Sheasley v. Jenereski (In re Sheasley)

595 B.R. 72
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 18, 2018
DocketCase No. 17-11062-TPA
StatusPublished

This text of 595 B.R. 72 (Sheasley v. Jenereski (In re Sheasley)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sheasley v. Jenereski (In re Sheasley), 595 B.R. 72 (Pa. 2018).

Opinion

Thomas P. Agresti, Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court

On November 27, 2018, the Court heard argument on the Respondent District Attorney of Allegheny County's Motion for Leave to File Supplemental Response to Debtor/Movant's Motion to Enforce Automatic Stay , Doc. No. 74, ("Motion to Supplement") followed by an evidentiary hearing on the Debtor's Motion to Enforce the Automatic Stay , filed at Doc. No. 27, ("Jenereski Motion") as well as the Debtor's additional Motion to Enforce the Automatic Stay, filed at Doc. 31 ("Ikonomovic Motion"), (the Jenereski Motion and Ikonomovic Motion referenced together as the "Stay Motions"). Having heard argument from the Parties and after considering the evidence presented, for the reasons stated below the Court will grant the Motion to Supplement in part and deny the Stay Motions .1

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 5, 2017, Debtor Christian J. Sheasley filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. The petition indicated that the Debtor had been self-employed as the owner, operator, managing member and alter ego of a business known as Linx Creative Kitchen & Bath, LLC ("Linx"). Among the unsecured creditors listed in the petition were Stan Jenereski ("Jenereski") and Milos Ikonomovic, with both shown as a "business debt" claim of unknown amount.

On January 12, 2018, the Chapter 7 Trustee filed a Report of No Distribution indicating that there would be no assets available to distribute to creditors of the Debtor. That same date Milos Ikonomovic and his wife Snezana Ikonomovic ("Ikonomovics") filed an adversary proceeding *76against the Debtor at Adv. No. 18-01005-TPA asserting that they had a claim against the Debtor arising out of a kitchen installation contract for their home and that under 11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(2), (4) , and (6) their claim against the Debtor was non-dischargeable. On March 1, 2018, the Ikonomovics filed a motion seeking to discontinue the adversary proceeding because they said they had reached a "resolution" of the matter, without explaining what that resolution entailed. On March 21, 2018 the Court granted the Ikonomovics' motion and the adversary was closed on April 6, 2018. Jenereski never sought to have his debt declared non-dischargeable during the bankruptcy case. On May 10, 2018, an order was entered at Doc. No. 20 discharging the Debtor. The case was closed on July 30, 2018.

On August 21, 2018, the Debtor filed a Motion to Reopen his case, along with the Jenereski Motion and the Ikonomovic Motion , both of which seek to have the Respondent in both matters, Stephen A. Zappala, Jr., District Attorney of Allegheny County ("the DA"), enjoined from continuing to proceed with pending criminal actions against the Debtor in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas because they are allegedly in violation of the discharge order.2 The only Responses to the various motions were filed by the DA. See Doc. Nos. 40, 41, 43, 45. An initial hearing was held on September 27, 2018, and the Motion to Reopen was granted on October 4, 2018. See Doc. No. 68. On that same date, and based on the representations of Counsel made at the September 27th hearing that no additional evidence beyond what had already been presented in the Stay Motions and the Responses was needed, the Court also issued an order stating that a final hearing on the Stay Motions , limited only to argument, would be held on October 29, 2018. See Doc. No. 69.

On October 10, 2018, the DA filed the Motion to Supplement pursuant to which he seeks to supplement his Response to the Stay Motions by adding documents that reference three other criminal prosecutions pending against the Debtor in Butler County, PA. On October 23, 2018, the Debtor filed a motion seeking a continuance of the October 29th hearing on the grounds that he wanted to conduct discovery to further support the Stay Motions . The Court issued an order on October 23, 2018, stating that, while it was troubled by the Debtor seeming to raise new factual matters at the last minute, out of an abundance of caution it would grant the continuance and allow evidence to be presented at the hearing. See Doc. No. 82. The continued hearing was originally scheduled for November 15, 2018 but subsequently moved to November 27, 2018. Both the Debtor and the DA were represented by counsel and were given the opportunity to be fully heard at the November 29th hearing. No live testimony was presented by either side at the hearing, just documentary exhibits.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

(A) Jenereski Motion

The criminal prosecution involved in the Jenereski Motion stems from a February 28, 2017 contract between Linx and Stanley Jenereski pursuant to which Linx was to remodel the kitchen in Jenereski's home *77on Gibsonia Road in Richland Township, Allegheny County, for a total price of $30,746. Jenereski paid Linx an initial deposit of $18,448 that date (60% of contract price), which he understood was to be used to buy materials. Thereafter, Jenereski paid an additional $9,224 (30% of contract price) on July 31, 2017, the date work started. Work on the project was performed through subcontractors retained by the Debtor, but never completed. Jenereski began questioning the subcontractors about the slow pace of work and asking when it would be completed. He was eventually told by one subcontractor that the Debtor was preparing to file bankruptcy and he (the subcontractor) would not be returning to complete the work.

Jenereski went to his local police department and related the situation to the police. The police officer to whom he had spoken informed him that he should pursue it as a civil matter and Jenereski did so by filing a complaint in Magisterial District Court. A hearing on that complaint was scheduled, but prior thereto the Debtor filed his bankruptcy petition and that matter was halted by the automatic stay. Jenereski then contacted the DA's office and inquired about the possibility of criminal charges being brought against the Debtor.

On January 17, 2018, Timothy Cross, a detective from the DA's office, filed a criminal complaint against the Debtor alleging a number of charges against him arising out of the Jenereski contract. That criminal complaint was the subject of a preliminary hearing held before District Magistrate Judge Swan on February 28, 2018. At the hearing the DA was represented by Bjorn Dakin and the Debtor was represented by Sean Logue, who is also his attorney in the bankruptcy. District Magistrate Judge Swan found sufficient evidence for the case to proceed and it was filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on March 5, 2018, at Docket No. CP-02-CR-0002699-2018, and captioned "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Christian J. Sheasley."

The four counts charged in the criminal complaint included: (1) home improvement fraud pursuant to 73 P.S. § 517.8 ;

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
595 B.R. 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sheasley-v-jenereski-in-re-sheasley-pawb-2018.