Judge John Phillips Ordered Released

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle continues its excellent coverage of the heart-breaking story of retired judge John Phillips, who has been held captive in a distant Bronx nursing home for two years, during which time a slew of court-appointed attorneys sucked his estate dry.

According to the Eagle's latest report, Judge Phillips will soon be released from his cramped, foul-smelling room in the bleak Bronx nursing home. If all goes as it should (which can not be guaranteed in this case), he may be transferred to an assisted living facility closer to his Brooklyn home (the one that burned down in a mysterious fire).

In any senior's nightmare scenario, the once-wealthy Judge Phillips was involuntarily incarcerated in the nursing home under a "no visitors" policy, and with no medical justification. An electronic monitoring bracelet was placed on his ankle, by order of the court-appointed property manager Emani Taylor.

Taylor was recently held in contempt of court by State Supreme Court Justice Michael Pesce after she admitted to misappropriating at least $187,000 from Phillips’ estate (said to be worth originally over $10 million). Other court-appointed property managers failed to keep records, failed to report the sales of Phillips' buildings and -- oops! -- forgot to pay his taxes.

See the whole Eagle story here. A couple of past Eagle stories in this series here, and here.

A McBrooklyn correspondent writes in to ask readers to sign a petition to save the Slave Theater (on Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy), one of the historic properties Judge Phillips may lose due to the nonpayment of taxes by his court appointed guardians. The petition is here.

Past McBrooklyn postings on this subject here.

Judge Phillips, Nearly Plucked Dry, May Be Released from Involuntary Incarceration Soon

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle continues its excellent coverage of the sorry matter of retired judge John Phillips, who has been "languishing in a Bronx nursing home for two years while a battery of attorneys wrangle over his mismanaged estate."

At a hearing Friday, according to the Eagle, state Supreme Court Justice Michael Pesce gave his tentative approval of plans for Phillips to move into Castle Senior Living, an assisted living facility on Prospect Park West in Park Slope, Brooklyn — pending approval from Phillips’ niece and personal guardian, Symphanie Moss.

In the six-plus years since the guardianship proceeding was begun by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Phillips’ $10 million estate has all but vanished beneath a mountain of paperwork — the victim of court-appointed attorneys who’ve sold nearly all of Phillips’ real estate holdings with hardly a sign of any of the proceeds, says the Eagle.

The most recent property guardian, Taylor, was held in contempt by state Supreme Court Justice Michael Pesce — the result of funds she paid to herself without the court’s permission.

The Brooklyn Eagle's story is here.

Previous story here.

Judge Phillip's Funds Running Low...

The long-running saga of the highway robbery of Judge John Phillips, confined against his will (and with no medical justification) in a nursing home in the Bronx, has been excellently chronicled by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle's Charles Sweeney in a series of articles detailing (in a suitably neutral tone) the unbelievably corrupt moves aimed at him by Brooklyn's "legal" system.

The latest article details the deterioration of the judge's physical health and mental state, after being restricted from having any visitors (including family) without the permission of a court-appointed watchdog.

When the judge was first incarcerated, his estate made up of Brooklyn real estate was worth $10 million. After a couple of years of (let's call it) "mismanagement," plus the failure to report the sale of his buildings and the failure to pay income taxes, and the improper and illegal writing of hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal checks from the judge's account (and the "disappearance" of $300,000), guess what? The judge is broke!

The Eagle reports: "In a matter of four-plus years, almost all of Phillips’ buildings have been sold at auction. Despite this, the former judge now finds himself broke, a virtual prisoner in a nursing home where he’s still restricted from receiving visitors without the approval of his current property guardian."

The whole affair is a chilling reminder that this could happen to anyone -- especially in Brooklyn.

Photo courtesy of Katielip's Photostream, Creative Commons license.