Remember "Bringing Home Rebecca?"

[mirele]

Maybe I'm just suspicious, but I would have thought that the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas might issue a press release indicating Coleman had taken a plea and was going to jail. I searched their website and found nothing. There's also nothing in the newspapers. The attorney Coleman mentions in his plea for money does exist and is a prominent criminal defense attorney in Dallas. Maybe this is some minuscule crime in the larger scheme of things and just not important enough to merit a press release or some newspaper inches.

[Mecca]

Well, that was a load of bull. I guess it is everyone else's fault Sam is in prison, even down to the the attorney. And for the record: John R. Teakell actually is a very good attorney despite what Sam says. It always cracks me up when I see people like this blame the attorney and think they know better than the person that has years of experience and knows the system. Apparently Sam is a very good armchair attorney as well as a convicted felon. He would be spending more time in prison if it were not for "SuperLawyer."

I feel like an jerk face when reading a situation like this because I truly have no fucks to give. These are the type of people that stand in judgement of people that honestly need the help and have not broken any laws, yet I am suppose to feel sorry for them? Yeah, no. Suck it up and get a job Rebecca.

[Myfanwy]

It isn't so much they don't want to scrounge money from others. They just don't want the government to make them fill out paperwork to do so.

Is it because they are so badly homeschooled that they don't understand all the big words? :D

[formergothardite]

It's always a good idea to proceed with the idea that falsifying information on any federal form is a crime. It was probably printed on the bottom of the form he falsified. :shifty-kitty:

He keeps saying he didn't know what he was doing was illegal and he didn't mean to do anything wrong, but he obviously knew he was lying to the government about his activities, he just thought the other guys would get in trouble so somehow the lying was okay. If you have to lie to the government that is a pretty clear sign you are doing something illegal. I wonder if anyone in his life has called him out on this bullshit because that is what he needs.

I wonder why the one blog took down the "Bringing Home Rebecca" post. Was it because they want to distance themselves from criminals? Or was it because they don't want people to figure out that "bringing home the wife" in this case most likely led to the husband becoming a criminal and going to jail which rather ruins their fairy tale ending.

[chaotic life]

My guess was that they took it down because if anyone reads how arrogantly they brought her out of her job in 06 and realizes that she was 27 and had perfectly decent job skills, they will be far less likely to donate to giving her money to avoid working now. This is NOT a homeschooled, fundie daughter who has never stepped into the real world before. While I would still tell someone like that to get a job, I would have more sympathy for the challenge she would face at having to do something totally outside of her realm of reality previously. Rebecca was working a job at 27, just eight years ago. She's been out of working and not having children for most of those eight years, but she can STILL step back into the workforce. She knows how to do that. She just doesn't want to do it.

And meda, I strongly suspected that his "superlawyer" is precisely why he's only serving 24 months, not paying any fines, and able to have the hope of a life again on the other side of this mess.

[louisa05]

Maybe I'm just suspicious, but I would have thought that the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas might issue a press release indicating Coleman had taken a plea and was going to jail. I searched their website and found nothing. There's also nothing in the newspapers. The attorney Coleman mentions in his plea for money does exist and is a prominent criminal defense attorney in Dallas. Maybe this is some minuscule crime in the larger scheme of things and just not important enough to merit a press release or some newspaper inches.

Of the three people we know who have been through federal cases recently, the U.S. attorney only issued press releases about all of it for one because of the public nature of the crime. The one who plea bargained on money laundering and wire fraud charges did not have his plea or sentencing covered in the press at all, including on the U.S. attorney site. His arrest and indictment were and that was the last of it. They deal with so many cases that only the more public crimes get press attention or even releases.

[nausicaa]

He keeps saying he didn't know what he was doing was illegal and he didn't mean to do anything wrong, but he obviously knew he was lying to the government about his activities, he just thought the other guys would get in trouble so somehow the lying was okay. If you have to lie to the government that is a pretty clear sign you are doing something illegal. I wonder if anyone in his life has called him out on this bullshit because that is what he needs.

I wonder why the one blog took down the "Bringing Home Rebecca" post. Was it because they want to distance themselves from criminals? Or was it because they don't want people to figure out that "bringing home the wife" in this case most likely led to the husband becoming a criminal and going to jail which rather ruins their fairy tale ending.

