In mid -1977, I began using a local attorney to represent Pro Arts in its copyright lawsuits.

Gregory Happ's father is the local pest exterminator and Greg's mother is the owner of a small art gallery and framing shop in Medina, Ohio.

Happ had represented himself to me as an expert in copyright law. Since Pro Arts had pending Farrah litigation through Ray Scott in Detroit, I felt that Pro Arts needed an attorney closer to the company's office to coordinate the lawsuits that were filed and those that in the future might have to be filed.

Greg had a hungry look about him and wanted to get involved with the entertainment business. By now, Pro Arts had established itself as the "Poster People" company and we were receiving several offers weekly to do posters.

Greg had prepared a license agreement that was similar in nature to the MCA contracts we had signed with Universal Studios and Farrah. He had also placed a "notice" that the agreement was prepared by Gregory Happ in Medina, Ohio so that later, if it were used in its entire form, other attorneys would call him to discuss clauses in the agreement.

While I had agreed to pay Happ for the contracts on a lump sum amount after their completion, the calls that Happ was later to receive questioning the clauses exposed Happ to Hollywood attorneys and gave him a "foot in their door." It also appeared as if Happ was a full time Pro Arts attorney.

After I realized "why" his indirect advertising was placed on the agreements, I later removed his name so that all calls and inquiries about Pro Arts agreements would come directly to the company.

It was about this time that I met Steve Popovich and Bill Catino from the Cleveland International Record Company that was producing Meatloaf's first big selling album, "BAT OUT OF HELL" which was distributed through Epic Records, a division of CBS Records in New York. At the time I met Steve, Meatloaf's album was approaching 5 million copies sold in the United States alone! This was a big hit for Steve even though I later learned that his company had given Epic the "lion's share" of the profits in order to do the distribution deal with CBS Records.

Popovich had been the A & R man for Clive Davis when Clive was the head of CBS Records. In Clive's book about the record industry, "CLIVE", Popovich is mentioned several times as the best A & R man in the industry. Steve impressed me so much that today I still respect him and have occasionally spoken to him about potential recording artists that have contacted me from time to time.

It was through Steve that I met David Sonnenberg, Meatloaf's manager. He was the person responsible for licensing of the Meatloaf name and image and he was also an attorney. (Need I say anymore?)

As we wanted to do the deal for Meatloaf, Pro Arts agreed to the terms and conditions of the license agreement and began manufacturing and distributing the posters of Meatloaf. The negotiations had taken so long that Pro Arts was catching the popularity of the "BAT OUT OF HELL" album on its way down. The sales were about two years behind the album's first exposure. Additionally, Sonnenberg had called a breach to our agreement shortly after our distribution of the first poster releases in order to "milk" our company for additional up front money. As the poster sales were marginal, I decided to fight Sonnenberg's efforts not realizing that as the attorney for Meatloaf, he also received handsome fees for attempting to "correct any breaches" in our pending agreement. So Sonnenberg was getting paid on two ends of our deal. One as Meatloaf's manager and the other as his attorney!

Steve had introduced me to Irv Aszov, currently one of the heads of MCA Records in California.

Irv was the manager for Boz Skaggs and the Eagles! Both blockbuster-recording groups at that particular time! In fact, the Eagles' Album, "HOTEL CALIFORNIA" was selling nearly 10 million albums at the time we discussed a poster contract for the Eagles.

While Boz was a big act, the Eagles were the Top of the Charts and we wanted that act.

I had met Irv at the dressing room of Boz Skaggs when he came to Cleveland for a concert. Boz later told me that we were both born in the same hospital in Canton, Ohio only about a month apart. Imagine 34 years later meeting in his dressing room. This was a profound experience as it supported my philosophy and direction in life.

I firmly believe that there is a God that created us all with a Cosmic Plan that incorporates the entire Universe. I believe that there are individuals in life that are chosen to become a directing force while others are the individuals being directed. Everything happens for a purpose and the essence of life is to "go with the flow" rather than trying to oppose the Force. Those directed by the Force become part of the Ultimate Conclusion. Those that resist the Force are destroyed by It.

This book is part of the Ultimate Conclusion. Through it, it becomes a catharsis for me as an individual. As I tried to obtain Justice in our present legal system, the Courts protected the thieves that are discussed in this book. I felt it necessary to expose each of them so that the "evil that they did, lives after them." I tried unsuccessfully to get the frauds committed by the individuals into a court of law and was prevented by their continuing fraudulent acts from getting past judges that do not want these facts exposed to the public.

So this book is part of that Ultimate Conclusion. Either they will sue me for libel and I will appear in court to defend my true statements, or one year after this book is published, their statutes of limitations will have expired and I will be free to publish this book in such magnitude that even all the money in the world will not stop its distribution. Then I can put this part of my life behind me and go forth cleansed and invigorated.

