Steven Baker of SC Bad News!!! HELP

This is really upsetting for me that this must come to the BOI. I have never had to start a thread, as most problems I have had in this business are small or I just let them go. However this problem is now costing me close to $800 and I am kind of out of options. I am coming to the BOI from anyone that may know Steve or be able to contact him, or I am happy to take suggestions if anyone has any ideas. The story played out as follows. I was advertising WC Indonesian/Guyana animals for me and my at that time reptile partner Jeremiah Tietz with Great Lakes Parrot Connection out of MI. I was contact by Steve or Steven Baker of at that time South Caroline. Steve was a friendly guy and was interested in dealing with me on some of these animals. He explained he didn't have the cash for animals always right away, but had allot of buyers and could help me move tons of stuff for me. Knowing the business and times that were in I explained I would be happy to work with him but all animals must be paid in full before I will ship to him. He also informed me that he had a DHL account and could pay for all shipping on his account so I didn't need to bill him. The animals that he purchased were shipped from my partners facility in Michigan and I was coordinating all the sales, money and business aspect of the deal. Over the next few months between February and May Steve bought paid for and received some nice animals from me around $2500 worth. We were both happy with the arrangement and I was happy he could help me and my partner sell the animals. Around the end of May I had a small group of snakes left including 5 Red Tail boas from Guyana 2 baby Brazilian rainbow boas from Guyana and a small nicely colored Amazon tree boa. The animals were at my partners place and we had them feeding healthy and ready to go. I told Steve what I had and that I could offer him a wholesale deal of $780 on the entire lot of 8 snakes. He was very interested and told me that he would take the lot. When I requested a payment date he said it would be a while before he could get the cash. Here is where I made my mistake. I broke the cardinal rule of selling herps which is never ship without the trade or cash in hand. I was in such a rush to make room and sell these herps that I sent him the animals without payment. We never had any real emails on this topic as everything about he deal was mainly phone conversations. We had agreed on the phone that he could have somewhere around a month to pay me, as he needed time to settle the animals into his facility and then sell them again. Well as time went on the story becomes very familiar to those of you that have had a issue similar to this. His emails were brief and phone conversations were almost not even happening as he was living in SC with his wife/girlfriend and didn't really have access to a phone. I figured that I could trust and rely on Steve as after we had done $2500 or close to it in successful happy transactions. Anyway as time went on the emails got less and the phones were disconnected. I did have contact with a friend of his in SC and a friend in FL both who have lost track of him along the way. Staves last email to me was around a month ago saying don't worry Chris and Stop calling everyone I know you'll get your money. I now realize that me getting the money back is a slim chance. Since the end of May Steve has also had legal problems involving something like that im told by his girl friend when I had contact with her like 15yrs in prison. Steve assured me he would not turn himself in or go to jail without paying me the money he owed. I almost had to laugh at that one. A original check of the BOI before I did business with him raised no red flags and there was not much on his name. His only link to the herb business was that he used to work for Josh Guerra at FYB exotics and helped him for a few years. I knew Josh did not have the best reputation but I did not want to base my views on Steve based on his employers reputation. I now come to find out from a friend that Steve was involved with the theft of a large amount of animals from a herp show in SC. This was new news to me and I immediately began a hunt for his parole or his representative officer. I contacted a few people in SC Law enforcement all of witch were also looking for him or knew of his situation with the law already and could not help me. I was told by a lawyer that was also looking for him that it would not even be worth trying to get the money back as court fees, legal fees and stuff like that would easily be over $1000 which is more then I after. This was knowledge I already had as it seems anything involving lawyers or court is always costly. At this point I have given up most faith in finding this money but I could just not leave the issue and his name untarnished. I am looking for any advice or help that anyone may want to offer. I do not have any emails as I was so angry at the time and they were so short never more then 4-5 words I deleted all his emails from my laptop. I obviously have nothing phone wise just his word and mine which I don't wont stand for much. Its not a issue of him not thinking he owes me the money, I know this because in our last month of contact he kept saying he knows he owed me $780 and it will be here soon. Its just about not knowing where to go from here or if there is anywhere to go. Either way I still want it to be a lesson and Warning to everyone that Steve Baker is bad news. He had a new email last I checked which was turtleguyeah@hotmail.com or Yahoo.com I do not remember which one. Again any help is appreciated as I am out of idea

Chris.... For your own sanity, you should probably just mark it up to experience and move on.... Forget it, you'll never see your money and I think you know it.... Just bite the bullet or swallow your pride and admit you were conned and you learn from it.... What else can you do??.... For once, a lawyer actually gave you some good advice....

Neil

I'm in agreement with Neil on this one. There's nothing you can do at this point but to think that it could have been much, much worse. You are only 18, just think all the time you have ahead of you to learn. Do you think he made $780 at your expense? Is he $780 richer? Think about it, or better yet, don't think about it anymore and move on.