I think it may be the latter. I suspect that many of the fundie families who agree with all of the patriarchal principles may still hesitate to have stay at home daughters because most of these people fly a bit closer to the earth than the Botkins, Phillipses, or the Reins and they worry about finances. This situation encapsulates all of their worst fears.

[Marian the Librarian]

I think the Reins sisters took down their original "Bringing Home Rebecca" post because they know it got lots of negative attention and incredulous response here, among other places - and, because the Colemans' current situation is the Exhibit A fairytale-fail of their stay-at-home-womanhood nonsense.

[formergothardite]

He, and the agents then offered if there was anything they could do to let them know, and then again complimented me saying how much of a stand up guy I am. I smiled, shook their hands again, then said, "Now get out of here. I never want to see any of you again." Smiled, then left to go embrace my wife.

I think this is how he wanted it to play out, but that line sounds like it is out of a movie, not reality. Especially since he couldn't control his emotions when he took the stand and fell apart crying and he was expecting to walk away with a warning and probation, no jail time.

I would love to hear the agents side of this story. I bet it is completely different than his.

[Koala]

Is he already in custody?

[ViolaSebastian]

I think this is how he wanted it to play out, but that line sounds like it is out of a movie, not reality. Especially since he couldn't control his emotions when he took the stand and fell apart crying and he was expecting to walk away with a warning and probation, no jail time.

I would love to hear the agents side of this story. I bet it is completely different than his.

Yeah, because nothing screams 'stand up guy' like being a convicted arms dealer. :roll:

[BravaAmica]

For those who remember the "Bringing Home Rebecca" saga from Kelly and Andrea Reins' "Ah, the Life" blog, brace yourselves: Rebecca's husband Sam is serving 24 months in federal prison for shipping firearm parts and scopes to international customers. They have two adopted little boys, and Rebecca has established a Go Fund Me page (gofundme.com/8wm3k4) asking for donations.

"Rebecca has not had to work since 2006. And we don't want the boys to suddenly be without both parents and thrown into daycare. Although we would very likely qualify for welfare, we don't want to subject our boys or ourselves to that system. Our church has a benevolent care fund and has offered to open some of that to us if we aren't able to raise enough money on our own."

Oh, and it seems the original "Bringing Home Rebecca" post from February, 2006 has conveniently disappeared from the Ah the Lifers' blog.

(Using quotation marks and italics because I haven't figured out how to do block quotes quite yet, since the upgrade.)

So, let me see if I'm reading this correctly. She could work, but is choosing not to. And she could apply for assistance, but is choosing not to. And now she wants friendly internet strangers to give her money? Which makes her one of those people that refuse to help themselves and take responsibility for their choices. Did I read this correctly?

[FundieWatcher]

I just think of the women who gave their babies up, thinking their offspring would have a better life then they could provide.

Then the dad is in prison. The mom is an internet beggar. They probably can't even start a college fund- they will probably be swimming in legal debt for the next decade.

[nokidsmom]

Yeah, because nothing screams 'stand up guy' like being a convicted arms dealer. :roll:

Reading his story explaining it all reminded me a lot of Davey Waller's story of his pecan thievery. Embellished, overwrought, arrogant and smacking of "I am a good guy though I did wrong" nonsense. Also, he takes jabs at the agents very much like Davey took to the "jolly African American" police officier and blames his attorney who probably had a lot to do with getting him only 2 years.

He's done a lot of internal mental gymnastics to convince himself that he's somehow innocent through all this. This is a guy who claims to be a good Christian but doesn't seem repentant all all. He has a wife, who he "brought home" in 2006 and two adopted sons dependent on him, yet it didn't stop him from engaging in the activities that put him and his family in their current situation. Sorry, but I have no sympathy for him and Rebecca frankly needs to suck it up, get a job and seek out any government assistance / social services she can. She is, for all intents and purposes, a single parent now until her husband gets out of jail and she needs to do whatever it takes to support those two kids and that includes getting welfare, food stamps, whatever. Forget the begging bowl and lose the idea that not getting government assistance and relying on the kindness of people over the internet is somehow more "godly" when it come to her kids.

[nokidsmom]

Oh, and it seems the original "Bringing Home Rebecca" post from February, 2006 has conveniently disappeared from the Ah the Lifers' blog.