While I had envisioned a much easier road to success after the Farrah poster, it only became more hectic and complex. I was now licensing Photo-Lith all our iron-on transfers and T-shirt business and suing Factors for contract disputes.

Factors had obtained the rights to Elvis Presley through Presley's Estate and had sued Pro Arts in New York because New York looked favorably on the "Right of Publicity" after death of a person. It was here that Factors intended to win their case.

It was also this time that Mike, John and I had agreed to bring Happ on as a full time attorney working for the company. We had agreed to pay Happ weekly and Happ would work on the contracts for licenses after I had put the deal together and coordinate the lawsuit that were pending.

Happ went to New York to get us an attorney to write a Writ of Certoria to the Supreme Court in Washington D.C.

I met with Happ and George Berger in New York City to discuss our contention that our poster of Presley was a First Amendment issue.

Since Berger was from Louis Nizer's office and Louis Nizer's name on our Writ might get the Supreme Court to address the real issues of Right of Publicity especially since it involved Elvis Presley, we all felt that our defense under the First Amendment entitling us to Free Speech was definitely going to win the case.

In 1968, Pat Paulsen, the comedian on the Smothers Brothers Television Show, ran for the Presidency under the slogan, "If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve."

It was about this time that Personality Posters in New York City published the poster and sold it without license or royalties to Paulsen.

Paulsen sued Personality on the basis that they had invaded his "Right of Publicity" and that they did not have authorization to sell that poster.

The New York State Supreme Court ruled against Paulsen in favor of Personality on the grounds that the poster was a "newsworthy event" even though Paulsen's comic representations were not serious and Personality was entitled to produce the poster under the First Amendment!

In Pro Arts' defense both to Federal District Judge Tenney and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Pro Arts had used the photograph (under license from the photographer, Bud Skinner) of Presley that appeared in color on the front page of the Atlanta Journal the day Presley died. The poster using only the caption: "1939 -1977 In Memory" without Presley's name was enjoined from distribution because Pro Arts did not have a license to sell it!

When Pro Arts' argued that Presley's death was a "newsworthy event," Tenney did not agree even though we distributed over a million posters in nine days from the day the Atlanta Journal published it for the Atlanta area!

This picture was worth ten thousand words! It was the best Presley news release in the world! Tenney stated that the death of Presley was not a newsworthy event and the Second Circuit voted three to zero that Tenney had not erred in this judgment.

This prompted Happ to have Berger write the Writ in hopes that the Supreme Court would rule on this issue. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case! So Tenney's decision stood.

Happ later hired William Davis of the law firm Schulman, Berlin and Davis to represent Pro Arts in the New York Presley suit in hopes that Bill Davis' argument would be less costly than Nizer's firm (the Writ cost Pro Arts over $10,000.oo on its appeal to the Supreme Court WHICH WAS NEVER HEARD!)

It was not until later that I realized Happ had found Davis' firm through an associate attorney that was working for Davis' firm.

Charlotte Pfall had her office with Schulman, Berlin and Davis. Charlotte's husband, Charles Pfall, was an artist that Happ's mother had represented in her gallery in Medina, Ohio. Charlotte was from Medina and personal friends with the Happ family.

Needless to say, the money Pro Arts expended with Schulman, Berlin and Davis exceed $100,000.oo in legal fees alone!

After Happ had resigned from Pro Arts because of a "conflict of interest" regarding a contract that he had prepared for Pro Arts and his mother, Happ later threatened to sue Schulman, Berlin and Davis because Happ wanted the firm to pay him something for bringing Pro Arts to their office.

Bill David and I have remained friends in spite of the circumstances and I think Bill is probably one of the best legal minds in the profession! Without Bill's continued efforts in Pro Arts' defense, Pro Arts would have lost the Presley case. (Not that winning the case and losing over 1 million dollars is a victory!)

In a conversation a few years after Pro Arts was liquidated in Chapter 7, Bill told me how he had opposed Happ's demands for money since Pro Arts was Davis' client and Happ as the Pro Arts attorney that hired him for the case had never mentioned any "retainer kick-back" for referring Pro Arts to Davis' office.

Under Ohio Code of Ethics governing this type of payment, Happ had to have disclosed this fact prior to Pro Arts retaining Schulman, Berlin and Davis. Without this disclosure, Happ violated the Rule of Ethics and could be suspended from practicing law since this was unethical behavior on Happ's part. But compared to the unethical things that Happ did later, this was truly small potatoes. Though Davis opposed the payment, his two partners, Schulman and Berlin, voted to pay Happ the money because they felt that any protracted litigation caused by Happ would cost more in time and money to defend.