Regards

I agree with the two of you.... chalk this up to a lifes experience, and move on....

I had a lot of Heosemys grandis in the 4" range all captive bred and raised .
Steve contacted me and said he had buyers for them, If I would ship them to him he would sell them and send me the money. ($25 each) any that he could not sell he would return to me. This sounded like a good way to help a newcomer in the business. Needless to say I have not heard from him again.
I guess I learned an $850.00 lesson.
Lee Watson

Something I should add is He sure didn't get a virgin I've been screwed by a thousand people. And have probably helped a few thousand that appreciated all I did and payed me as they said they would. so I have no regrets.
The good people in the industry far outnumber the bad.
Lee Watson

It is people like Steven Baker that make the good guys pay! He was the ring leader in the Repticon theaft! I think his parole officer will be very interested in your story.

I found out that after the March show(of this year) in Ladson SC that Steven was in the parking lot of the show meeting up with a vendor from Florida. He did not come inside for several reasons:
1) he knew there were vendors that he had stole from in the venue
2) there were armed guards inside
3) he was Already breaking his parole by being in the parking lot

Let's see what we can do to find this creep!



Cathy Elrod

Just a bit of info to help out,now that this is out he may try to use his girlfriends name instead.Her name is Shannon Payne. If anyone is contacted by either of them,STEAR CLEAR,they will rip you off! That has been their constant MO.
Arlon Delorge

There are a LOT of people looking for Steven. The word on the street...he has more to worry about than just prison. I have personally never dealt wth him. Almost once - for some terripans, but it never went through. He played sides too much for me at the beginning of our possible dealings. I import Koi from Japan as well as tropical fish from Belize. Knowing this, he told me that one of his closest friends owned a fish shop near him and would buy tens of thousands of dollars worth of fish from us a month. Never happened, though I never expected it too. In fact, this so called best friend called me one day asking for Steven's number because he had misplaced it - and after talking with him a bit I discovered that this guy only worked for the fish shop, he was not the owner, and had nothing to do with putting together new brokers for fish orders. He just wanted some turtles from him which was the basis of their relationship.

Another time I call him, I spoke with Steven's self-described "red-headed bombshell" of a girlfriend who told me he was at the golf course. When he called me back and I asked him how he shot, he told me he was there not for the golf, but throwing pop-corn into the ponds where he was cast-netting turtles by the hundreds. I have a little problem with that, but it is none of my business how or where he gets his animals so I let that one slide. After hearing this, I asked him where he got his terrapins. Supposedly, he pays crab trappers 5.00 each for them for they get in the traps and dismember the crabs, so they are usually decapitated and thrown back in the water. In this respect, I agree with the practice of removing nuiscance animals which would ultimately end up dead if not for the payment, but if animals are living well, not in harms way in a golf course pond - I say let them be.

This guy is not a good person, nor am I the only one who feels this way. He had more to do with the robbery at the Charleston Show than many know. I was told by a very notable source that he pled guilty to all charges brought to him in front of the judge. Take it from me - there are better people to deal with

Trey Bell
803.665.8225

well well i i was wondering when this would happen ! lol and to say the least i am glad to see it to start off i would like to say thanks chris for also saying we have had good dealings befor things went south for me ! and that lee watson i know i got you turtles from you and yes i havent paid you yet but it will happen dont lose faith in man and you will see that like i said i am a man of my word i will have you paidn in full as well as chris ! as far as trey bell man you have alot of nerve lol i never said to you i have a redheded bomshell lol and i pay $25 each for the terripins and oh i owe the crabbers about $600 also but he knows i am good on my word ! and i am glad our deal never went threw sea world in cali has the 2.2 on display ! by no means do i think this is a joke and i never have intended to rip anyone off but hey things happen and who am i to try to explain them to everyone . i was no were near the last repticon show and to fill you guys in on something it was a burgerking parking lot were i maid the trade for a large female alli snapper and yes the vender who made the trade with me was infromed who i was and even asked if he had a problem with makeing the trade with me and said that what has happend in the past has no dealings in the present time ! and i didnt plead guilty to all charges in that case were the show got broken in to i pled to accessory becouse i knew what had taken plase but had pissed off a few of the ( head reptile ) people in sc and didnt say anything becouse i knew that at that point i would be charged any way ! and asfar as shannon she wasnt charged with anything to do with the break in and i hope she is doing fine liveing her own life as we are not allowed to be togeather ! and havent been for some time ! so please if you have bad veiws of me do not let them spill over on someone who is not at fault for any of my misstakes ! i even threw everythi9ng havent tried to lie toany ony about who i am and if i really intended on ripping off anyone do you really think i would have used my real name come on people ! thanks steven baker