R.R. RIFE
Jim Folsom (Global Wellness Rife-type device distributor)
March 2009
My good friend Jim Folsom (Global Wellness Rife-type device distributor), is in jail awaiting sentencing. There was a federal jury trial and he was convicted of 26 felony counts relating to his sale of “unapproved” medical devices.
This is so WRONG!
I've attached the "News Release" that the United States Attorney put out.
Jim is a very, very good man. He has hundreds (if not thousands) of testimonials where his devices improved symptoms, and in many cases seemed to actually clear up many health problems. He helped so many people. In my case, my father-in-law who had prostate cancer improved his PSA score from 70 down to 0.5 (YES, that's zero point five) in 2.5 months using the Global Wellness device and taking B17. My (19-year-old) daughter had bullous impetigo which she cleared without prescription drugs using the Global Wellness device and a terminator zapper. Go to the www.rifeforum.com and look for the “CindyCharlebois” (my user name on that forum) posts for details.
Jim was above reproach ethically, and in my personal dealings with him demonstrated over and over that he was an extremely kind, caring, considerate, and patient man – a humanitarian that gave to people in need and to causes that would help mankind. He did not have one customer that was upset with him. However, the Prosecution used those witnesses who professed how wonderful Jim was against him with counts of customer fraud. “Customer fraud” was not even a charge against him until the time of the trial. How can that be???? Only God knows the Truth of how “they” did it. Not Lawfully or Legally, but it was done.
This all started in April of 2003 when Jim was raided by "Operation Cure All", the FDA/FTC and U.S. Postal Service alliance. Many units and office related files were confiscated that day. The units taken were being prepared for shipment overseas; they were not to be used in the USA. Jim and his wife were shocked and terrorized for hours by the many men who came into their house with guns drawn as if they were murderers.
Nothing happened for several years - no charges, nothing. Then in October, 2007, just days before the statute of limitations would have run out, Jim was charged with and arrested for the felony of selling a class 3 medical device without a license. He was offered a plea bargain in December, 2007: If Jim would plead guilty to a misdemeanor and agree not to sell his devices ever again, he’d be given a year of unsupervised probation and pay a $250.00 fine.
Jim, knowing how wonderful the devices are, and being the principled man he is, was certain he could fight this charge and win. He had what was supposed to be the best defense team available behind him; had evidence to prove he was selling a Class 1 device which does not have to be licensed; had been running his business very ethically; and had been collecting testimonials for years which proved the efficacy of the units. Jim stood on his principles and wanted once and for all to clear the name of Rife and let the American people and the rest of the world have these units. Knowing he had so much evidence to prove his innocence he plead NOT GUILTY and set about to supply his defense team with all the information for his case and would have a jury trial. Jim truly thought that when a jury of his peers heard the truth they would find him innocent and the truth would be set free to the world. During 2008 there were 5 to 7 Grand Jury hearings to find fault and make the prosecution’s case.
I heard from Jim fairly regularly throughout the preparations and during the trial. He was very upbeat and confident his defense team had everything in good order from what he was being told. However, everything backfired. On February 17th, Jim and many of us who were following his trial were SHOCKED to find out he had been found guilty of all charges. Charges indeed. Jim thought he was being tried on three felony charges: 1. Fraud against Customers, 2. Fraud against the government, and 3. Mislabeling – Misbranding – and Adulteration. However, MIDWAY THROUGH THE TRIAL Jim found out he was actually being tried for many more charges!! In the end, according to the Official US Attorney’s News Release, he was found guilty of 26 felony charges possibly resulting in a maximum sentencing time of 140 years, and up to a $500,000 fine.
This will no doubt set a precedent for other Rife-type device inventor/distributors, and things must be set right. There is a group working on getting Jim out of jail. He is in a detention center in San Diego awaiting sentencing on May 11. We'd like to ask any of you out there who have experimented with Rife-type devices to do what you can to help Jim. By helping him you will be helping yourself and ALL Americans!!!! Allowing us to treat ourselves using Rife-type devices will be another FREEDOM that is lost if not corrected.
Here's what you can do: 1. Let's inundate the facility with mail!!!!
- Now is the time to show this humanitarian, friend, associate, .etc, how much we care and that he truly is in our thoughts and prayers and not forgotten.