As to the Presley Law Suit, later it was determined in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Presley vs Coors Case that Presley had no right of publicity after death because Presley's own home state did not recognize any rights after death!

Though Tenney imposed a permanent injunction on Pro Arts, the second attempt to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Tenney's biased judgment on a two to one vote in favor of Pro Arts stating that if Tennessee which was Presley's own home state did not recognize Presley's right, New York State could not uphold a right that did not exist!

As Happ continued to try and increase his exposure through Pro Arts into the entertainment areas, I recognized much too late what Happ's motives were.

In 1978, Happ had brought me a photocopied story written by his mother, Ann Happ, called "BILLIE THE BLUE BELL BEAR."

As I had a very good eye for merchandising and had trained myself to look at everything even though everything might not have potential, I immediately envisioned a merchandising concept about Happ's mother's story that smacked of millions of dollars of potential!

I told Happ that I wanted to be fair with his mother since Happ was our corporate attorney and that Happ should prepare an "unabrasive agreement" between his mother and his client so that both of us would feel comfortable in signing the agreement.

This was far in advance of my having any knowledge of Happ's greed and unethical practices.

I read the agreement and spoke with Ann Happ about the contract indicating that there were a few minor changes and she had agreed to the changes so long as she retained "artistic control" of the project. This "artistic control" meant that she had to approve all artwork and lettering regarding the book and the bear. I insisted that it also state that her "artistic approval" would not be unjustly withheld. And she agreed to this.

Since Pro Arts had licensed other companies Farrah products through its license agreement with Farrah, Pro Arts had customers of major proportions that could become part of the merchandising. I insisted that Pro Arts become Happ's mother's manager and since Pro Arts was putting up all the money, we should have fifty per cent of all licenses that Pro Arts consummated on the Billie the Bear project.

Since Ann Happ had the story for several years and never did anything with it, the fact that Pro Arts would expend several thousands of dollars to create the art and merchandising would ultimately be money in her pocket.

Though Ann Happ had pretended not to be interested in the money, ultimately the true picture of her intentions would come forth after Pro Arts expended time and money to make this project happen!

Shortly after we had begun the BBBB Project as it had become to be known, my wife and I were invited by Steve Popovich to a Rock Concert at the Blossom Music Center to honor Meatloaf's Quintuple Platinum Award in a private ceremony after the concert.

I invited Happ and his girlfriend, Cynthia Terrel, to join us for an entertaining evening. At the party after the concert, Happ had cornered Carla DeVito, Meatloaf's Female Vocalist at the concert, and was discussing something with her alone.

The conversation did not appear to be social as Happ's expression was of a serious nature. I sensed that he was "doing something" and I did not know what it was.

The next day I asked Happ what he had discussed with Carla and he told me that she did not have a manager. He discussed representing her as her attorney.

I was upset with Happ! I told him that Steve Popovich had invited me, not Happ, to an exclusive party as a social event. Happ was my guest! I did not want Steve to think that I was exploiting his friendship to obtain clients for Pro Arts and that any negotiations would be above board and with everyone having knowledge of Pro Arts' intentions.

I knew that Steve was negotiating with Meatloaf on their second album. I knew that Steve was dealing with Sonnenberg and that the recording industry is a nip and tuck industry that often takes months (sometimes years) to negotiate contracts with personalities especially if they are mega buck entertainers. I did not want Steve Popovich thinking that either Pro Arts or its associates were trying to weasel into any deals that might cause Steve problems down the road.

I wrote Steve a letter explaining what Happ had done and I apologized for any problems that might have been created by Happ's action.

Steve later called me after he got the letter and thanked me for not being "part of the bullshit" that is typical in his industry. We seemed to be alike in a lot of respects since we both had to deal with similar individuals and we both appreciate honesty when we experience it.

Happ's girlfriend, Cynthia Terrel, was the sister of a young woman that had been found dead prior to me meeting Happ.

Supposedly, the sister had hung herself naked in her closet and the Medina authorities had botched the investigation.

Happ had this "theory" that the sister had been murdered by the local judge's son, Mark Whitfield. Even though the County Coroner's Office had listed the death as a suicide, Happ was convinced that Mark had killed the sister.

Later, in 1980 Happ became the Medina County Prosecutor and could have re-opened the case, but he neglected to do it. One would have felt that if he suspected a murder of his girlfriend's sister, he would have re-opened the case when he had the authority and the opportunity to do so. But Happ never did.

It was a few years later, when I began investigating the frauds that occurred in the Pro Arts bankruptcy that included Happ's frauds as County Prosecutor, that the Cleveland Plain Dealer began publishing articles about the supposed murder.

The paper dug up all kinds of old material never disclosing their source for information.

