quickly. Or based on those mug shots he liked the Breaking Bad business model and was running a meth lab on your money.

 

Depends on the bail posting process. If you he went through a bailbonds service, he would typically pay the bondsman about 10% of the total bail, the bondsman would post the rest, which would be returned to the bondsman when the defendant showed up for trial. But the 10% would go to the bondsman, never to be returned to the defendant.

 

But yes IF he posted ALL the bail himself, he'd be entitled to get just all of it back as soon as he showed up for trial.

 

Although I think in some cases if the defendant can prove that the arrest was completely and utterly unwarranted and the police made HUGE mistakes, there may be an opportunity for some refund of the money paid for bail (and an opportunity to seek other money for damages).

 

 

As for the money in general. If I've been charged with a crime and I'm at risk of losing my kids, I might spend all the money at my disposal to try to save myself. That is not the same as stealing (even though it might sound the same) generally for legal purposes. It would be money I owed to a person, unless it can be proven that when I took the money I intended to use it for something other than its intended purpose. He would probably spend every last dime on his defense, and then either go to jail, or if somehow let go, then claim bankruptcy. Sounds like the OP has rightfully and insightfully already resigned himself to the fact that the money is lost (at least for now), which seems appropriate.

 

I'm sure we'd all like to live in the sugary world of 'he's a good guy, so he'll always be a good guy', but drugs can CHANGE SOMEONE COMPELTELY, no mater how good they are or were, as can the thread of prison time.

[revat]

It costs very little to file a lien on him under the UCC. That's a good place to start before initiating legal action. Basically anyone who is owed money can do it. (And some people who have no legitimate claim do it as well.) It shouldn't cost much to have a lawyer local to him file the lawsuit, particularly if you do some of the leg work in writing down the sequence of events, etc. so they can plug it into a complaint. Lots of lawyers are killing for any work, even if it's $800 to get something like this going. If he doesn't contest, you have a default judgment. If he still has any assets, those can be firther attached. But if you don't have any liens/judgments on him, you don't have much leverage. Obviously if he fights it the legal fees start piling up.

definitely do this! He'll likely be liquidating assets soon to pay legal fees or something more nefarious, so you should make a claim while you still can.

[vader2001]

Sorry to hear about this! I hope you get your $$ back.

[vaillant]

Ditto. It may sound strange to you, but as an italian the only "acquaintance" I had with J. Keith Contarino was an article he wrote in the early 1990s on dealer's ethics related to kids collecting comics, which was very uplifting for me and has serious food for thought in it. I loved it so much that I translated it in italian for my own fanzine at the time, without even asking the permission because of the nature of the article, and since it wasn’t a commercial endeavor.

 

I am really sorry for the money, but as much to hear such charges and painful events implied…

 

He used to post here once in a while.

 

Man, drugs are such a dangerous thing.

 

Sometimes you light the 'on' switch with just a little fun in mind and you might never find the off switch again.

 

Damn, things don't look good.

 

Good luck, man.

 

[vaillant]

I'm sure we'd all like to live in the sugary world of 'he's a good guy, so he'll always be a good guy', but drugs can CHANGE SOMEONE COMPELTELY, no mater how good they are or were, as can the thread of prison time.

 

The point is that no one is inherently "bad", but neither inherently "good" independently from one’s own actions, which always have consequences.

This does not mean things turn a person "evil", so let’s pray for him. At least, that’s what I will do and hope the OP will get back his money as well.

[markseifert]

This stinks, I used to enjoy Keith's articles in the old monthly Overstreet price guide updates

 

Yep. I always considered him one of the most knowledgeable guys around at that time. I learned a lot from reading his market reports in the Overstreet updates.

 

Too bad about all this, hope it somehow works out for everybody.

[whomerjay]

Sad sad story, I really hope you get your money back.. On a side note, I won a book from Keith last month on ebay. Right when I won the book, he asked if I can pay right away because he needed the money to pay for taxes. I paid the same day, but never received the book nor an email back after 2-3 weeks. I filed a complaint with ebay and received my money back. I even had to call his cellphone which went straight to voicemail to see what was going on. When I checked his feedback a few weeks ago, it seemed that a number of buyers complained as well that he never shipped their item.

 

I just checked his feedback profile right now to see if he had anymore negatives. He left a reply towards the negative I gave him saying that he was gone and that his son couldn't find the book.

 

This is a prospective, planned transgression, a sin of commision, and more damning than the sin against the OP.

 

Didn't he used to advertise/write as "Dr." Keith Contarino? Like I'd be tripping over myself to sell him my books because he's a doctor?

[Dark Knight]

I believe he is a veterinarian

[Bronty]

yeah that posted notice and comment confirms he's a vet.

[ItsJustRyan]

This is a bummer.

 

I hope you have documentation because a similar thing happened to my parents with a business partner. There was more money involved, but it was (1) basically his word against their word, (2) a lawsuit would have been more expensive, and (3) even if they won there was no guarantee that they would ever see any awards from a judgment.

 

I hope this story does have a happy ending...