Please pass this on to every person you know on the registry.  Remove my name please, I get enough harassment. 

I'm sorry this is a bit long, but people need to understand the depth of this.  I will tell you the ending first:  I was not further victimized.  But the story MUST get out.

I received a call today from a local number I didn't recognize.  I don't answer phone calls I don't recognize, I get too many telemarketers.  The caller left a message.

The message stated that it was Sargent xxx from the sex offender management office.  (xxx because the name doesn't matter).  I had to call a number, dial an extension, and then I would talk to her.  I called that number, the recorded message was 'Nebraska Sex Offender Management Unit'. It asked me to dial my extension, or '0' for the operator.  So I dialed the extension.  I got her voice mail, it was a professional sounding voice mail, telling me she was working a case, and would get back to me.  She called me back 15 minutes later.  Said she was at the court house right now, but had my file with her because she was making calls in between court appointments.

She stated that she needed to talk to me about my failure to register.  I knew I had not failed to register, but I know that the State Patrol messes up on the registry from time to time, so I figured a clerical error, no big deal.

She of course, needed to verify my information.  She read off my name, DOB, address, dates of convictions, charges of conviction, etc, etc.  This is the part where they sucker you in.  NOTE I never gave her any information.  This is all information that the State Patrol makes available to everyone.  I just confirmed it was all correct.

She then asked why I never showed up at court yesterday.  I told her I had no reason to be in court, I've done nothing wrong.  However, I know from experience, that law enforcement will screw you over even if you've done nothing wrong, so the fact that I'm innocent means absolutely nothing.  The fact that I did register and did everything I was supposed to, means nothing.  Because I've personally experienced law enforcement lying and faking information just to bump up their arrest counts.  So again, the fact that I am innocent and following the rules means nothing.  This is another part where they draw you in.

She told me that I was sent a summons to appear in court for Failure To Register 2 weeks ago, and she was following up to find out why I didn't show up for my summons.  I told her I never received a summons.  She then went through a questionnaire about when do I get my mail, have I had problems getting mail, have I noticed a day where I didn't receive mail, etc, etc.  She said she was filling out an incident report on the fact that I didn't get my summons.

I told her that I registered, and I can prove it.  I told her this was nothing more than a clerical error.  She said, oh, Andrew has been having issues, let me transfer you to Corporal xxx so you can straighten this out.  She apologized that Andrew has been let go for these type of issues, but we can straighten this out.  Note, while there are 3 different people at the SORNA office that take registrations, Andrew just happens to be the one that I talk to most of the time.  I reported to him both in August and November.  More added realism.  The fact that she knew the person I normally report to really suckered me in.

I get transferred to Corporal xxx.  He explained to me that they show I came in to register in August of 2017, but that I had failed to register in November of 2017.  (added realism, but this information is readily available on the website). He indicated that this was a Class whatever felony for Failure to Register and Failure to Appear.  He told me that I needed to come to the Sheriff's office right now to register and clear this up.  This happened to be at about 3:00.  I know that the office closes at about that time, so I told him I can come down tomorrow and fix this.  I can show proof that I did register.  He told me not to worry, he was sending sheriff's to both my home and work to get me, so they could bring me in.  He told me my failure to respond to the summons resulted in a bench warrant, so there was now a warrant for my arrest.

I told him not to send the sheriff, I would just turn myself in, in person, and show them proof that this was a clerical error.  He acted like this was going to be a big deal, put me on hold for a while, came back and he agreed. I don't need the sheriff showing up at my work or home, I get harassed enough already.  He acknowledged that the registration normally closes at 3:30, but he handles FTR's, and he works till 5:00.    He asked if I could come to the Sheriff right now.  I told him I would leave and come right there.  He said 'whatever you do, don't hang up'.  I asked 'why'.  He said that if I hang up, he will consider that an attempt to flee, and the sheriff would come to both my home and work to locate me.  So I told him I wouldn't hang up.  He asked if I was driving my Durango or my Honda, so they could watch for me.  Again, this information is all on the website, but it added more realism.

