The very first day I met him, he said, "God sent me to help you."
You keep scamming her out of the money.
I gave her all that money back.
You think you were gonna come in here and fool us?
The person that you prayed for help preyed on you.
- Yes, ma'am. - [narrator] Today on Tribunal Justice.
[theme music playing]
This case was filed in Darlington, South Carolina.
Your Honor, this is case number 1098 on the calendar
in the matter of Newell versus James.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
- [DiMango] Thank you, Byrd. - [Byrd] Mm-hmm.
- Ms. Newell. - [Newell] Yes.
At the end of last year,
December 2021, you say you were in ill health at the time,
and you prayed, you're a religious woman, so you prayed that God send you somebody
to help you go to doctors' appointments and to run some errands,
and, lo and behold, one day... Poof!
...appears the Defendant, and you think he's like your...
- Sent from up above. - [Newell] Yes.
But I think, as time unfolded, you believed he came from below.
- And came up. - Yes, ma'am.
[DiMango] So your car window was broken.
He said he'd help you fix it. He did. He taped it up,
and you began to trust him.
At some point, he said he wanted to buy the car from you, and you said sure.
You would sell it as is for $500. He thought it was great.
And at the same time you made this deal with him,
he said he knew somebody selling a car that you would want for $1,300.
So I guess you figured he'd get your car for five,
you'd buy a new car for 1,300.
You gave him the $1,300, and you never got the car.
And then he started to tell you,
well, he thought maybe the other guy scammed him.
That he was being taken advantage of.
And he would get the money back to you. Not to worry.
And by doing that, he did get the 1,300 back to you that you gave him,
but it kind of gained your trust in his honesty.
You hoped you could rely on him for assistance,
from getting around from one doctor to another.
And so from January '22 until July of '22,
all he did, really, was take money for you for taxes
for the car he supposedly bought from you.
Repairs for that car, gas for that car.
He also took money for medicine,
for Pull-Ups for his family, for his twins.
He randomly took money from your account.
He took Cash App money.
When he went to a store and made a purchase, he took cash back.
One day you said, "Can you put $10 in gas in? Please don't go over that."
And he put $46 worth of gas in.
You had given him your credit card and PIN number to do that.
Which, now that he had, you started to notice charges from Walmart,
and he rang up a bill of several hundred dollars.
He never paid you back.
At some point he said he would pay your rent for you.
You Cash Apped him $405 to pay your rent.
They never got the rent money. He said, "Oops."
He was taken advantage of again. Can you resend him the $405?
Which you did.
And he never made your rent payment.
So you're here suing him
for defrauding you out of more than $3,000.
Exactly $3,058
for everything that he took from you.
You, sir, have a different view.
You were just there to help.
That's all you were trying to do.
You said the truck that she sold you was trash.
You never stole her credit card information
or ran up any of her credit card debts.
The Cash App that she sent the money to, you say had been taken advantage of
by someone else or stolen.
You never got that money from her, and even when you did get it,
the money for rent, you actually paid her back.
The only thing you did was buy Pull-Ups for your twins.
You say she is delusional.
Did you really think, like, God just sent you, like, some messenger?
What are you thinking?
[Newell] The first thing he said to me after he, um, said
that he would fix the windows on my car...
The very first day I met him, I told him that- what I needed with the truck,
and he said, "God sent me to help you."
So that was the first thing he said, and that was like click.
It's not clicking up here for me, I have to tell you.
Truthfully, I think you're brilliant.
And I'm gonna tell you why.
Because the scam with the car...
The more I thought about it, it was like amazing to me.
You want a car. You need transportation. You need a job, right?
- Yes, ma'am. - [DiMango] She's got this truck.
Was it a truck that you'd sell him for $500?
- Yes, ma'am. - [DiMango] You say you want to buy that.
- D'you ever get any $500 for that truck? - Yes, ma'am, I did.
[DiMango] Now, at the same time...
Like, why would you buy that truck and at the same time say to her,
"And I can get you a car for $1,300"?
So you take $1,300 from her to go buy the other car for her, right?
- Because you'll get another car for her? - Yes, ma'am.
