Jack Shepard, the perennial political candidate and convicted felon who’s lived in Rome for 30 years after fleeing the U.S. when he was charged with arson, is suing the Huffington Post for an article that called him an arsonist.
He’ll be on the ballot again this year, running against U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the Aug. 14 DFL primary.
Shepard has run repeatedly for House and Senate seats, always in absentia, because he risks arrest if he returns to the United States. His main publicity in the races tends to be media reports about his record and exile.
But he’s suing HuffPo for a 2010 article that called him an arsonist and said he was kicked off the ballot in 2004 for being a fugitive felon.
He’s not been convicted of arson but was charged with it in 1982, after a fire was set above his Minneapolis dental office. That’s when he apparently fled the country.
And while then-Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer tried to take his name off the ballot, it didn’t work. His name was on the ballot, as it has been plenty of times.
So in a $10 million defamation suit filed this week, Shepard maintains the story “almost completely destroyed” his 30-year dental practice in Rome, causing him “great financial hardship.” He said it also might damage his election chances by “impugning my character in the eyes of voters,” reports the Pioneer Press.
Shepard did plead guilty to sexual assault and drug possession in 1979 and 1981, and served time in prison. But he says the charges were overblown and that he was being forced to take lithium for mental health problems at the time. He says he was not adequately defended on the charges.
In a recent email, Shepard said about his convictions:
As a qualified dentist, I had a license to legally possess a schedule II controlled substance and especially had every right to possess those six pain pills that were the drugs that constituted the object of the drug possession conviction charge especially since they were found in my dental office medicine cabinet (where they were stored with other medicines like antibiotics etc which every dentist has). This was not raised by my appointed defense counsel for some inexplicable reason. Consequently, the judge was not made aware of this crucial fact and did not enquire.
The sexual misconduct was based on an incident involving accusations from a drunken girl I picked up after-hours at bar near my house at after 1 AM closing. Under the influence of Lithium and never warned about the fact that and the consequent confusion and fear it generated I was convinced by my attorney not to fight the case and plead guilty to sexual misconduct, the fact that I in the 4th degree. For which I received probation and no publicity in the newspapers that may have harmed my reputation. The fact that I ran long distances every night and suffered constantly from Toxic Lithium shock (confusion, behavioral depression etc., which happens due to the fact that massive dehydration and water loss from excessive exercise causes the Lithium level in your blood to skyrocket and have very damaging effects.
And he wrote:
The effects of the lithium shock due to massive dehydration would increase the Lithium levels in my blood to dangerous levels it was devastating and caused erratic behavior which did not enable me to defend my rights with clarity. These effects have no longer happened in the thirty years since I have ceased the treatment.
It is true that I have been convicted of sexual misconduct. But this was in the fourth degree and did not involve sexual assault of any kind. In addition there was no time served and I was given probation due to the relative lack of seriousness of the charge.
He also sent along a copy of his affidavit for candidacy for the Senate race [JPG], noting that it’s notarized by the U.S. Consul in Rome.
US Consul
Every time he runs, he gets things notarized by the US Consulate in Rome. Why do they continue to serve an obvious fugitive?
Maybe he works with them idiot! Why Consul Notarized it free?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_jack_shepard/2553926/
I would like you to understand there is so much you don’t see or know that our Government can’t and will never tell you, sorry I wish to continue help keep you and America safe and if I was on Active Duty? – I have the decades of Middle East experience that America need to stay safe- I was in Iraqi 5 times in 2001 and advised it would be worse to invade Iraq for America then the bombing of Pearl Harbour was for Japan http://www.jackshepardspecialenvoy.us
But you may see me flying home this year- as USAF gave me a course that qualifies me to fly 2nd seat in an F16- beat commercial – I always like the feeling of going in and out and never have been there- it gives me- The USAF course is call Physiological Training and it is given to me at Shaw AFB- why would a dentist need to fly in 2nd seat of f 16 fighter plane or why do I have a marksmanship ribbon to shot an M16 >60 for 60. Does anyone in all truth know anything about me but I am a Dam Good Dentist and I travel to all these Arab Countries who we officially don’t talk to for decades? Why? For who? I am who I am, “ but no one knows who I am” because that the way it has to be! Very sad that some self- hating unhappy people who don’t even know anything about me have the fun attack and laugh at me! But this year the last laugh will be on them, God Willing. If my boss gives me the all go, the last laugh is on you! and just maybe if My Commander and Chief may wishes I will be coming home this year, 65 years old is the cut off most of the time even in a time of war.
