SPFPA Wins Again, Maritas and LEOSU Continue to Lose Big in the Courts.
The SPFPA continues to prevail in its legal actions against Steve Maritas and the LEOSU. On Thursday the U.S. District Court Judge in Detroit ruled on the SPFPA’s Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissed almost the entire lawsuit LEOSU and Maritas filed against the SPFPA and Dave Hickey, finding no merit to nearly every claim. The next day, the same federal Judge rejected in its entirety Maritas/LEOSU’s Motion for Summary Judgment in the SPFPA’s lawsuit against Maritas and LEOSU for breach of contract, trademark violation and unfair competition, directing all issues to trial! In short: SPFPA wins, Maritas/LEOSU loses. You can read for yourself, both decisions are attached below this article.
We won’t repeat everything the Judge said, but include a sample quotes from the Judge’s Order for your consideration:
- “Based on the filings from the California criminal case, the statement that Mr. Maritas threatened to stalk and kill his girlfriend and their daughter was ‘substantially true.’”
- “Mr. Maritas spent time in jail, and he in fact pleaded guilty to stalking.”
- “So, the implication that Mr. Maritas served time in connection with a crime of which he was guilty is true.”
- “In light of the previous findings of the Court, there is no genuine issue of material fact that Mr. Maritas has a criminal record.”
- “By extension, the suggestion that LEOSU was ‘criminal run’ was also not false because there is no dispute that Mr. Maritas ran the organization.”
- “The Court therefore finds that the statements relating to Mr. Maritas’ failure to timely fulfill his [child] support obligations were not false for purposes of the defamation and false light claims.”
- “The undisputed fact is that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office created the “WANTED” poster.”
- “[T]here is no genuine issue of fact that Mr. Maritas had ‘collections problems’ and financial judgments against him.”
The last two weeks of March 2023 were not good for Maritas. In rapid fire first he lost his appeal in the Michigan Court of Appeals and the SPFPA’s $500,000+ judgment against him stands. Then almost his entire lawsuit against the SPFPA and Dave Hickey was dismissed. The next day the SPFPA’s multiple claims against him were approved for trial. We are excited for what April will bring next, including hopefully the scheduling of the trial of the SPFPA’s claims against Maritas and LEOSU. We will keep you advised.
If you are looking to leave this ‘criminal run’ organization or any of its affiliates, contact SPFPA immediately. We are here to protect those who protect and serve, and we won’t let you down! To get more information about the SPFPA visit our website at www.spfpa.org