Looks like the situation with Sam doesn't quite demonstrate "ah, the life". More like a nightmare for Rebecca.

[flojo]

What I really can't get over is how innocent he claims to be.

I am an expat, living in the US, so I send a bunch of things overseas. The thing I am most careful with is those customs forms. Typically I only send really mundane stuff like Christmas presents (books, lotion, kitchen gadgets, hairclips, clothes and the like).

On occasion I will send something not available in Nz. Ususally this is something super innocent, like my stepmother collects a type of ornament, and if an ebay seller won't ship internationally, I will hhve it sent to me and shipped to her. Once a friend asked me to ship an e-cig (legally purchased in the USA). You bet your bottom dollar that I went to the nth degree to make sure it was legal, even making a call to New Zealand customs to confirm. I then declared it accurately and clearly on the form. No way do you mess with customs. Period. And lieing about value to save taxes isn't customer service, it's fraud. I keep trying to figure out if he really could in any way be that clueless?

Also, there are technically jobs Rebecca can do without putting her sons in daycare if she needs to be such a princess (and I am the daughter of a pre-school teacher, so no way anti-daycare). She could look after someone else's children in her home, or work for an at-home call center (I believe Mariott employs people who are working from home) - especially as, if she is living with people from her church, there are other adults who could be home whilst she works.

[fundiefan]

I haven't read all the replies yet, although I have every intention of doing so.

But, my first thought is...a mother getting a job or using federal funds to feed her boys is something they need to be shielded from, but a father who is a felon...I can't. I just can't make that work in my brain.

Perfect examples of fundies making their chosen ideals the guiding rules of their lives. Stupid people doing stupid shit. And dragging their kids into it.

[Miranda]

So looking ahead to life after prison, I think things are going to get interesting. I mean, he was barely employable and seemingly had a hard time hanging on to a job before all this happened, now with a felony it will be many times more difficult for him to obtain any meaningful employment. And self-employment didn't work out so well for him either. I wonder if they'll come to a place where they have to accept the fact that Rebecca finding a job is their best bet for survival, or if they'll insist on living on only whatever little bit he's able to bring in.

They are a pair of buffoons and I don't feel sorry for either one of them in the least. And this is what ah the life holds up as being the ideal to strive for? No thank you! I'm mortified by the idea of internet begging and would only even begin to consider it as a very last resort if there were absolutely no other options. But Rebecca has options. Not a lot, but she has some. But instead she thinks it's okay to mooch off of and rely on others to provide for her and her children instead of making some effort to be doing this herself.

Circumstances change and our plans don't always work out the way we think they will. Sometimes a parent has to return to work when their plan was to stay home with children. That's life. We don't always like it, but we don't have to. What we have to do is rise to the occasion and look for solutions to our problem.

Get a job, Rebecca. Do something. Don't just sit idly by and let life happen around you.

[DarkAnts]

He keeps saying he didn't know what he was doing was illegal and he didn't mean to do anything wrong, but he obviously knew he was lying to the government about his activities, he just thought the other guys would get in trouble so somehow the lying was okay. If you have to lie to the government that is a pretty clear sign you are doing something illegal. I wonder if anyone in his life has called him out on this bullshit because that is what he needs.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law.

[MamaJunebug]

Marian, I <3 you more than ever for finding this gem of a cautionary tale!

Caution, all ye patriarsialists who think it'll be fun to "bring [female] home" or "keep her home" -- be sure the male has a job that is secure enough, and dare I say IMPORTANT and SKILL-BASED enough, that someone who's willing to do the job for free can't take it from him!

Seriously! Sam had a good job but lost it to someone who was willing to do it for free? Doesn't sound like much of a job to begin with.