Western Region Detention Facility San Diego
Folsom, James, N5M5#05650298
220 West "C" Street
San Diego, CA 92101 Remember that mail is routinely “monitored” (read) in detention centers/prison.
- A Defense Fund has been established under ‘The Shepherds Mission’. The donations received will be used for legal fees and other expenses required in the legal fight to right a serious injustice, committed by the United States Justice Department, to James Folsom and his wife Sata.
Anyone who donates to the ‘Freedom’ Account, managed by ‘The Shepherds Mission’ will receive a Letter of Donation Acknowledgement. This Acknowledgement Letter can be used as a legal Tax Deduction.
Please make your check, money order, or cashier’s check out to ‘The Shepherds Mission’ with the word FREEDOM on the Memo line so your donation can be credited to the Defense Fund for James Folsom. Please do not send cash.
Mail to:
The Shepherds Mission (A legal Non-Profit Humanitarian/Charitable entity)
ATTENTION – Freedom
16845 North 29th Avenue #447
Phoenix, AZ 85053 USA Email: theshepherdsmission@cox.net
- Mark your calendars and plan to be there!!!
When: May 11th, 2009 at 10:30AM
Where: The Edward Schwartz Courthouse US District Court
- 940 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-557-5600
- This news needs to travel. Pass it along to your friends and relatives who have investigated the RIFE story and frequency devices and know it to be true. There are thousands of us and the number is growing. I just did a Google search on "Royal Raymond Rife" and got 24,500 matches!
Normal, Illinois
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS - There are a number of really great RIFE sites and write-ups about Royal Raymond Rife; here are a few:
- http://www.rife.org/
http://www.rife.de/
The Cancer Cure That Worked, Fifty Years of Suppression
Royal Raymond Rife, by Jeff Rense
Royal Raymond Rife: a Timeline, by A. Walter
The Rise and Fall of a Scientific Genius – The Forgotten Story of Royal Raymond Rife
Collection of selected articles regarding Royal Raymond Rife
http://www.rifetechnologies.com/
http://www.rifewiki.org/wiki/Jim_Folsom_Trial
Jim Folsom Trial
Background
"The Royal Rife Research Society" [1] was originally started by a scientist called Janet Fleming/Kimberly Bailey (she used both names, called Kimberly in this article) who designed and patented the original Astropulse device recommended by RRRS. Kimberly has links back to John Crane and Royal Raymond Rife.
To make a long horrible story short, a San Diego private investigator called Richard Post allegedly went missing and was presumed murdered. Kimberly was accused of helping to organize his kidnapping and torture. Although Kimberly was acquitted by the jury for Conspiracy to Commit Murder, the judge for this case overruled the jury and gave Kimberly a life sentence plus 10 years. She was never able to appeal and died in prison on August 30th, 2008. The case however was not linked to her “Rife” business.
Jim Folsom is currently the successive rights holder of the Astropulse Rife unit that Kimberly designed and marketed. Jim took over the distribution of the Astropulse unit, and built up a business selling bio-resonance frequency instruments including the Global Wellness, Biosolutions, and of course the Astropulse. He ran his business successfully with high ethical values from 1995 to just before his trial.
The Name: Jim Anderson
While Jim was working for Kimberly Bailey as an employee, she insisted that everyone working for her use a business name for customer enquiries. Jim therefore used the name "Jim Anderson" for customer enquires only. Even during this time, Jim always used his real name for all contacts with government, banking, businesses, conferences, FDA, accounts, etc. and finally dropped the name "Jim Anderson" completely in 2002, about a ýear before he was raided by the FDA. [2]
FDA Letter to James Anderson
On Nov. 28, 2000, an FDA warning letter[3] was sent to "James Anderson" at the address of Dr. Stan Wellington (now deceased) in Florida, who ran a company called "International Medical Research Groups". A person called "James Anderson" was working for Dr. Stan Wellington at the time, but this person had no connection and was not related in any way with Jim Folsom.
Stan ran two websites: e-bestsolutions.com[4] and internationalcures.com[5] which were both taken offline after Stan had communicated with the FDA about this issue.
Jim Folsom had nothing to do with that company, he has never been to Florida and was not associated with Stan's company in any way.
