Parole board denies Earl Jones’s request

Convicted fraudster Earl Jones has been out of prison for less than a month, and he has already tried to have some of his release conditions modified.

Jones was sentenced to 11 years in a federal penitentiary on Feb. 15, 2010 for two counts of defrauding 158 victims of $50 million.

He was released into the community on March 20 with full parole.

The conditions of his release forbid him from working in any capacity where he is in charge of finances or investments, and he cannot have any “direct or indirect contact with the victims or any members of the victims’ families.”

Jones appealed to the Parole Board of Canada to modify the condition regarding contact with victims, provided he would have the prior written permission of his parole supervisor. The board denied his request.

Karlene Kennedy is one of the victims defrauded of an inheritance and saddled with a mortgage three times what she had the capacity to repay.

If Jones approached her, perhaps to make amends, Kennedy is adamant that her answer would be no.

“I would absolutely refuse him,” she said. “The damage he has done is irreparable.

“I cannot forgive him. I’m just not that charitable. I love to help people with problems, but I cannot get my head around this. I don’t want to help him in any way.”

“I would have said no,” said Don Nelles, who was not only a victim, but also Jones’s godson.

Jones used a classic Ponzi scheme to run his scam for 27 years, promising high rates of return. He used the combined $50 million to pay for a luxurious lifestyle of four homes, expensive vacations, memberships to exclusive clubs and extravagant entertaining.

In the Parole Board of Canada decision denying the modification of special conditions, board member Louis H. Renault wrote to Jones: “You have not yet been released for a month and your (case management team) cannot assess the progress made.

“Furthermore, the board would prefer if the victims that you would like to have contact with first show an interest in meeting with you.”

“I don’t want to see him, I don’t want to hear about him,” said Stan Tesher, whose wife and stepdaughter were defrauded by Jones. “This is in the past and I want to keep it in the past.”