Caution, all ye patriarsies who barge into someone else's place of business and cause a distraction in the name of "bringing her home" - you may wind up causing distractions in hopes of escaping the notice of Big Business in cellblock B.

~~~~~~~~~~

I'm thoroughly annoyed with the adoption angle of this story. The boys look not-Chinese, so I'm guessing that this is all being done domestically and privately. Where'd they get the money? What agency was okay with Prospective Dad being Prospective Convict #13456? Meanwhile, the Junior Junebugs who can't have children and who both work full-time jobs can't afford to even consider adoption.

Go to work, Rebecca. Go with a happy heart and find what a good thing your own paycheck can be.

Oh, and don't *throw* the boys into daycare. Take them in the car. To someone you've researched and investigated and who you are reasonably sure will care for them as close as possible to the way you would. And drop them off with hugs and promises that you'll be back after work, and that you love them!

Whining babies - and I'm not talking about the minor children.

[nokidsmom]

I'm thoroughly annoyed with the adoption angle of this story. The boys look not-Chinese, so I'm guessing that this is all being done domestically and privately. Where'd they get the money? What agency was okay with Prospective Dad being Prospective Convict #13456? Meanwhile, the Junior Junebugs who can't have children and who both work full-time jobs can't afford to even consider adoption.

The adoption part annoys me too. That they were allowed to adopt with the prospect of jail time hanging over Sam's head boggles my mind as this appeared to be looming for some time. Also, after seeing the boys I did wonder if this was a domestic, private adoption as well.

Mr. No and I looked at adopting but in the end we couldn't afford it and to take on extraordinary amounts of debt to fund it was out of the question, since it would compromise our ability to adequately support the child. So do wonder how they came up with the $$$ for this if Rebecca was home and it didn't sound like Sam's job was doing so great either.

[formergothardite]

Hmmm. MJB, I've been thinking about how two people where one doesn't work and the other can barely hold a job got the money to adopt not one, but two children. But then I noticed that he pointed out that he told these foreign customer he was assisting with illegal activities that he was trying to adopt. I wonder if part of the deal was they helped find children to adopt or that they helped pay for the adoptions. There is no way he is telling the whole story here. :liar: Things just don't add up.

I am pretty sure that they didn't inform the birth mothers that one adoptive parent was most likely going to jail and the other refuses to work so the kids would survive off internet begging and the hopes that the church will provide some money.

[Hisey]

I just think of the women who gave their babies up, thinking their offspring would have a better life then they could provide.

Then the dad is in prison. The mom is an internet beggar. They probably can't even start a college fund- they will probably be swimming in legal debt for the next decade.

I feel badly for those babies too, and wish they had a more stable home.

But it doesn't always happen as you describe. Sometimes babies (even healthy ones) are abandoned at hospitals. Or birth mothers just leave, take off for parts unknown, and their babies are available for adoption. Sometimes babies are abused, and the birthmothers do not follow through with counseling, and there's a tpr (termination of rights) and babies are available for adoption.

In other words, it's not always the case that it's a heartbroken birthmother, choosing between many families, coerced by parent/boyfriend to give up the baby she really wants to keep, giving up her child for a better life. Sometimes it's like that, but often it is not.

[nokidsmom]

I feel badly for those babies too, and wish they had a more stable home.

But it doesn't always happen as you describe. Sometimes babies (even healthy ones) are abandoned at hospitals. Or birth mothers just leave, take off for parts unknown, and their babies are available for adoption. Sometimes babies are abused, and the birthmothers do not follow through with counseling, and there's a tpr (termination of rights) and babies are available for adoption.

In other words, it's not always the case that it's a heartbroken birthmother, choosing between many families, coerced by parent/boyfriend to give up the baby she really wants to keep, giving up her child for a better life. Sometimes it's like that, but often it is not.

A friend of mine was a L&D nurse at a local hospital and had a number of stories where birthmothers would just leave the hospital, they would be unable to locate the mother and the babies would go straight to foster care, no doubt with adoption in their futures. She said it happened a lot more than people realize.

[slickcat79]

I feel badly for those babies too, and wish they had a more stable home.

But it doesn't always happen as you describe. Sometimes babies (even healthy ones) are abandoned at hospitals. Or birth mothers just leave, take off for parts unknown, and their babies are available for adoption. Sometimes babies are abused, and the birthmothers do not follow through with counseling, and there's a tpr (termination of rights) and babies are available for adoption.

In other words, it's not always the case that it's a heartbroken birthmother, choosing between many families, coerced by parent/boyfriend to give up the baby she really wants to keep, giving up her child for a better life. Sometimes it's like that, but often it is not.

I don't think these kids were abused/abandoned though. S&R knew they would be adopting before the babies were born, and knew down to the month when they were due. That sounds like a previously-arranged adoption with input from a birthmother. Which doesn't mean that she was coerced or that she wanted to keep her baby, but given the timeline it sounds like these women had options.