Vote Shepard to stop Klobuchar’s Internet Censorship Bill
If Jack Edward Shepard, http://www.jackshepardforsenate.com does not beat Amy Klobuchar on Aug. 14 in her DFL primary and Amy Klobuchar’s name is on the Nov. 6 General Election Ballot two things happen 1) When Sen. Klobuchar returns to the U.S. Senate if she is re-elected Sen. Klobuchar will immediately pass her very unpopular Government Internet Censorship Bill PIPA which will even place new restrictions on the things this fine MinnPost online newspaper can publish (and re-publish from other sources) and of course the Republican endorsed U.S. Senate Candidate Kurt Bills will lose by over 26%. Whyvote for Jack Edward Shepard in the Minnesota August 14- D.F. L. U.S. Senate Primary which I am running mostly and urgently to remove Senator Amy Klobuchar’s name from the Nov. 6 General Election Ballot so my fellow Minnesotans can easily elect on Nov. 6 in the Minnesota General Election a new U.S. Senator, only because by beating Sen. Klobuchar on Aug. 14, her name will not be on the Nov. 6 General Election ballot. Without Sen. Klobuchar’s name on the Nov. 6 General Election Ballot my fellow Minnesotans can NOW vote for and elect a new U.S. Senator who is Pro-Domestic oil drilling, who will vote for the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, who want a Fiscal Conservative Senator ( Amy has voted for Trillions with a T dollars of stimulus all for no good) and every Minnesota constituent is 100% against the Internet Censorship Bill PIPA which Sen. Amy Klobuchar sponsored for her rich Hollywood millionaire donors, but Senator Klobuchar has moved to Washington now is even a millionaire herself so if she gets re-elected the first thing she will do is get her PIPA Internet Censorship Bills passed into law; which will make everyone, even everyone of us on face book and every online newspaper, a possible criminal, Justin Bieber got his start on you tube, but under Klobuchar’s PIPA Bill to censor the Internet we would be all criminals, guilty of a felony and we could go to jail for a minimum of 5 years. Klobuchar does no longer work for the interest of her constituents that is why I am running to remove her name from the Nov. 6 General Election ballot so my fellow Minnesotans can elect a new U.S. Senator who thinks and listens to them and their concerns, this election is not about me- it is about giving Minnesota a chance to change Senators- because with over 5 million dollars of donation from Big lobbies, Abortion clinic, and Hollywood etc. and Klobuchar has the same voting record as Harry Reid but Klobuchar has conned you the voters of Minnesota into giving her a popularity rating of 61% while the smart money in Las Vegas give Harry Reid the lowest popularity rating in the U.S. Senate of 27%- Amy Klobuchar has Conned you into believing in that she does what she promises – check her record –check her donors and then check her votes 89% the same as Harry Reid and get mad! Go to http://www.jackshepardforsenate.com to learn more- it’s scary- Amy voted our due process away,” after Amy’s vote you can be arrested and held without trail indefinitely without due process –Thanks Amy? Vote for Amy Klobuchar if you wish her to get re-elected to immediately pass her PIPA Bill when she returns to the U.S. Senate which will censor our internet, a major attack on our first amendment freedoms. Klobuchar will continue to not vote to stop skyrocketing gas prices- Amy learned from the best cons, to look and sound will the nice girl next door senator while in reality look at her voting record and you will get really mad. “Mad as Hell”-that is why you should vote for Jack Edward Shepard on August 14 in DFL Primary.
This will only happen if enough Minnesota Voters really come out and use their vote for me, Jack Edward Shepard, on August 14, 2012 in the D.F.L. U.S. Senate Primary to remove Sen. Klobuchar name from the Nov. 6 General Election ballot. I, Jack Edward Shepard am the one who can really beat Senator Klobuchar in this election and everyone knows it! Because historically 90% of Minnesota Voters who vote in Minnesota General Elections just don’t vote in Minnesota August Primary Elections! There are over 900,000+ Conservative Religious, Pro-Domestic oil drilling, who want Keystone Pipeline built, who are Fiscal Conservative, who also wish and demand an uncensored free Internet Minnesota Voters who normally only vote in the Minnesota General Elections but historically do not come out and vote in Minnesota Primary Elections. (it will be too late to re-move Amy Klobuchar from the U.S. Senate) come out and vote for Jack Edward Shepard and I beat Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the August 14 D.F.L. U.S. Senate Primary which removed her name from the General Election Ballot giving some new a chance to represent Minnesota next year in the U.S. Senate