My name is Joseph W. Iles. I am a retired 1stSgt in the Marine Corps. I worked as a contractor for Federal Protective Services until May 1. On May 1, my home was robbed by four individuals who are facing charges for car theft and robbery. Because of the indiscretion of these individuals, they stole my service weapon out of my vehicle. I reported this to my supervisor, and I was put on unpaid leave. The result of this is I lost my job of 10 years of serving my country for the second time. This is the other side of the story of what happened on that day. A lot of tragic things happened after that, and I am truly sorry. However, after serving my country for 22 years in the Marine Corps and once again with Federal Protective Services, my livelihood has been turned upside down.

I have tried to get in contact with the media about my side of the story and the story that needs to be told. There are always victims of crimes. Mine is not that drastic; however, it needs to be told. My goal in this fundraiser is to possibly afford a lawyer to address the issues in my life and bring to light that when these kids decide to do what they do, there are consequences for everyone. So if you feel it in your heart that you would like to donate, the money will be going to help this cause. If there's any money left over, I will donate it to a charity that deals with city children to try to help the next, so these tragic events do not happen again.

Joseph W. Iles 1stSgt (ret)