[DiMango] But that never comes to fruition.
Because whoever it is you say you're buying this car from...
[clicks tongue] He's not coming through with the car, is he?
- That's correct. - [DiMango] So now you're out her $1,300.
- Correct? - Yes, ma'am.
She keeps saying, "Where's the car? Let me see a picture of it."
And you divert the conversation into something else.
And then you start to say, "You know what? [clicks tongue]
I think he took advantage of us." Right?
- Yes. - [DiMango] You start to realize that.
You're heartbroken that your gift from God here is like
now he's been taken advantage of, too, with your $1,300,
but this where it becomes interesting to me.
You really want her car.
You need to drive around in it,
but you don't have a job, you don't have money, anything.
The only way you can use her car
is if she keeps paying for it.
She's not gonna keep paying for it if she's got her own car.
So you can't give her another car.
She needs to rely on you in her old car.
Because that's how you keep scamming her out of the money.
You say I need how much for gas?
- It's $60 every time. - [DiMango] Sixty dollars.
Sixty dollars for gas. You keep Cash Apping him the money for gas.
Yes, ma'am.
[DiMango] You return the $1,300 to her.
She must have thought you were a double gift from God at that point.
You actually got back scammed money. You gave her your own money.
Right? He gave you all this money.
So she's in 100% now with you. Would that be correct, sir?
- No, when we... - [DiMango] You gave her back the $1,300.
- Where'd you get it? - Out of my own tax money, Your Honor.
You're not driving around in the car, right?
I'm not even driving in her truck as the owner yet.
[DiMango] No, of course not.
At some point, you say that she's being ripped off,
and the solicitor needs to be paid to make an arrest. Am I right?
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
There is nothing that you say is the truth.
Nothing, sir. Nothing.
The fact that this woman has to come in here to sue you
for you defrauding her for all of these months
infuriates me.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Trisha Newell is suing her neighbor, Jesse James,
for unpaid loans and fraudulent debit card charges.
James is countersuing for truck costs and emotional distress.
[DiMango] At some point, you say that she's being ripped off,
and the solicitor needs to be paid to make an arrest. Am I right?
- [James] Correct. - Solicitors get paid to make an arrest? No.
- No, ma'am. - [DiMango] They don't.
You got money from her for that.
- Okay. - [DiMango] The next time we have here.
What about when you go for gas, for the $10 gas, tell us about that.
Yes, ma'am, um, he was saying that he needed gas, um,
because he took my son and I to my son's doctor's appointment.
The one of two times
that he actually did do what he was supposed to do, share the car.
I said, "You could put $10 in. That's all I have.
If you put more than that, it'll bounce."
- Did she tell you that? - [James] She told me that.
- But, Your Honor, I'd like to say... - [DiMango] I can't wait to hear...
'Cause I know.
[James] She gave me the card, I put the card in the tank right there.
I told her I had to use the bathroom.
Her and her son were sitting in the car.
Now, if she was sitting in the car, she could've stopped the pump herself.
You're there pumping $10, which is really, in this day, two gallons.
You're gonna tell me you couldn't stay there for two gallons.
- I had to use the bathroom, Your Honor. - [DiMango] Oh, my God.
So why didn't you wait to go to the bathroom first?
You know, the thing that gets me...
There's very little that gets me riled up like this.
Scammers like you rile me up so bad
that, to me, there's just nothing...
Even the criminal courts are not enough for you.
So now, he now gets... His car, that he's keeping and using,
has $45 worth of gas when you said, "I can't afford more than ten."
- Yes, ma'am. - [DiMango] How does that get paid for?
Me. I pay for it.
[DiMango] Did he get information from your card?
Like a PIN number? Anything like that?
- [Newell] My PIN number, yes, ma'am. - How did he get that?
'Cause he was pumping the gas, and he was trying to hurry me,
and he goes, "What's your PIN. I'll put it in there."
And I was trusting him at this point, and I said my PIN to him.
[DiMango] You say he was using your information.
Your credit card and all that.
In fact, we have some evidence here in the text messages
that he took cash back when he went into a store.
