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Vincent Russello, attempting a scam

Vince ,

In this email writing campaign how bout do this

Write to these teachers explaing the situation behind the provacation of your good hearted deeds .By this i mean explain to themWHY you are donating this Leo to them , explain to them you got busted online by trying to sell they RED leo when its probably the one you are givingthem tell them how you lied about it for weeks , how you even bid on your own animal to raise the bid and how you frauded the auction site , let them know that now you have gone against your word of having to give them this one of a kind red leo and pasing them one worth 15.00 vs one that was bid for at over $1000.00 and how this all started tell them you are doing this to avoid criminal prsosecution by the person you shill bidded against in the auction and how it was HIS idea to have you do this good deed not done from the goodness of your heart .. cause we all know it wasnt so let them know it wasnt either .. then explain why now this one of a kind red leo is not the one ? ... i think maybe that should goto saheena for her class as she stated a interest in it then we all will know the truth behind the " holy grail leo" thats what i think you should do cause if it bites im SURE she can handle it and not let her class be biten by it ...
 
I do renew my offer to take the red gecko. I have a 29-long that needs a lid but which is currently not in use. I would take the gecko and the money for the crickets, a lid, and a heat source, and give the gecko a good home. It would be placed either in my math class or my husband's science class. Over the summer I would get to know all about the leo, and would be able to teach my stepchildren about it as well. (They are with us for the summers). But please note, I am not a gecko BREEDER. I have no geckos. I would not plan on breeding it. I would just give it the appropriate care and attention, the appropriate substrate, etc. The kids would have the opportunity to learn about it. It would be great for the reptile club I'm planning on starting at the beginning of next school year. But in any case, I don't NEED a gecko, I don't NEED to have it, it's not one of my biggest critters on my "Wish" list. But I would not sell it. It would live a long long life (however long that is) here in Arizona. The nice thing is that I've seen a ton of gecko breeders on here who I'm sure would answer all my newbie questions and help me to know about it and do right by it. Heck, I have the best shipping boxes for shipping to Arizona, I'd even send one of those off so as to be sure the animal would be able to ship to Arizona without being jeapordized by the weather. (I had a snake shipped earlier when we had a sudden heat wave, it was 97 out, and the snake arrived cool to the touch, perfectly shipped in this awesome box.) I'm getting some of these boxes in case I need to ship this summer!
 
I must be dimensionally challenged.... isn't that a ten-gallon?
Click to expand...
Shashhena,

That could be a guy thing, calling a ten gallon tank a twenty galon tank. Most men always refer to their things as bigger than they really are (LOL). me I gave up such claims years ago, they only made people laugh.
Best regards,
Glenn B
 
I know that many are outraged over Vince's behavior throughout all of this, but you really shouldn't be. I mean, he's only shown himself to be a disreputable liar at every turn. What else could possibly have expected from him?

Here's an isea, why doesn't someone email a link to this thread to all of those teachers, whose email addresses he posted. I'd be willing to guess that A) none of them know what a weasle he truly is, B) that they are likely to be getting a gecko and/or setup that is substandard, and C) that he psoted their email addresses for everyone to see here!

Vincent, Vince, Vin, Vinny!

Thanks for taking all of that rope and making sure that you tied the full 13 turns in your noose! Now we know that you will ALWAYS be known for the lying, scamming, weasle you truly are!
 
Hello there, my name is Sasheena Kurfman. I'm a teacher at a high school in Arizona. Recently it has come to my attention that Vincent Russello has been in contact with you about donating a gecko to your classroom. I was just emailing to confirm that he is indeed donating a gecko to one of your classes. The reason I am doing this is because Vincent had an auction for a gecko, broke the law with shill bidding, and as part of his penance he was asked to make this donation. A lot of the interested parties want to make sure that he does indeed make this donation. The gecko in question is supposed to be bright red also. If you do receive a gecko and can get a nice digital image and could send that to me or upload it to the location of the "exposure" of his illegal activities (link below), that would be very useful, and show to everyone that he has indeed done what he has promised to do. I hope you do not mind me emailing you.

If you are curious about his actions, you may read about them here: http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36212&perpage=5&pagenumber=1
Click to expand...
 
BRAVO SASHEENA

I had actually forgot he posted the email addresses of the teachers or i would have emailed them to alert them of his activities. Now one has to just wonder if those teachers and emails are his or valid ... Things that make you go HUMMMMM!
So what sayeth you vince ?? i know you have been in the boards the weekend but chosse to
A: Not respond because once again you were caught
B: choose to not respond because you think its ok to lie through your teeth about this and dont care what people think that youl ied about donating the red leo ...
Or
C: All of the Above ...