Stan did send a copy of the letter to Jim Folsom to look at and this copy was near his desk when Jim was raided in 2003. This issue was raised at the trial and completely resolved. The FDA employee who wrote the letter was present at the trial and admitted it related to Stan's websites and not to Jim Folsom in any way.
Operation Cure All Raid in April 2003
Although Jim Folsom, did not receive a letter from the FDA in advance, his company was raided in April 2003 under “Operation Cure All”, run by the FDA/FTC and U.S. Postal Service alliance. A lot of equipment, including over 500 instruments as well as many office records were confiscated, and Jim and his wife were shocked and terrorized by the many men who came into their house with guns [6].
Nothing happened for several years - no charges or anything else. Then, within a week of the statute of limitations taking effect, Jim was arrested and charged with many felony counts including selling a class III medical instrument without a license. Jim, despite being offered a plea bargain whereby he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor, pay a $250 fine, not sell his devices for one year, and be under (unsupervised) probation for one year, decided to fight it and go to trial.
Jim was convinced he would be considered not guilty, and knowing just what his devices can do for the human body and being the principled man he is, felt certain he could fight this charge and win. He saw it as an opportunity to clear the Rife name once and for all, and increase the possibilities for moving his instruments into the public’s hands where they belong!
Claim that Jim Folsom Earned $8 million
One of the claims made by the prosecution, both in court and publically in press releases, is that James Folsom earned about $8 million from the sale of electrotherapy devices.
The Prosecution came up with this figure, where a considerable amount of which applied to sales made by Jim's associate Gabino Palafox although he was acting and selling frequency instruments entirely independently from Jim. All sales of such devices (including those made by Gabina Palafox) were presented as if they were all made by Jim. Costs were however not deducted from that figure and after manufacturing, accessories, manuals, brochures, literature printing, shipping, advertising, "R & D and legal expenses (both significant)", under fixed and variable costs, there was not that much remaining when considering most of these frequency instruments went out to distributors, mostly at little profit margin.
There were pressures from distributors to raise the retail cost higher to allow for greater marketing expense allowances and distributor downline profit margin, etc., however Jim resisted in order to keep the cost as affordable as possible to most users. His profit margins from marketing instruments to primary distributors was marginal with the idea to get as many instruments out to end users as possible, helping as many people as possible, as well the intent to expand "market" awareness significantly.
Is there a lot of money stashed away as the Prosecution claims? - According to Jim Folson: "No, certainly not - my wife certainly wishes this were so."
Jim Folsom’s Trial, Feb 4-17, 2009
Jim was arrested for selling a class III medical instrument without FDA pre market approval/clearance. The charges that Jim thought he was being charged with and for which he built his case was:
- Fraud against the government
- Misbranding/Mislabeling/Adulteration
- Fraud against customers (added by the prosecuting attorney and allowed by the judge a couple of days into the trial)
The FDA automatically classifies a device as a Class III device until its review and re-evaluation to a Class I, II or III device.
A "declaration" of exemption under the "grandfather" clause of the 1976 CCFD Act can be made as was the case of Kimberly Bailey in the late 1980's under FDA Commissioner Frank Young, approx. the time he was leaving the FDA. All follow-up requests by her to the FDA were met with failure. This was testified to by trial defense witness Jay Walker who assisted Bailey in all the declaration supporting documents, assembling and reading for certified mailing. Although there was the certainty of the mailing Walker did not accompany Bailey to the Post Office and therefore could not testify to the absolutely certainty of the mailing. Jim Folsom has reviewed many of the Bailey writings and talked with Walker and is certain of the postal mailing - these were most credible people.
Why should Jim be not guilty of all charges?
Jim ought to have been found not guilty of all charges because of six major things; the May 28 1976 Cosmetic, Food and Drug (devices) Act, battery operation, stacks of testimonials, no harmful side effects, no dissatisfied customers, and stellar business practices.