She gave me permission to use her card at Burger King.
[DiMango] Mm. Mm-hmm.
Burger King. I went and got her some food.
Her and her son. That's exactly the truth.
There is nothing that you say is the truth.
Nothing, sir. Nothing.
The fact that this woman has to come in here to sue you
for you defrauding her for all of these months infuriates me.
Now, I've been yelling at him, but I really want to yell at you.
Yes, ma'am. When I say the story back,
I can't believe the things I let pass by me.
[DiMango] You gave him. W- You told him pay your rent.
What'd he tell you happened with the rent money?
He said that...that his account changed.
[DiMango] So you had to send it again, $405, right?
Yes, ma'am. It was a scam probably
because the money had already been taken out of that account right away.
[DiMango] When you say to her here,
"I forgot to tell you that I have a new Cash App.
So I got scammed before."
And then you say, "Do you have my rent money?"
And you say, "I never got it."
You say, "Don't lie to me."
Everything was a lie.
God doesn't bring you people like him. Judge Levy.
Your name is really Jesse James?
It's Jesse Michael James, Your Honor.
And if I understood your testimony correctly, Mr. James,
you never went to Walmart
using the Plaintiff's card.
The only time that you used her card was at Burger King.
- Correct. - And you are sure about that?
I am sure about that.
By the way, you do remember telling the Plaintiff
in text messages, "Please don't go to the police."
You've already done your time.
Oh, yeah, d- I remember that. Yes, Your Honor.
She threatened me a couple times, "I'ma go to the police."
And when you meant you've already done your time,
and you don't want to get jammed up with the police,
is because you knew based upon your prior criminal history
that if the Plaintiff went to the police with all the text messages
that you know you two had
and the evidence,
with you admitting in those text messages to taking her money,
that the chances of you going back to prison were pretty high.
Right?
- No. - [Levy] No?
Why don't you tell us all right now what you went to prison for?
Keeping in mind, I already know.
- I went to prison for burglary. - [Levy] Stealing! Mr. Jesse James.
That's totally different than fraud. What we on trial for right now.
- Burglary. - Yes.
Burglary is when you go into someone's home
with the intent to commit a crime therein, right?
I never did go in somebody's house. I went into businesses.
[Levy] Businesses? Oh.
Excuse me.
[James] There's a difference.
Excuse me. You're right.
One's a violent felony and one's not.
- [James] Correct. - [Levy] This, I found real interesting.
February 4th, there was a $2.50
ATM balance inquiry fee.
Did you do that? Have you ever done that?
You know why he did it?
- To see if I had money. - [Levy] Bingo!
Don't look so inquisitive. You think you were gonna come in here and fool us?
And then, same day, February 4th,
after he checked out how much money you had in your account,
he takes out a cash withdrawal for $200.
For which you got charged an extra $3. Explain that.
I never had her card, Your Honor.
You know what I don't see you texting back anywhere?
"I didn't take that. You're wrong."
I went over to her house personally, Your Honor.
[Levy] Nothing prevented you at that time when you got that text to say,
"Woah, what is this you're talking about?
I never took out $202."
It's not there. You never sent that.
You never sent her anything in which you say,
"I didn't take out $135 for Walmart."
So when you say in your answer that the Defendant was getting forgetful,
you knew that she had had memory problems at the time.
That's why I was takin' her places, to the doctor.
Taking her to get medicine.
[Levy] Did she ever loan you money for rent?
Yeah, she did for $200, and we didn't need it in the end.
I gave her all that money back.
- When I registered... - You are such a liar!
You are such an incredible liar. You're gonna stand there,
and you are going to still say that this woman has no memory
about any of the money that you loaned to her,
and on May 10th, 2022,
she says, "You owe me $2,265."
She says to you, "Don't forget to add the 436 on that for this month's rent.
I need all of that as soon as possible."
And you know what you say?
- What did I say? - "You are gonna get all of your money."
You said it throughout all the text messages, Mr. James.
Judge Acker.
- You have a countersuit? - [James] Yes, I do.
[Acker] A countersuit. You're suing Ms. Newell.
