Help US Armed Service Member & Son With Legal Fees
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Hello, there! My name is Richard and I am starting a GoFundMe for my long-time best friend, John Andrew Kozlowski. The core purpose of this fundraiser is to help him survive an unprecedented divorce process, seemingly endless legal battles, and also to promote the future of his young son.
When I say unprecedented, I really mean it. My best friend has faced a gauntlet of legal disputes, investigations, and an onslaught of bills that have destroyed a fiscally responsible man’s savings. I have known John since high school and he was always the picture of responsibility, often working several jobs, his own computer repair gigs, and also waking up at 5 am to train for the military. This was all in high school and he carried on this type of drive throughout his college and professional military life.
Despite the effort, dedication, loyalty, and sacrifice he made to make his marriage work (most of all for his son), he found himself in the most toxic, destructive, and extreme divorce cases I could have never imagined to be possible. I have witnessed how his ex has run up extraordinary bills between frivolous and/or false claims, overusing and/or abusing Court Ordered resources, and other tactics.
Here is a list of the events that have led me to this point where I feel like John needs extra help. These are extraordinary circumstances and nothing anyone should ever have to experience, especially a good father:
- He was carjacked and the Police were called with the claim that he was aggressively trying to run his former spouse over
- A retaliatory Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO) filed against him after he was advised by the Magistrate to file one for the aforementioned incident alongside his former spouse cutting his back open and multiple instances of her smashing or destroying things in the house
- Endured an investigation by Child Protective Services (CPS) over false claims of child and spousal abuse. He was found innocent and to be a good father.
- Endured investigations by the Military’s Family Advocacy Program over false claims of child abuse, spousal abuse. Afterwards, a false claim rape was tagged on months into it.
- Endured investigations by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division for child abuse, spousal abuse. Then, just as with the Family Advocacy Program, sexual assault was added after the other allegations were proved to be false.
- His former spouse hid his 4-year-old son away hours away with her in-laws for about 6 weeks and used him as a bargaining chip for Post Separation Support (PSS), Child Support, and negotiations for a separation agreement.
- His former spouse held onto his clothing, uniform, medical equipment, and other belongings for over three months while trying to have his career ended or have him put in jail.
- His former spouse ran up ~$2,500 in 8-9 days with a Court Ordered Parent Coordinator, then tried to sue him to cover it, costing thousands in Attorney’s fees
- He spent a day in jail for charges of Domestic Criminal trespass and was later found not guilty.
- The Attorney of his former spouse called other members of a small startup he has helped to build over claims by his former spouse of “secret accounts” and “hidden money” that does not exist.
- The Attorney of his former spouse seemed to threaten to have the 19-year-old husband of his babysitter served a subpoena in front of his command and coworkers if the 19-year-old babysitter didn’t give her the answers she wanted.
- His former spouse ran up thousands in Parent Coordinator fees each month between hours of texts, emails and calls by either her or her Attorney in attempts to jockey for custody.
- The Attorney of his former spouse has contacted his Attorney almost daily (multiple times each of those days) deliberately running up an incredible bill and limiting the time the Attorney has to care for other Clients.
To summarize, he was in a toxic marriage for several years and tried everything he could to make it work so his son didn't come up in a divorced home. As time went on, threats of false allegations and abuse of legal, military, and social systems were made if he was to file for separation / divorce.
He is doing everything he can to try and generate income to take care of his son and himself including starting an LLC with a few others to try and build something that he and his son could have as a security blanket. At one point there was only $38.47 in the business account and the former spouse and her lawyer have been endlessly pushing for litigation against it…he had to represent himself as the other members had to walk away due to the opposing Attorney’s unethical tactics.
If you’ve ever experienced a toxic marriage, financial hardship, and/or the threat of losing your livelihood, I ask that you could contribute to my best friend’s GoFundMe so that he can keep making ends meet and build a better future for his son. All funds will go to rebuilding what was lost and being able to keep his head above water. Specifically, a percentage would go to attorney fees 80% and debts, 5% to daily expenses, 5% to his son’s savings and daily living expenses, and finally 10% to pay it forward to similar causes and building awareness around helping people survive financially and emotionally crippling divorce. He plans on paying it forward and helping others by sharing his experience and knowledge. I know that times are hard right now, but if you’re able to donate to this cause we’ll be eternally grateful.
Thank you for reading and thanks in advance if you choose to help this cause.
Organizer and beneficiary
Rich Rodriguez
Organizer
Nashville, TN
John Kozlowski
Beneficiary