- The Food and Drug Administration May 28 1976 Medical Device Regulation Act (PL 94-295) [7] : This Act amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for the safety and effectiveness of medical devices intended for human use and other purposes. It says “Before such a product can be marketed, it must undergo premarket approval or it must be reclassified into Class I or Class II, unless (1) it can be shown to be substantially equivalent (SE) to a device that was in commercial distribution prior to May 28, 1976, … Jim’s device should have been “grandfathered” in under this because Royal Raymond Rife and crew were selling these devices back in the 1940s and 50’s (way before 1976), and Jim had documentation of equivalent functionality. This could easily be proven the following ways:
- The Dr. Robert Stafford interviews and research documents: Jim’s attorneys requested everything the government had on the 50 plus years on Rife. That should have included the Dr. Robert Stafford interviews and research documents from his work in the 1960s, but did not. An FDA agent contacted Stafford and wanted to take the Rife frequency instrument that he had and Dr. Stafford said No, but he agreed to allow the FDA to take all his research work. They returned it months later, and an interview of Dr. Robert Stafford is included in the Jason Ringas and Shawn Montgomery DVD “The Rise and Fall of a Scientific Genius” [8]
- Devices that should have been “grandfathered” in Jim’s warehouse: At the Murphy Cannon Road storage (where they took Jim’s 500 plus instruments from) were two Rife devices manufactured in 1944. One of the Rife devices was 4-ft high, 4 ft wide, and 30 inches deep, and during the closing rebuttal Pierson presented a picture exhibit that showed a picture of Jim’s warehouse with the device. Both devices had been in commercial use and with them were documents revealing similar and equivalent use for the Astropulse unit. Copies of these documents had been sent by Kim Bailey to the FDA commissioner in the 1980s at the time Frank Young. Kim never received a response back from the commissioner, even after several follow-up inquiries. She sent that package as a declaration of exemption, and these materials ought to have been included in the discovery. Pierson was ordered by the court to come up with full discovery on all evidence taken in Jim’s April 2003 raids several times in the summer 2008 pre-hearings, however she did not come up with full discovery through obstruction and delays and the result was Jim’s defense never got these items they needed.
- Jim included in his instrument sales 2 DVDs. One was all about Royal Raymond Rife, the microscope he invented, and his frequency research and results. It included pictures of media announcements, letters to Rife from doctors high up in the medical establishment, and pictures of Rife’s equipment. The other DVD contained video-taped testimonials. Two DVD's were submitted as evidence by the Prosecution - Benice and Negrete were very surprised that they were. Had the jurors been permitted to view the video contents there would no doubt been a whole different outcome to the trial. They were apparently submitted because of having been shipped as part of the contents with the devices. The Prosecutor was then able then to get the Judge to block the jurors from viewing them - # 1, the Rife documentary and # 2, User testimonials.
- Device is exempt under under the statute. According to a planned Expert Opinion Testimony, that was unfortunately not presented by the defense, Ralph Fucetola JD states: "Under current law, intent determines status. Your intent, as you expressed it to me, is clearly not to provide “treatment of disease” but rather to provide compatible, frequency controlled energy that may be beneficial to normal structure and function. However, your written materials may not have clearly reflected that intent and are not so artfully drafted as to express your true intent. Nonetheless, your Disclaimers and Disclosures are sufficient to appraise the user of the intent that the Device be used as a non-medical device. Under these circumstances, it is my opinion that the Device does not need to be registered under the statute as a “medical device” as it is exempt. The most appropriate Disclaimer would be, “Not intended to treat disease, support or sustain human life, or to prevent impairment of human health; for frequency delivery, self-education and research purposes only.” [9]
- The Dr. Robert Stafford interviews and research documents: Jim’s attorneys requested everything the government had on the 50 plus years on Rife. That should have included the Dr. Robert Stafford interviews and research documents from his work in the 1960s, but did not. An FDA agent contacted Stafford and wanted to take the Rife frequency instrument that he had and Dr. Stafford said No, but he agreed to allow the FDA to take all his research work. They returned it months later, and an interview of Dr. Robert Stafford is included in the Jason Ringas and Shawn Montgomery DVD “The Rise and Fall of a Scientific Genius” [8]
- Battery operation. Apparently, if a device runs on a 9-volt battery it is exempt from needing to go through the licensing process. Jim’s manuals state his device can be run by a cigarette lighter/9 volt adapter. This is considered a viable battery substitute. Two FDA officials testified for the prosecution, and Jim’s attorney cross-examined them asking if this is an exemption factor and they admitted yes, there was exemption. However this was never pursued during the trial by the defense attorneys.