And as I understand it,
the basis of your countersuit is that she forced you to repay money
that she spent as a result of the fraudulent vehicle transaction.
And you had to get a title loan to pay her back,
and then when you couldn't pay back the title loan, you lost your car,
and she's responsible for that.
Do I have the facts of your countersuit...
I think you have the facts a little bit wrong because...
Why don't you tell me
what part of your countersuit I am not understanding?
Because you're saying that I got the title loan due to the fact...
[Acker] Well let's just go to your suit. Let's go to your papers.
Because we've talked a lot about the Plaintiff's claims against you.
We've talked a little less about your claim against her.
And you're suing her for $2,500 because, according to you,
she caused you to lose your truck
by asking you to repay her.
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
I'm just trying to explore, sir,
where, in the course of these communications,
she wronged you.
Because you're now suing her. You know what? You could write poetry.
You could sing songs. You could do a dance.
But all you're doing is lying.
[theme music playing]
So, the basis of your lawsuit against her
is that she had no business asking you to repay her,
but you tried because you're a mighty fine gentleman.
And you got a title loan, and then you lost your car.
What I'm looking at, sir, is a text message
dated February 5th, 6:56 p.m.
And the Plaintiff, I believe, is in purple,
and she's recounting a long list of debts,
and you say, "Well, I will get you your money."
- Do you see that? - [James] Yes, I see that.
Now, what were you referring to? Was there something wrong?
Was there something improper
about the Plaintiff asking you for her money back?
The money she was asking for at the time was money for the car
that the gentleman had scammed me out of, of getting...
And you said, "I'm gonna give you your money back."
That's what I told her.
And you're suing her now because you gave her the money back.
I'm suing her because when I took the title loan out on May 18th
was at the time when she had sent me money to get through Cash App
as far as to get her rent.
And which she said she never received, and then as the fact was that, "Hey"...
I've listened to you respond to questions by two of my colleagues.
You talk in circles, you repeat yourself, and you end up saying nothing.
And right now, what I'm trying to do is to explore
why, in these many, many messages,
where you say to the Plaintiff, "I will pay you back..."
I'm gonna because, Your Honor, I...I'm responsible for the money...
[Acker] Right. You say, "I'm responsible."
I'm just trying to explore, sir,
where, in the course of these communications,
she wronged you.
Because you're now suing her.
You know what? You could sit here. You could write poetry.
You could sing songs. You could do a dance.
But all you're doing is lying
because you know what you told her on May 8th?
I'm listening.
"Good afternoon, Trish. Happy Mothers' Day.
Look. I have always come through for you.
So please, believe to achieve.
I can't stop you from doing what you want to do,
but I'm asking you not to go to the police.
And no, I have not done anything because I need you to believe
so we can move on."
- I sure said it, I... - [Acker] And now you are suing her.
Because she insisted that she get a little bit back of the money.
Did he ever say to you,
"Look. You have no business asking me for this money back"?
- No, ma'am. - [Acker] Did he ever say,
"It's wrong for you because I am being hurt, too"?
- "I'm a victim." - No, ma'am.
[Acker] He always said, "I'm just gonna pay you back.
By the way, I need more money."
- Was it something like that? - Yes, ma'am.
[Acker] Ms. Newell, who is your witness?
Denoshie, and she's my best friend.
- Can you take the stand please? - Yes.
[James, quietly] Oh, boy.
In your witness statement,
you actually said to the court that it was you who suggested
that the Plaintiff file this claim. Why did you do that?
[Denoshie] Because when the Cash App incident happened,
I was like, "You have to be careful.
I don't know why you keep giving him money, but I don't trust him."
I really hate to see anybody taken advantage of.
I said, "Go and do a small claims court.
Maybe you can get some of your money back."
- Thank you, ma'am. You can take a seat. - Okay.
I have nothing further. Nothing further either, sir. Thank you.
[DiMango] We are going to retire to deliberate. Thank you, all.
[Byrd] This court stands in recess. Parties are excused.
You know, scammers can always pick out the person they can scam.
And this Defendant here certainly zoned in on her,
and, in every way possible, took advantage of her.
