In 2010, the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services investigated Michael Je-Von West, 29, of 40 Hazelwood Avenue, Newark, on suspicion that he molested his 12-year-old brother.
On October 19, 2010, at 4:30 pm, DYFS determined that the claim of sexual abuse by West against his brother was “not established.” Later DYFS determined it was “unfounded.”
About ten hours earlier, on that same day, a SWAT team of 12 FBI special agents, three Newark Police Department officers and a task force leader raided West’s home at 40 Hazelwood, where he lived with his mother, Vera Yolanda West, and brother`.
The SWAT unit seized several of West’s computers and hard drives. Two days later, on October 21, 2010, the FBI arrested West.
It took the US Attorney for New Jersey a year and eight months to file an indictment – on May 14, 2012. West was charged with possession and distribution of “at least three images” of child pornography.
Coercive Plea Bargain?
West faced up to 30 years in prison. Carol Gillen of the Federal Public Defender District of New Jersey represented West.
On June 20, 2012, West entered a plea agreement where he pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography and possessing child pornography and the prosecution agreed to recommend to the judge that West get a sentence between 6.5-8 years in prison.
In the agreement, West took responsibility for possession of child porn involving a minor under 12, using a computer, and possessing 600 or more images.
It’s important to note that the “600 images” and “use of a computer” could be legal fiction because each of those two elements added 2-point enhancements to his sentencing guidelines calculation, in order to get the desired result of 6.5-8 years imprisonment. From all available documentation, including the initial indictment, there were only three photos in question, which suggests his public defender attorney sold him down the river, threw him under the bus, and allowed him to be trampled underfoot.
On January 22, 2013, US District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi sentenced West to seven years and 11 months imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release.
West served his sentence at FCI Fort Dix, New Jersey, from 2013 to 2019.
West Kept Trying After Conviction
Today, West, 42, lives with his mother. He does not have children. He doesn’t have a job. He makes wigs and puppets and creates art.
He remains on probation until November 20, 2024. He must register as a level 2 sex offender.
Since his conviction, West filed:
an appeal
a motion to vacate his sentence
requests for an evidentiary hearing
sentence reduction
amendment of judgment
writs of mandamus
early termination of probation
The court responded to all these motions by denying them.
West contacted FR to declare his innocence. Frank Report interviewed West and his mother.
An Interview with Michael West
FR: Do you have an attraction to children?
West: No, I don’t.
FR: You took a plea deal?
West: Yeah.
FR: Didn’t you possess pornography?
West: No, I did not.
FR: Michael, did you ever molest a child?
West: No, I did not. Never.
FR: Have you ever been involved in a violent crime?
West: My record is clean.
FR: Any sex offenses?
West: Never.
FR: Were you employed at the time of your arrest?
West: I was working designing clothes.
FR: Are you employed now?
West: No, I can’t work. I had an incident already with somebody basically attacking me on the street because they know I’m on the registry.
FR: You were arrested based on federal agents coming to your house?
West: On October 19, 2010, they came to my home around 6:30 am. I come downstairs with guns pointed at me. I look at my mom like, ‘What’s going on?’ So they took me to my mother’s bedroom and questioned me.
Then FBI Special Agent Kevin Matthews showed me three images and told me to sign them. And then they left. I was later charged for these three images that that officer brought to my home.
FR: Did you see the images?
West: When he showed it to me.
FR: Did you ever see those photographs before?
West: No.
FR: Didn’t you create or possess them?
West: No.
FR: So they showed you three pictures? What did you sign?
West: I signed the photos. He told me to sign the photo to say they showed it to me.
FR: So an FBI agent comes to your door and says, ‘I want to show you some child porn photos’; and he asks you to sign that he showed them to you. Weren’t you suspicious?
West: It’s how they came to my door. I woke up in the morning to steps coming up the stairs, and I don’t know what’s going on. I come downstairs with guns pointed at me. Matthews unlawfully brought three images of child pornography into my residence, forcing me to sign the three images.
Vera West
FR interviewed West’s mother, Vera Yolanda West
FR: What happened at the early morning raid?
Vera: I have never in my life been so intimidated and threatened. I was horrified. It took me months. I just never been the same. The stuff on TV I didn’t think was real. It was like, it was horrific. I can’t even put a total name to it. I have no, never in my life. I’ve lost all respect for the FBI because of the way they did us was degrading.
FR: Do you believe Michael is innocent?
Vera: Oh, yes, I will never question it, never doubted in my life.
FR: What about these three photographs?
Vera: The photographs that were shown to him he had never seen in his life. The officers, the way they came into my home, they basically intimidated me to let them in my house. No warrant.
FR: Why did they come?
Vera: I have no idea. They would not tell me anything. I came to the door first. My youngest son was with me. Michael was on the third floor. When I opened the door, I didn’t have any clue what was happening, because I was still recovering from surgery. And all I knew was my youngest son was up. He was getting ready for school. Michael was upstairs waiting for him, because he takes him in the morning to the bus stop. I hear this banging. This loud banging on the door. I’m like, ‘what?’ And so I’m like, ‘What in the world?’ It’s crazy, banging on the door. I hobble downstairs. My baby in tow. And I can now look. I can see lights at my front window and peeking out the door because I’m scared to open it, there are men all around. They had rifles. There’s an officer in the middle of my walk with a battering ram. And I’m like, ‘What is going on?’
