CONVICTED: Claire Simmons, WA: Regency, Essex, Royale, Ambiance, or Cascade Cavaliers

[Karlin]

This woman was CONVICTED after a successful federal prosecution by the US Dept of Justice, related to her sale of cavalier puppies.

DO NOT BUY DOGS FROM THIS WOMAN.



Approximate age: mid-late 50s. Hair color and style could be different.

She uses several first names -- Claire, Elizabeth, Jolene among them, and the last name Simmons -- as well as other names -- and was selling puppies in Boise and is known to be selling in the Washington state/Portland Oregon area and/or back to Boise, Idaho area under the kennel names Ambiance or Cascade or Regency Park, Essex Cavaliers, or the latest, Regency Cavaliers based in Port Orchard WA.

While in Washington state she was once again checked out by authorities on cruelty charges, as detailed in TV coverage from the Washington area. She was also investigated and pled guilty to various charges when in Idaho.

She uses the name Royalefamily and Ambiance and Essex Cavaliers and essexcavs as a username at various email addresses (eg royalefamily@(nameofhostingservice) and as a kennel name on several pet ad websites as well. She advertises as being based in either Idaho or Washington State or Oregon. More info from the Pet Abuse website on previous arrests and charges and her federal conviction:

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/5117/
Photo of her and other info: http://www.pet-abuse.com/profiles/5444/

This is all info that is publicly available and because of her FEDERAL CONVICTION, a matter of public record.

I have been sent the formal summaries of five current and past court cases against this particular woman and lo and behold, while she was sending me abusive letters claiming charges had been dismissed from the 2005 case in which she was initially jailed, court records show she actually pled GUILTY to those same charges. She also forges threatening letters -- I have checked these out directly with the people supposedly sending them on her behalf, and they had done nothing of the sort. I now have pdfs of all these cases.

Please AVOID THIS SELLER regardless of what she tells you.

[Karlin]

Elizabeth/Jolene Simmons, now convicted by the US Department of Justice, has been sentenced following a plea agreement for her federal case. It includes the following provisions, according to the detective involved with her case in Idaho:

• 2 years of Federal supervised probation
• 2 months of home arrest with electric monitoring (paid by Simmons)
• Comply with all probation officers requests / rules.
• No firearms in her residence during probation (which she does not have anyway).
• Allow probation officer full access to financial records to ensue she is doing things correctly.
• Restitution came out to $11,000.00 and will be reduced based on if people wanted the registration papers for their dogs. If registration is wanted then this must be submitted to the victim(s) within 120 days.

Please be VERY CAUTIOUS if you are considering ANY cavalier sold in the Idaho Washington state or Oregon area over the internet or in person. DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Do NOT even consider buying a dog from an internet site without checking the name of the breeder with either the AKC or CKCSC. Do NOT fall for claims that they can sell you proper breeding or show dogs. No reputable breeder sells show or breeding quality dogs over the internet.

Be very cautious about anyone advertising their dogs from 'top UK lines' such as Leelyn, Harana, Rickbury, Narayadan, Roylevale, Homerbrent, Sorata, Turretbank, Downsbank as this may very well be the same person.


NB: Terms of her sentence did not include removing these dogs from her or stopping her from breeding.

Note that she is well known for using alternative personal names and kennel names. Her former Royale Family ads were pulled from numerous sites after an individual contacted the websites with the facts about her conviction -- so she has since changed the name of her kennel. Expect her to keep changing them.

US Department of Justice press release, Jan 23, 2007:

A breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels will serve two months of home detention and another 22 months on probation for selling a dog to a breeder without a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Attorney Tom Moss announced today.

Elizabeth Simmons, also known as Jolene Sorenson, operated her business, Royal Family Cavaliers, from her home in Garden City, advertising primarily on the Internet. At one point she had 64 dogs at the home, which was approximately 1000 square feet in size.

Simmons pleaded guilty in July to the misdemeanor charge. In sentencing her last Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge commented that "it's not the biggest case, but it had a lot of feelings behind it." He also ordered Simmons to pay $4,500 in restitution to the buyers of several of her dogs.

A USDA license is required in order for a person to sell dogs to breeders on a wholesale basis. According to Simmons’ plea agreement, in February 2005 she sold a male Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to licensed USDA dog breeders A. & L. Bruna for $1,800, with the promise that the dog could be registered with the Kennel Club of England. Simmons did not provide the Brunas with documentation to support registration of the dog, nor could the dog have been registered since only dogs born and bred in England can be registered.

When Simmons did live in England, in 2004, she was investigated for defrauding purchasers of her dogs and creating fraudulent health certificates.

Moss commended the Garden City Police Department for its extensive work on the case. "As responsible dog breeders well know, there are good reasons for these rules,” he said. "When someone breaks them, law enforcement and the justice system take it seriously."

CONTACT: JEAN McNEIL
Public Information Officer
GEORGE BREITSAMETER
Assistant United States Attorney
208 334-1211

[Karlin]

CAVEAT EMPTOR! BUYER BEWARE!!

"Claire" is back and again tangling with local authorities in her new home state of Washington.

http://www.kptv.com/fox12investigato...29/detail.html

FOX 12 received a complaint about a breeder in Washougal, Wash., who advertises online under the name Claire who sells Ambiance Cavaliers.
The ad says her dogs have excellent pedigrees from champion lines.
But when undercover FOX 12 Investigators asked to see the pedigree Claire said she wouldn't show it until we paid in cash or by money order for the dog.
"I really can't be bothered," she said. "I'm not doing this f---ing pedigree thing here."

What's In A Name?

Claire has had problems before in Idaho where she was also breeding Cavaliers.

...

But Simmons wasn't banned from breeding dogs. She moved to the Portland metro area to set up shop under the name Claire.
She told FOX 12's undercover investigator that she has "35 bitches and seven or eight studs" living in her garage.
The smell inside her house was so strong that a contractor said he wouldn't send his workers in because the odor was too foul.

FOX 12 Investigator Kerry Tomlinson went to Claire's breeding site to learn more.
When confronted by Tomlinson, Simmons denied that she was Claire and then responded to a question about customer complaints by saying she had no idea what Tomlinson was talking about.
...

Prosecutors are investigating to see if Claire is violating her Idaho probation.
Meanwhile, she continues to turn out litter after litter.