I choose to use my #2 pencil and circl C all of the above untill you can come back and prove different and explain why this one of a kind red leo isnt going to dazzle the bright eyes of possible future herpers !!
 
I Just heard back from the teacher who received the first gecko donation, THE KIDS LOVE IT!! Thanks to everyone who has shown interest. And thanks to critterfarm who had this idea! I am very excited about this and future donations. This whole situation has been like a death and rebirth of my hobby!!! I am completely rejuvenated as far as reptiles go and cant wait to get back to trading, buying, selling and donating herps. Thanks for everyone who came here and made there opinions heard, this whole ordeal has really changed my whole prospective on people and reptiles and has helped me to grow and become a better person.

In no purticular order Just couple of thank yous,

to critterfarm, thank you for doing what you did, whatever your real intentions where, it really helped me out alot. and I have leard a real life leasson threw all of this. And I am better person now becuse of it. I dont know if you belive this was scam or not but from this point on I will make sure 100% that there will be no room for suspision.

Ray @ herptological, I would like to thank you , no matter what you stance was over this whole debocal you still made a point to answer my request for information, and allowing me to print documents and photos from you website your a great guy!


Webmaster@reptibid , Thank you for taking the time to read this thread and form an opinion. You truly are a great person, and take a very stong interest in what you do. For that I am very greatful.
 
I would like to refer everyone to page 109 of this very thread. In particular the comments made by Mr. Hildenbrand.

Quote -
arrgh...this is getting out of hand. Vince, you're not replying but I feel confident that you're reading, so here goes.

All I want from you is go through your supplies and come up with this-
1. A good 15 long aquarium (or a decent clear/see through equivalent, no $4.00 sterlite bin from WallyMart)
2. An escape proof screen top.
3. A good gradient heat source
4. Suitable substrate, food and water dishes, hide box and any other needed cage accessories.
5. One sub-adult healthy Leopard Gecko. Nothing fancy, just healthy .

Then make arrangments for a years worth of free crickets and worms for the animal.
Contact the Special Education Department at Cape Elementary School and see if one of the teachers is interested in a classroom pet. If not, find a Lee County Elementary School teacher who is.
Take the time to show the teacher how to correctly care for the animal, and spend some time answering questions for the kids.
Let us all know the name of the teacher as well as the school so we can check up on it if we want to.

Think of this as community service Vince. Nobody here want's anything more than you to humble yourself a bit, learn from your mistakes, and fail to make them in the future.
Don't think that this will just go away however. Moral questions aside, legal actions can easily be started against you. I just think this way is a more just punishment.

End Quote


I believe that Vince is meeting the requirements as set forth by Mr. Hildenbrand. I can not attest to some of the replies made by Vince, however, from what I have read, he is fullfilling his obligation to Mr. Hildenbrand. I do not see where it was required for Vince to give the reason he is donating the gecko. I do not see where it was required that Vince donate a red gecko(yes, I am quite aware of what Vince said he would do just that, but Mr. Hildenbrand did not require this). It is my belief that Mr. Hildenbrand required these things in hopes of teaching Vince a life lesson. Whether Vince choses to learn from this or not resides with Vince. So, if Mr. Hildenbrand does not have a problem, or if he feels that Vince is fulfilling his obligation, I say let sleeping dogs lie. If Mr. Hildenbrand has issues or feels things are awry, I have every confidence that he will take issue with Vince.

Best regards,

Carson Grindstaff
 
Carson,

It's admirable to want to let sleeping dogs lie, but when a particular dog has shown a proclivity to bite, it's usually best to just run it off, rather than trying to tiptoe around it!

Vince will bite you, given half a chance, Carson. There is nothing he has said that has the ring of truth to it. He cannot be trusted ... sleeping or not.
 
I've been reading and waiting. I still haven't received any conformation from from the teacher, in case you forgot about that part Vince. I'm hoping that you are sincere in your last post. As you also probably know, I had a phone conversation with the managment of repti-bid about this issue, and I'm really hoping I did the right thing. All that's lacking is the proof from the teacher(s). Don't let me down.
 
Jerry , I lost your email adress, I sent you an email threw fauna.com, just reply and I can fwd you emails, give you the teachers email, or email her and ask her that when she gets a free min to drop you an email and let you know how the gecko is doing.
 
Done.

This is great. You're doing the right thing! Have the teacher drop me a
line when she has the time.
Thanks
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vince" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 3:47 PM
Subject: Leopard geckos!