40 Hazelwood – the home of Yolanda and Michael West, raided on October 19, 2010.
(Vera cont.) He starts questioning me about ‘who’s in the house?’ I’m like, “What is going on?” Because it was so intimidating seeing and I’m looking, peeking out the window. I can see the yellow ‘FBI’ on the back of the shirts.
It was like you see on TV and lights flashing. And I’m like, ‘what?’ And it was raining? And I’m like, ‘Well, how can I help you?’ And then he started questioning me who was in the house. And I told him it was me and my youngest son, and my oldest, just the three of us.
‘Okay, we need you to start.’ He didn’t show me anything. I’m like ‘what’s wrong?’ ‘You’ll find out later.’
Then ‘this way’ he tells me, ‘You’ll find out later.’ And then I’m standing there. I’m reluctant. I was scared. Because it was so aggressive. I mean, the way they came at me was like, it was a demanding, you know, forceful type and demeanor. And I’m sitting up here going, it was something that never happened to me in my life. And I’m sitting up here, okay, I saw TV before. I’m not taking any chances. You know, I’m not going to be thrown to the ground, not complying to whatever they asked me to do.’ He said I find out later. And then he made me come outside. Okay, he wants to know, where was my oldest? And I said, ‘Well, he’s upstairs’ and I was standing down at the bottom, you know, with them. They all went to my door. And then next thing I knew, I saw my son, and he was being forced back into the house, and I couldn’t come in. So just standing outside, looking up at the house.
FR: So they brought three photographs. And they had Michael sign or initial them?
Vera: I didn’t know they had any photographs. I couldn’t see them. I didn’t see anything. The thing was when Michael went upstairs, this is what they gave to him. They wanted him to look at it to identify. They brought the stuff. They had a gun on him and made him go back upstairs. And then they proceeded to do whatever they wanted to do to him while they were upstairs. I had been told to stay outside.
FR: Does your younger son believe Michael molested him?
Vera: No, he loved Michael to death.
FR: Where is he now?
Vera: His brother wanted to speak on Michael’s behalf. Even when we had to go to the arraignment. But the attorney that they assigned Michael told us that we couldn’t say anything. She shut me down.
You have no idea what it was like. My child dropped off the face of the earth. Because we do everything as a family. We go every place. Michael’s my right arm on everything I’ve ever done. In my worst days, Michael’s always been with me.
FR: He wasn’t a criminal?
Vera: My children don’t run the street. Never. Michael was loved by his teachers. He was an artist. They let him do it because you should see the things that he’s created. And they were proud of him. And he, that’s where his art skill was. He is an artist.
Tina Turner figurine by Michael West
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A Miss Piggy puppet created by Michael West.
FR: Did he have a computer at the time?
Vera: Yes.
FR: Was anything found on his computer?
Vera: I have never seen a confirmation where they found anything on Michael’s computer. Everything was based on those pictures that they showed him. They made it seem as if he was the owner of the photos.
FR: Has he never had any other sexual improprieties alleged against him?
Vera: None other than the three crazy photos that came out of nowhere, something they created. My younger son wanted to talk to his brother. Because of the sensitivity of the issue that they were throwing at Michael, they wouldn’t even let me bring my younger son to the court.
He was very distraught about what was happening to Michael. He couldn’t understand ‘why is this happening to my brother?’ you know. So it just destroyed the whole family. I started getting sick.
I could not speak about this situation. And all my friends was like, “where’s Michael?” Because they knew Michael was always around. And how embarrassing that is. And I had to tell them the reason why, you know, that he’s been accused of child pornography. Well, then it just messed up our family because everybody wanted to know. It was a frame, a frame up. They framed him.
Michael West with a Miss Piggy puppet he designed and created.
Michael West Adds Info
Michael West later added the following:
The SWAT team utilized forced entry to gain access into the premises, with their firearms at the ready. They conducted a thorough search, seized items, detained individuals for questioning.
FBI Special Agent Kevin P Mathews #126113KD3 – detained, interrogated, and told me to sign the three images of child pornography in my mother’s bedroom that was in his possession upon entry to my residence
Two days later, Matthews contacted prosecutor Adam Nelson, who instructed him to arrest me. They destroyed me. Thirteen years of my life for nothing.
FR Commentary
So this is West and his mother’s story. That he is innocent. That the FBI agent brought three images of child porn and framed West and that he signed a false plea deal.
West’s story looks like the unsubstantiated word of a convicted sex offender versus the criminal docket which points to his guilt.
FR thinks it warrants at least one more story. It appears that when FBI Special Agent Matthews arrested West, he seems to have identified him as white. This mistake was repeated again over the term of West’s imprisonment. Sometimes he is white, sometimes black, and sometimes Hispanic.
He’s White
Though designated white (W) West looks black to FR.
He’s Hispanic
Sometimes they used the wrong address. Instead of 40 Hazelwood, West is listed as residing at 48 Hazelwood.
Then sometimes he is black but the system shows him at the wrong prison.
He’s Black
West served his sentence at Fort Dix, not NY RRM.
This could be a simple mistake of paperwork – the wrong race and wrong address.
But evidence also shows West was listed as Jose Gonzalez, a Hispanic male. It sounds preposterous. Just like an FBI SA Agent bringing in photos and framing West.
Yet FR is puzzled by literally dozens of documents that show musical chairs with race, names, addresses, and prisons.
One document shows West was at a certain facility. Another document denies he was ever there.
Is there some game or gain to be had by misidentifying West or anyone in the system?
One more story, perhaps laying out the documents, and we hope to clear it up.