At this point, I'm pretty much suckered in.  I know there are con men all the time trying to get bond money out of people, but this guy is simply asking me to turn my self in at the Sheriff's office.  So at this point, I'm full in.  As I said I've been screwed over by cops so much and taken heat for their screw ups so many times, that this is just another day in my life.  So really, none of this is out of the ordinary for me.  At this point, I really have no reason to think this is not legitimate.  Besides, at this point, I have been talking to people for over an hour, with multiple phone calls back and forth.  So I'm thinking if this is a phone scam, it's the longest scam I've ever heard of.

I work 10 minutes from the Sheriff's office, so I left and drove straight there.  He said 'look, you seem to be a nice guy, I'm giving you a heads up that you will need to post bond for both of your charges'.  He informed me they were required to arrest and book me for this.  I said 'what'?  He said 'don't worry, as long as you can post bond, we'll let you go home when you are done here'.  I asked if I could call my wife quick.  He said 'you can't, but I can'.  He then called her, but like me, she doesn't answer phone calls that she doesn't know.  The message said it was the Nebraska Sex Offender Unit, and they needed to talk to her about me.  Her caller id showed the same number that called me.

At this point I'm getting leery?  I'm thinking I might be getting conned.  Cops are always assholes, they are never nice.  They would never attempt to 'give you a heads up'.  A cop would never 'treat you like a nice guy'.  Luckily for me I've dealt with cops before and I know they are assholes.  So I'm about 75% sure this is fake right at this point.  But there is a bank between me and the Sheriff, I figure no ones going to con me a the Sheriff's office, so what does it hurt to get some money on my way to the Sheriff, just in case.

I asked him how much my bond was.  He told me $980.00 for each charge, and $300 processing fee.  Now I'm really suspicious.   What felony charge only has a bond of $980?    So I asked him, 'why is the bond so cheap'.  He stated that this was considered a civil violation, not a criminal violation. (WTF?  I happen to know for a fact that FTR is criminal, but I'm thinking I misheard or he misspoke).  He stated that as long as I remained on the phone, he was OK if I stopped at a bank, but I had to go directly to the Sheriff office after the bank.  I'm really suspicious now, I'm about 99% sure this is con.  However, my bank is about 6 blocks from the Sheriff office.  So I figure no one has the balls to jump me a couple of blocks from the Sheriff's office.  So I stop by my bank, I grab $2,500 cash, just to be safe, and head to the Sheriff.  I feel I am caught in a con, but I am only a few blocks from the Sheriff.  I won't give the money to anyone but the Sheriff, and then ONLY if they cuff me.  So I figure I'm taking all possible safeguards.

After I get the money, THEN he tries to redirect me to stop at CVS.  WTF????  I asked what this was about.  He said 'you need to purchase a bail bond ticket'.  I said 'WHAT?  He said 'we can't take cash'.  He said 'go there, and buy a bond ticket, and then bring the bond ticket here'.   Ok.  Now I know it's a scam.  So I confronted him, and the connection went dead.  I don't know if he hung up, if I hung up, or if the cell service glitched.

This is the first time I was not on the phone for the last hour.  So I immediately texted my wife.  I said 'meet me at the Sheriff, I'm either being conned, or someone really fucked me, and if they did, I'll need your help to bail me out'.  I then walked into the Sheriffs office.

Well by this time it was closed.  So I called the police department headquarters.  I explained the situation to them, they looked me up, and assured me it was a complete con.  They said I've followed every single requirement and there is nothing flagged on my account.  

I then called the number back, it has been disconnected or no longer in service.  But I HAD called this number only about 90 minutes earlier.  So I didn't typo, they really truly disconnected the number as soon as I realized they were scamming me.  So passing out the phone number will be meaningless.

Further proof, it was just a big scam.  But I do wonder what their game was.  Did they have an employee at the CVS they were working with?  Were they going to have me wire money somewhere?  I don't know what their end game was.  I did not go into CVS.  At this point, I felt it was reasonable to think there was someone waiting there to jump me.  I went straight back to the bank and put the money back.

Now, again, before I got the money, I was reasonably sure this was a con, but the fact that they were directing me to go straight to the sheriff, do not pass go, was causing me to be unsure of my assumption.  It wasn't until they redirected me that I knew 100% it was a scam.