San Antonio accountant jailed more than 100 days for refusing to pay $7,500 court sanction
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At his hearing on March 22, the third on the matter, the judge’s threat of a much longer confinement in the Karnes County Detention Facility didn’t persuade Merkle to budge from his defiant stance. For Gargotta, obviously weary of an combative debtor whose bankruptcy case had dragged on for almost six years, it was the final straw. In a written order after the hearing, Gargotta recounted how he had reminded Merkle that many federal judges already had warned him that he may be sanctioned for “arguments disparaging to the judiciary, participants in his case, and other frivolous and vexatious matters.
San Antonio bankruptcy trustee John Patrick Lowe recalled a 2001 case involving a debtor who was held in contempt and jailed. He spent about two weeks in jail for failing to turn over financial statements and other paperwork to Lowe. The judge granted the debtor’s release from jail after his lawyer said the incarceration was causing a financial hardship for the debtor and his family.the cost to detain a prisoner averaged $101.30 a day in its last fiscal year.
In his 65-page bankruptcy petition, Merkle listed assets of almost $1.6 million and debts of nearly $1.5 million, giving him a net worth of just under $100,000. Merkle’s insurer cut a nearly $105,000 check for repairs. But he alleged in the 2020 YouTube video that the note holder and loan service company “stole” the money and “misapplied it.”
Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Erza ruled on five appeals, affirming Gargotta’s rulings in four and dismissing the other action. It hasn’t stopped Merkle, however. A 462-page advisory to the court, filed March 24, included a document with the battle cries “REMEMBER THE ALAMO” and “DRAIN THE SWAMP!” It also contained a photo of Gargotta with the caption, “Enforcer of Organized Crime.”The Oct. 5 bankruptcy court hearing by telephone was on a motion by the bankruptcy trustee in Merkle’s case to pay a dividend to his creditors. Merkle opposed the request, alleging parties in the case had stolen $1.5 million.
“Are you prepared to pay $7,500 to your bankruptcy estate for distribution to your creditors? Yes or no?” Gargotta asked Merkle. Merkle is of sound mind but “under stress,” Ilchenko said. He had told Gargotta he was not on medication at the Dec. 6 hearing. “It might be 60 days, it might be 90 days,” the judge said. “It might even be when the calendar changes.”
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