> This is a message from Vince at FaunaClassifieds Forums (
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/index.php ). The FaunaClassifieds
Forums owners cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of the
email.
>
> To email Vince, you can use this online form:
>
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/member.php?action=mailform&userid=6932
>
> OR, by email:
> mailto:[email protected]
>
> This is the message:
>
> hey hows it going, I just wanted to let you know that I have donated a leo
to a teacher over here at cape elm. they are very happy with it and are
voteing tommorow on what to name there new gecko! I just want to make sure
you know whats up. here is the email to the teacher [email protected]
if you would like to email her. her name is Mrs. Gonzalez. I
also plan on donating to a few other class rooms and right now am talking
back and forth threw email to two other teachers in lee county. i lost your
email like the day you sent it to me , sorry for the gap in communication.
. Im glad we where able to put this whole thing to bed. take care.
Click to expand...

I know many of you feel like I'm letting this go and should still be giving Vince hell for the whole situation. IMO this is the perfect pennance, and benefits kids in the classroom to boot. I think Vince is doing the right thing, and has jumped through the hoops I asked him to.
 
jery I have said it in an email , but i would like to publicly say your a great guy, and I can learn a lot from you. thanks for everything.
 
Jerry,

I don't think there is anyone who thinks poorly of what you have asked Vince to do in all of this. It's great that the kids are getting a leo, and that they'll be able to learn something from all of this. If this "punishment" were to cause Vince to rethink his whole approach to the hobby/business, that would be terrific too, but I just don't see that happening.

In my mind, all we have proven here is that when Vince tries to scam people, gets caught, breaks the law in trying to cover his scamming ways, and then is proven to be an untrustworthy liar for all to see ... then, and ONLY then ... does he become very reasonable, rational, compliant, and apologetic. Given the last time he got his wrist slapped on this board for the same types of attitudinal problems, that he reacted in much the same way, only to regress as soon as the heat was off, you'll forgive me for not holding this current rehabilitation in too high a position of esteem.

I just cannot believe anything he says, and the fact that some good hearted people are willing to take a chance on him AGAIN, doesn't change anything. I really hope I'm wrong about this, because I don't want anyone to be a bad guy here, but I don
t believe I'm mistaken about Vince at all. Time WILL tell, though ... we'll see!
 
Darin,
My choice of that analogy was incorrect on my part. I just wanted to illustrate how he was meeting the requirements that were set forth in this thread. To me, he was following the guidelines of Mr. Hildenbrand, and I was hoping that by quoting from pg 109, others might see that as well.
As far as trusting that dog .....well, lets just say that dog won't hunt.....for me at least. Have a most excellent day Darin.

Best regards,

Carson Grindstaff
 
My thoughts

Well Darin covered them all and vince didnt answer any of them , why did that one of a kind leo not get donated vince ? you know like you said you would do .This reminds me of a criminal when they get caught and get probation VS jail time .They do good to appease the ones watching them closely then as soon as the have bidded( sp) their time the regress back to what they know best and feel most comfortable at doing .Now vince if you donated that red one of a kind leo to the next teach as you stated you would do when this came to light you can have just a lil credibility at then you would have held your word on this situation .Until then you are nothing more then that above mentioned criminal on probation and not in the least bit re habilitated as you continue to show you will say one thing and do the opposite when no ones looking.

Care to comment vince ?
 
It seems apparent to me, the underlying problem has not been addresses but just covered over by this donation. While the donation might show some willingness on Vince's part to try to sweep away the mess; it does not in any way, in my opinion, show that he is willing to stop making further messes or to even accept responsibility for the mess that was made or admit how bad it was.

It would have seemed so much the better if Vince would have just readily admitted something to the effect that yes he did try to scam people, more than once with the red gecko thing and then the reptibid thing. Yes he was sorry for having done that. Yes he will try to change his ways regarding sales in the future. Right now all I am basically seeing is that he feels great because he donated some leopard geckos, and because the only person who seriously threatened him with criminal or civil legal action basically has said he is satisfied.

My bet would be, if I were a betting man, that Vince will soon again be back on track, his old familiar track, in a runaway train. I would bet this because of Vince's statements to date that don't seem, to me, to reflect any true remorse, but seem to me to reflect fear of getting busted. Once that fear goes away, things may be back to what they had been. Of course this is just my opinion, I could be proven wrong by Vince's future dealings and actions, only time will tell.
Best regards,
Glenn B:)
 
I emailed all three teachers yesterday midway through the Florida school day. I know that the school day is long and tedious, but none of the three I emailed have responded. I'm sure it's just that they are busy. I'll let everyone know if/when I receive any sort of response. Being that a second entire school day has passed, I start to have doubts.
 
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