When I met with a Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, Jim Neff, to discuss the frauds perpetrated on the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Akron, Ohio, I stated that Happ as Medina County Prosecutor, had been bribed by defendants in a pending RICO lawsuit that I had filed in the Cleveland Federal District Court.

Rather than investigate the facts concerning the frauds that I could prove without hesitation, Neff declined to write about a major law suit that involved Mafia people in New York, Pension Frauds, Bribery, False Bankruptcy Reports, Wall Street Swindlers and many other aspects of the bankruptcy.

Later, I surmised that it was because the source for their "inside" information must have come from Happ! Happ knew that I was going to expose his bribe and the falsification of his personal claim against Pro Arts and by perhaps getting to the newspaper, the story of his unethical practices would cause the City Editor to reevaluate their story on the murder which "supposedly occurred."

After all, if Happ is the source for their story, what kind of credibility would Happ have if he was a proven perjurer and "dirty" Prosecuting Attorney for Medina County?

Needless to say, the new County Prosecutor that replaced Happ was forced by "public opinion" created by the Cleveland Plain Dealer to indict Mark Whitfield and bring him to trial.

Needless to state, Mark was acquitted of all charges.

It is amazing how small insignificant lawsuits make the newspapers and the Racketeer Influence and Corruption Organization lawsuit (RICO) I filed did not even get a single mention in the Medina County Gazette, the Akron Beacon Journal or the Cleveland Plain Dealer!

Here is a story that you will read in this book that contains all the elements of a good Harold Robbins novel.

Old Phoenix National Bank is the largest bank in Medina County. It has been established as "the bank of Medina County" about the time the "founding fathers" arrived in the Medina County area. Old Phoenix is one of the Medina County Gazette's largest advertisers. It makes little sense that the small newspaper during a Recession would alienate one of their biggest advertisers by printing a story of "possible involvement" in bankruptcy frauds and associations indirectly with New York Mafia associates. So the newspaper did not pursue the story.

I found out later that the Akron Beacon Journal is or was represented at the time of the lawsuit by Roetzel & Andress! So again it makes sense that the Akron Beacon Journal would avoid printing the RICO lawsuit if their attorneys were defendants in that lawsuit. This would not make a very good association especially if the story turned out to be true. And of course, the story is true!

The fact that I was interviewed by Jim Neff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and indicated that Happ was bribed by Dietrich, Roetzel & Andress, the "boys from New York" and other individuals involved with the Pro Arts bankruptcy is significant. The Plain Dealer did not investigate the lawsuit even though I played a taped telephone conversation between Dietrich and me where Dietrich states:

Dietrich: "I think the best solution and I'm writing a note to Roger and Barry right now - -"

T.Trikilis: "Roger who? Steve - son?"

Dietrich: "Yeah."

T. Trikilis: " All right."

Dietrich: "- - that we only acknowledged the $21,000 because we thought it would improve the chances of getting Happ to cooperate with us."

"And since he isn't cooperating, can we change our position?"

As this taped conversation was made for my personal notes on March 23, 1983, I did not violate any laws. A taped telephone conversation is illegal when there are no consenting parties in the taped conversation. Since I was a consenting party to my conversation with Dietrich, the tape was made without Dietrich's consent. The fact that Happ's Prosecuting Attorney's Office filed an Objection to Pro Arts Plan of repayment of Taxes due Medina County on March 18, l983 was unknown to me at the time of this conversation. So Dietrich's comment that "he isn't cooperating" wasn't significant to me at the time of my conversation with Dietrich!

After two assurances by Dietrich in the taped conversation that he was going to change the personal claim of Happ from the $21,069.95 to the correct amount of $1,069.95, I did not think that the false claim of Happ's was allowed.

On April 13, l984, when I was investigating an "abandonment of assets by the Trustee in the Chapter 7 of Pro Arts, I discovered that Happ's $21,069.95 Fraudulent Claim was allowed!

Dietrich did not change it and the Medina County Prosecuting Attorney's Office did not object to the Pro Arts Chapter 11 Plan which stated the County would be paid in 16 payments instead of the 5 payments the County Prosecutor's Office wanted in their March 18, l983 Objection!)

Happ received other "considerations" either directly or indirectly through his mother's claim which also "guaranteed" Happ's willingness NOT TO OBJECT TO THE PRO ARTS CHAPTER 11 Plan!

These will be discussed later and their value exceeded the personal claim that Happ had filed fraudulently with the Bankruptcy Court.

At the time of the Confirmation Hearing, June 10, l983, in Bankruptcy Court, the conspirators had organized a "plan" not only to defraud me, but my family, the creditors of Pro Arts and the Bankruptcy Court. This plan was so fraudulent that to list the events and their frauds in this chapter would be to get way ahead of the story.