- Stacks of testimonials. Jim has been collecting testimonials for years and has stacks of them. However, this material was not allowed to be presented during the trial. Pierson requested it be blocked and the judge allowed it.
- No harmful side effects. In the many years that the Rife technology has been used, there haven’t been any harmful side effects reported. Yet this was not allowed to be brought up in court.
- No dissatisfied customers. Jim was very careful running his business for many years taking great care to see that all his customers were completely satisfied, and he is not aware of any dissatisfied customers. Yet this was not allowed to be brought up in court.
- Stellar business practices. Jim interacted with many other Rife-type device manufacturers and customers, and his reputation is stellar. During the trial the prosecution brought in 24 of his fellow distributors and friends to testify against Jim during seven days of prosecution, but every one of them had nothing but praise for Jim’s business practices and character. The prosecution used that against Jim saying he was such a brilliant fraud that he was a danger to the community because his peers and customers weren’t even aware they’d been defrauded.
What happened at the trial?
Jim was very upbeat throughout the preparations, and during the trial. However, after seven days of the prosecution bringing witnesses to the stand, Jim’s attorneys then called only two and the defense took less than ½ an hour on the morning of the eighth day all the while telling Jim the witnesses for the prosecution, who were mostly Jim’s distributors, were doing a great job of telling how great a guy Jim was…honest, forthright an all around good guy…that they did not have to call any more witnesses than the two for the defense. Obviously the Jury would not find him guilty. Some of Jim’s friends attending the trial became very worried because they got the impression that his attorneys were not defending him or they would have been asking for documents that should have been produced for the Discovery Process and following the strategy agreed upon (as much as possible) outlined above.
The trial resumed after a long holiday weekend, and on Tuesday, February 17th the proceedings included closing arguments by the prosecution (Pierson’s assistant U.S. attorney), followed by closing arguments by the defense (Jeff Bernice) followed by rebuttal by Pierson. Pierson’s rebuttal included stories where (Jim’s quote) “all bounds of truth were completely disregarded. Fabrication and deceit to the jury had no bounds.” Logic would say the defense would have the chance for a counter-rebuttal, but procedure does not allow it. Jim was absolutely shocked and asked Jeff Bernice why not. His answer? Because the government is allowed to present its case beyond a shadow of a doubt. In other words allows lies and fabrications! Judge Houston gave the jury instructions for 30 minutes and they took about 2 hours to come up with a conviction. They had boxes of evidence to look through but because of the short deliberation time some would conclude they did not. So, what they had to make a decision on was really the overwhelming lies of Pierson’s rebuttal, and in the end Jim was found guilty of (surprise!) 26 felony charges (despite being told up to and during the trial it was only three), which allowed for a possible maximum sentence of 140 years in prison and $500,000.00 in fines. Being found guilty on twenty six charges was a total surprise for both Jim and his attorneys. [10] [11]
The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper reported on Thursday, February 19th about the seriousness of the charges. This was the first information that family, friends and associates got as to what Jim Folsom was facing. [12]
As stated earlier, Jim stood on his principles for his innocence and to clear the Rife name. It was an impossible task. Jim was up against an endless supply of money through the FDA and an unjust system. Research has found since Jim’s conviction that our Juridical System is more of a money machine than Big Pharma & the Medical Industrial Complex. [13] [14]
There are links to the KGB and FBI operatives in Jim’s case just as there was with the Kimberly Bailey case. In the end he and many of those who were following his trial were SHOCKED to find out he had been found guilty of all charges.
Since the trial, Jim’s defense attorneys had promised to present a motion for a new trial but Jim is not aware of that happening. Jim also provided them with money at the end of the trial for the transcripts but that money was not used for the intended purpose as of this writing. The transcripts are necessary to put together a motion for a new trial and it takes 30 days. Jim also mentioned he’s being pressured into signing a plea agreement.
The outcome of this could set a precedent for other rife-type device inventor/distributors, and things must be set right. There is a group working on getting Jim out of jail.
Motion for Dismissal of Counsel
As Jim felt his own defense counsel did not properly defend him in court, and Jim no longer has enough funds for a new counsel, he has made an application to defend himself in court. This was discussed in court on July 17, 2009[15]. After an approximate 20 minute sidebar discussion, Jim has been given 30 days by the judge to come up with new attorneys, media was present, as well as approximately 20 friends and family.