She kept saying, "I'll go to the police. I'll go to the police."
I wrote in my notes, "Go to the police already!
When are you gonna catch on that this guy is just taking money from you?"
- And suing her. - [DiMango] And suing her.
I mean, that's the best part. Suing her for the $800 title loan
that he had to take, so, obviously,
I think we're all pretty clear the countersuit's going to be dismissed.
And with regard to what she's asking for,
and I think she was very modest in what she was requesting,
$3,058, she's entitled to every penny.
[Levy] Mr. Jesse James
has a very strange relationship with the truth.
And how do you know when he's lyin'?
His mouth moves.
That's how you know. I mean, it's incredible.
He preys on those that he sees as vulnerable.
Except he picked the wrong lady.
He might have thought that she had memory problems.
And listen, she may very well have, but what she did have
was the ability to look through her records.
And her text messages, which she kept.
The fact that he went to the ATM to check out her balance
and then ran up charges... I mean,
that's what scammers and criminals do.
I think that she's entitled to every penny.
And likewise, his counterclaim? Dismissed.
His counterclaim is offensive.
But if you just notice... I mean, as you both have pointed out,
consistently all he does is string her along.
"Please forgive me." "Believe to achieve." "I know we owe you."
The pattern, to me, is quite clear, and I agree with you both.
Dismiss the countersuit and give her everything she's asking for.
So we're unanimous. Thank you.
Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
[DiMango] Thank you, Byrd. You know, God does work in mysterious ways.
And, interestingly in this case,
the person that you prayed for help preyed on you.
Yes, ma'am.
[DiMango] And I think that's the message here.
If it doesn't feel right, it's not right.
- Yes, ma'am. - [DiMango] At some point,
you have to open your eyes. You can't be that invested
or entrenched in caring or thinking that someone is helping you
when you see it's not.
- Yes, ma'am. - [DiMango] And you.
It's like the gall
and the chutzpah never stops.
The fact that you would even interpose a counterclaim here,
knowing what you did to her...
You know exactly what you're doing.
You know what you are. You know who you are.
And you just keep doing it. The felony record didn't bother you.
The burglary in the third degree conviction didn't bother you.
You just keep going. You just take a different course.
And you know what? You know that if you go back to jail for a felony,
you're what they call a predicate felon. You have a prior felony conviction.
You're looking at very serious time.
And that's why, in the last text that she sends,
you, in your gall, after stealing thousands from her,
say, "Good afternoon, Trish. Happy Mothers' Day.
Look, I've always come through for you. So please believe to achieve.
I can't stop you from doing what you want to do, but I'm asking you
not to go to the police.
But I need you to believe..."
And, as was pointed out, "...so we can move on."
Yeah. "On" right into the courthouse.
Don't speak to him after this.
No conversations with him.
'Cause everything he says is a lie.
Everything he says.
Do you have a doubt that anything he's told you is true?
No, ma'am. I have no doubt.
Your counterclaim is unanimously and gleefully dismissed.
And you...
In your modest request... It was a modest request.
Even to this point,
it was a modest request about what he owes you.
...are entitled to the $3,058
that you have unquestionably
and unequivocally demonstrated to the three of us
that you are entitled to.
And so, therefore, the verdict is in your favor for that amount of money.
I beg you, have him arrested.
Stopping him from going to do this to another woman.
- That's your job here now. You have it? - Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am, I will.
I hope they lock you up for a long time.
[Byrd] This case is concluded. Parties are excused. You may step out.
Actually I didn't take no money from the woman.
I'm very happy I'm gonna get my money back. [giggles]
Thing is, I was helping the woman.
Then I actually gave money out of my own pocket back to the woman.
He used God and his children and other things to push me along.
I earned, from my taxes and stuff, and I... back in February.
And that's what I was in it for. W- to help the family.
That she needed this done and that done.
And then she wouldn't let me live my life.
In my soul, it hurt.
Got to believe to achieve.
Gonna go with my gut.
[narrator] Are you a victim of a scam?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
Find us on social media at Tribunal Justice.
[theme music playing]