<div>1 March 2024: VINCENT IS COMING HOME!  After a very long year, common sense prevailed, and Vinny will be back with our family this week!  Thank you all for the donations.  We would not have had this result without everyone who helped us.  
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<div>As a final ask to our family and friends we are trying to secure the necessary funds for getting Vinny reestablished and start to rebuild.
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<div>Vincent needs toiletries, phone, bedding, clothing, and we're still working on getting some of his possessions back, including his car.
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<div>***MAY 2023: Our goal of securing legal representation for VIncent has been reached, and people continued to provide generous donations for Vincent. All additional donations will be going towards care items for Vinny, and to cover any expenses he incurred as a result of this situation.***
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<div>Friends, we've retained legal counsel for Vincent for his pending legal proceedings, and we couldn't have done it without you. Vincent was overcome with emotion when I spoke to him on the phone, and he is so incredibly grateful.
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<div>Thank you so much for all the support, we cannot begin to express our gratitude. We have had a rough month, and our appreciation for the love and support we've received cannot be overstated. We don't know exactly what is in store for Vincent and our family moving forward, but we know we have people in our corner, and it goes far beyond the donations; the phone calls, the prayers, the notes, and just being there for us to be able to talk through things. It's been a hard road for the family thus far, but we know we aren't walking it alone. Thank you, and God Bless you.
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<div>This all started with a "red flag" action that turned Vincent's life upside down. He was taken from our family's home in the middle of the night, arrested, and is now facing multiple charges for non-compliance with the NY State SAFE Act. Neither police department involved in this articulated what justified the "red flag" order, the multiple searches of his vehicle, his home, my parent's home, or the seizing of my parent's personal belongings that the local police department refuses to return to them. After speaking with Vincent's attorney, neither county has been able to articulate any threat of violence at all. After face to face discussions with the local police department and Vincent's attorney, nothing explains my brother's treatment, his $150,000.00 bond / $75,000.00 cash bail, or the fact that his vehicle has been impounded for over a month while $50 a day charges have been compiling ($2000 and rising as of 2 June 2023 if we are required to pay it). Our home state is the only place in the country where a person can be charged with multiple felonies for owning the most common firearm in the United States. It is the only place in the United States I am aware of where you cannot own protective gear of any kind. Our family supports law enforcement and the judicial system, and we recognize the importance of the rule of law, but the laws are supposed to be just. When our representatives passed the laws that impacted so many people in our state, The New York State Sheriffs Association worked to block the very laws that are being enforced against Vincent right now. At the time, New York Assemblyman Clifford Crouch said this: sheriffs and others are "stuck with imposing something on citizens that doesn't address the problem."
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<div>My brother is a good person. He found his life's passion in providing care for the disabled and the elderly; in fact, the position he held when this all started was at the local Nursing/Residential Healthcare Facility. His position there even allowed him to spend time with our grandfather when he took ill last year. One of his life's goals was to provide services to bring nutritious food to underprivileged families, especially families caring for children and elder persons in "food deserts" (areas where there are little to no sources of groceries for impoverished communities). He'd found life's meaning in the care and service of others. He had a bright future ahead of him. He spent his formative years as an Altar Server at Saint Peter's Church, was a Boy Scout in the local BSA troop in Le Roy, NY, was a talented and hard-working Varsity Athlete for the Wrestling, Football, and Track Teams, and went on to receive a Bachelor's Degree from SUNY Oswego focused on health and wellness, and later, his Master's degree in Business Administration. Vincent is an avid outdoorsman and is most at home tilling the family vegetable garden, walking the trails of Genesee and Wyoming counties, fishing, hunting, canoeing, and camping. In some of our most recent conversations, he spoke about wanting to settle down and start a family, buy a house, and "plant roots" near our parents. That is all in jeopardy now. However, we have been blessed beyond measure by the kind words of encouragement, prayers, and people taking the time to provide Vincent with paperback books, the Holy Bible, money orders for phone calls/commissary funds so he can have the simple things we take for granted like a toothbrush, soap, or a dry package of noodles. The visitors he's received at the jail have been so good for him to have. A friendly face to talk to, and joke with, and know that though he faces these charges, he's far from alone. Thank you again, from our family to yours.
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Matthew Nilsen

Helen Torres

Anonymous

Eddie Ortiz

Help for Vinny Kovach -- Housing and Living Fund

Still $1,405 to go. Help us build momentum.