Forum Post: The truth about those of us on the bottom rung of the real estate collapse.

My name is Ayanna Israel, also known as Laviyah, co-creator and owner of Ste Martaen a vegan gourmet cheese and catering company in Chicago, IL. I am the mother of four children and the wife of Jeffrey St. Martin aka Nahum, founder and creator of Ste Martaen. He was sentenced to prison after being coerced into a guilty plea in order to save my mother and me from further harassment by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office. He and I used to work in the real estate industry as property owners and loan processors. As loan processors we worked first hand with banks that encouraged our clients to extend their credit beyond traditional limits. In our court case, the banks were named the “victims” and we were charged with “tricking” the banks into doing sub-prime loans. When the legal process first began for us back in 2006, we stated repeatedly that we didn’t do anything the banks were not fully aware of or encouraged. It is now 2011 and this truth is now widely known and well documented -- to the extent of documentaries, news reports and the federal government suing banks because they too believe that the banks by and large facilitated the real estate collapse. My husband is currently incarcerated for a crime that he did not commit. He was trained and taught by the banks themselves, which made him a very effective and efficient loan processor. He is not the only one, our clients and many others like him who made a living, worked and invested in real estate have been criminalized. They have been made to pay heavy fines and restitution towards banks that no longer exist (the state collects the money). Some of my fellow co-defendants who have been viciously pursued are: Sandra McRae (my mother & African American), Jimetrice Johnson (African-American), Prahbu Singh (Asian Immigrant), Deborah Nunoo (African American), Samuel Nunoo (African Immigrant), Baboucar Jallow (African Immigrant), Aminata Jallow (African Immigrant), Edreeysa Ashraf (African American). All including myself have been terrorized and coerced into guilty pleas. Our case was widely publicized by the media in Cleveland, but it was evident that the news stories were coming from the prosecutor’s office; filled with wild tales of religious cults, conspiracy theories and blatant falsehoods, based on more fiction than actual fact. After months and years of fighting back on our own, I am pleased and encouraged to see the populace waking up to the greed of corporations and banks. I am deeply motivated by those who have come forward to protest the injustice of the so-called justice system. I will not stop until the release of my husband and that we all may be pardoned from this grave injustice. I am just one voice among many. My case is just one case among many.
DEMAND the release of Jeffrey St. Martin and demand that the prosecutors cease and desist from targeting/prosecuting/criminalizing the minority population that was targeted by Wall Street. Jeffrey St. Martin’s petition is on our business website: stemartaen.com
He has also documented his journey on a blog: walkingintosunlight.tumblr.com