JUPITER TELEMARKETERS CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL CONTEMPT

Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael S. Clemens, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Howard Beales, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, announced today that the owners of a Jupiter, Florida-based telemarketing room were indicted by a federal grand jury in West Palm Beach on June 4, 2004. The Indictment was unsealed on June 14, 2004, during the defendants' initial appearance.

Defendants, Jeffrey M. Salley and Terri L. Salley, were charged with twenty (20) counts of criminal contempt for violating a Consent Decree entered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in December, 2000. The Court's 2000 Order concluded a civil action brought by the United States Department of Justice in February, 2000, alleging that the defendants had violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and the FTC's Franchise Rule by failing to disclose key information to prospective purchasers of the business opportunity franchises defendants sold through Worldwide Coffee, Inc. Pursuant to the terms of the Order, the defendants were prohibited from violating the Franchise Rule and from making misrepresentations to prospective purchasers.

According to the Indictment, the defendants continued to sell coffee franchises following entry of the Court's 2000 Order through Worldwide Coffee, Inc., Salley's World Wide Coffee, Inc., Coffees of the World, Inc., and Specialty Gourmet Supply, Inc. The Indictment charges the defendants with failing to provide prospective purchasers with the information required by the Franchise Rule. Specifically, the Indictment charges that the defendants failed to disclose their business experience, Jeffrey Salley's 1998 felony grand theft conviction in Florida, the defendants’ 1999 bankruptcy filing, the Court's 2000 Order regarding the defendants’ Franchise Rule violations, and contact information for the defendants’ other franchisees.

The Indictment also charges the defendants with violating the Order by fraudulently inducing nine specified purchasers to invest an average of $25,000 each through false representations that defendants would deliver the coffee machines the franchisees needed to operate the business opportunity. In addition, the Indictment charges the defendants with failing to report their activities to the Federal Trade Commission, as required by the Order.

During their initial appearance on June 14, 2004, the Court ordered that Jeffrey Salley be detained pending a pre-trial detention hearing, which was set for June 25, 2004. Terri Salley was required to post a $100,000 bond.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Trade Commission, as well as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Jupiter Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice, Trial Attorneys, Sondra L. Mills and Amy Goldfrank and Assistant United States Attorney Rolando Garcia.