The local NBC news camera was outside and a reporter was taking notes and a Courtroom artist did a sketch[16]
Court Hearing - August 20, 2009
Jim had a court hearing on August 20th - focus of which was dismissal of current counsel and to appoint new counsel. Dismissal of current counsel was granted, but a federally appointed public defender has not yet been granted because of prosecutor AUSA opposition. Jim is financially strapped, but this was opposed on the grounds that the financial affidavit Jim entered was not correct. This is based on AUSA's opinion that Jim Folsom made 9 million dollars and didn’t show it as an asset. An investigation is being conducted to verify this.
Jim and his support group have requested new counsel be John Kirby[17]. Mr. Kirby has been tentatively assigned as new counsel once the financial investigation has been completed. Mr. Kirby does not appear to know anything about frequency devices, but support group representatives and Jim have met with him several times already and are 100% in agreement this is a good choice. Kirby’s office is very close to the detention center (only several blocks away), and he seems to be willing to put the time in the case that it needs. Another meeting with Kirby was held on 9/9/9.
Motions that were filed in between counsel
During the period of time when Jim’s counsel and he decided to part ways and before new counsel had been assigned, Jim filed several motions. However, motions can only be filed by the defendant if he has been granted permission by the judge to represent himself (“pro se”) which had not been done. So, the judge “lodged” these motions, which basically means to just hold or pend them until new counsel has been appointed and then Jim and his counsel can decide what to do with them. If they determine to move forward with them, the new counsel must submit them to the court using proper procedure.
Motions on the way
Motions that Jim and the support group expect to be first on the agenda are: motion to dismiss, motion for a mistrial, motion for a new trial, motion for discovery of evidence, and motion not to destroy evidence. These motions have been well thought out and expressed in writing.
Hearing on September 21, 2009
A hearing with the judge took place on September 21h, 2009, 9AM at the courthouse. During this court hearing, the judge allowed the appointment of John Kirby as Jim's new counsel and with that he asked the court to release Jim on bond. The Gov't attorney-AUSA opposed that and the judge did not let Jim out.
Mr Kirby will file a formal request for release, a new trial and a motion to not destroy evidence. He is going to pursue immediately for the trial transcripts - all evidence that AUSA has was offered to Kirby at the end of the hearing - all the records the previous counsel has.
Hearing on November 30, 2009
In a hearing at 9:00am on November 30th 2009, Judge Houston ordered Jim to be released on bail. The prosecution put in a motion to have the release reconsidered. Jim was given a choice of either (#1) the US attorney will sign off on Jim's bond release on condition he agrees not to seek bail at the appeal phase or (#2) AUSA will file a motion to appeal bail, but this would be filed with the 9th Circuit Court the appellate court and that would delay release for Jim for maybe 6 months if not 12 while the appeal goes forth. The prosecution was doing all they could to hurt Jim with this. Jim's attorney John Kirby talked to the main US Attorney for a long time about the prosecution's plans and it was determined that the first option (#1) was the only other choice. Jim agreed to the #1 and this was submitted to record the approved Lien and the approval to the Judge.
The prosecution put in an interlocutory appeal[18] in an attempt to block Jim's release.
Jim Folsom Released on Bail December 18 2009
On December 18th 2009 8:00PM after 10 months of imprisonment Jim Folsom has been released on bail as ordered by Judge Houston.
Jim Folsom Sentencing, February 1 and 8, 2010
Note: This is a preliminary report while the main report in being prepared and it may contain inaccuracies.
The sentencing was spread over two days as time was insufficient on the first day. After much deliberation over relevancy of Sentencing Guidelines, they were deemed not usable. Also the well worn issue of victims got put down as the Judge stated how many of the letters mentioned actual benefits and no vulnerable victims as such, no stealing. He also said ”providing product they wanted.” The Judge also stated the FDA had not kept pace with alternative medicine – The FDA needs to catch up.
The final outcome was 51 months starting April 2nd with time served being taken into account. There was also a $250,000 fine and 3 year probation served.
The Judge did ok the destruction of evidence but it is to be held until through the appeal stage. An appeal will be filed in the next 10 days.
This section will be updated again shortly.
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