FBI complaint: YouTube provocateur targeted senior citizens, exploits federal courts for profit
By Frankie Pressman with Michael Volpe and Richard Luthmann, Jr.
THE FBI IS INVOLVED: Knowingly Serve the Wrong Man and Lie, Wake the Feds
Jeremy Hales built an online empire by turning drama into clicks. When he sued critics in federal court, he bragged about serving defendant Richard Luthmann several times. Investigative journalist Michael Volpe found that Hales “got sloppy and served the wrong Richard Luthmann.”
The YouTuber dropped papers on a senior citizen hundreds of miles away and claimed victory. Volpe noted that “close only counts in atom bombs, torpedoes, and missiles” —not in proper service.
Luthmann himself blasted Hales for lying to his audience, saying the YouTuber “has not served me” and blew his 90‑day deadline under Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He sent an unequivocal notice on August 4, one that the YouTuber and his lawyer both confirmed they had seen in a recent court filing.
This bungled stunt triggered more than ridicule. Luthmann’s father, a retired pharmacist, was the man who received the bogus service.
According to electronic records, Luthmann, Sr., filed an Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report and sent a formal letter to the FBI demanding an investigation.
The elder. Luthmann has also begun reaching out to state and federal authorities, including U.S. Senators who control federal judicial oversight and appointments.
“If I can’t straighten out sonny boy, I know who can,” Luthmann, Sr. said.
THE FBI IS INVOLVED: Paid Agitator and Elder Abuse
Richard Luthmann Sr. isn’t mincing words. The 72-year-old retired pharmacist says YouTube grifter Jeremy Hales is the very thing President Trump warned America about at Charlie Kirk’s funeral — a “Paid Agitator.”
In a blistering FBI complaint, Luthmann Sr. says Hales and lawyer Randy Shochet dragged him and his wife into a federal court fight with a knowingly false affidavit of service.
“Why am I being served with papers?” he asked.
His son lives hundreds of miles away, but the paperwork landed on his doorstep anyway — an intimidation tactic he calls elder abuse.
“Hales has weaponized lawsuits, social media, and YouTube theatrics not for justice, but for profit,” Luthmann Sr. charged.
He says the stunt was staged to create drama for Hales’s channel “What the Hale$,” turning senior citizens into unwilling extras in a phony courtroom circus.
“Jeremy Hales and his scummy lawyer knew on August 4 that service was no good. I believe they’re looking for my son, not me, who knows? If the Judge wants me to call the Senators and the Governor to protect the elderly, I will. Because the courts aren’t doing a very good job,” Luthmann, Sr., said, waving his cane.
And this wasn’t a one-off. Luthmann Sr. pointed to Iowa retiree Raymond “Ray Bonecrusher” Bonebrake as another target, showing what he called a “pattern of antagonizing and publicly belittling seniors” to pump up clicks, outrage, and ad revenue.
Ray Bonecrusher does a show out of his garage for less than 10,000 followers. Hales’ legal claims against the octagenarian? He said that Hales “wasn’t being very nice.”
For this, he was his with a federal lawsuit.
We shit you not.
It’s all part of Jeremy Hales’ dishonest and elderly-exploiting business model: ruin the lives of the innocent and waste scarce judicial resources to monetize on clicks and social media content.
For Luthmann Sr., it’s part of a bigger scam.
“Just as President Trump cautioned, Hales and others like him are exploiting the legal system and the internet to agitate, inflame, and enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary Americans,” he told the FBI.
While federal investigators rarely discuss complaints, the elder Luthmann’s action puts Hales under federal scrutiny.
Serving the wrong person can constitute obstruction of justice if it involves knowingly false affidavits or attempts to intimidate witnesses. Legal experts say that a false affidavit constitutes perjury, and using the federal court system to file knowingly false documents to further the fraud invites perjury and wire-fraud charges.
Hales’s gambit may have turned his civil slap at critics into a criminal problem. “He lies and lies and lies,” Volpe observed. That pattern now sits in an FBI file bearing Hales’s name.
“Hales and Shochet knew that the service was bogus on August 4 because of an email they admitted they received. Michael Volpe’s YouTube is stated in the fraudulent affidavit of service they submitted, so they told on themselves that they knew they were committing fraud,” Luthmann said.
Luthmann, Jr., says he expects Hales to be in jail and Shochet to lose his law license “very, very quickly.”
“This is a paper case, and a very, very easy one to prosecute,” he said.
THE FBI IS INVOLVED: Mercy Ultimatums and Hypocrisy Exposed
As Hales’s service blunder made headlines, Luthmann, Jr., turned the tables. He offered to waive service if the YouTuber showed mercy to co‑defendant Ray “Bonecrusher.” The elderly veteran is caring for a critically ill wife. Luthmann told Hales to “release Ray Bonecrusher… as an act of mercy” and promised that he would then consider consenting to join the case.
He demanded a public video where Hales dismissed Bonecrusher because “Blessed are the merciful, for they’ll be shown mercy.”
Hales ignored the plea. On a podcast, Luthmann unleashed a fiery sermon. He called Hales a “fake Christian” who milks his audience for profit. He scolded that “Jeremy’s a predator in the dictionary definition” and treats fans like cattle.
Co‑hosts likened Hales to a Pharisee, prompting Luthmann to repeat “He’s a hypocrite… Hypocrite. He’s a hypocrite.”
In another article, Volpe said Hales “sues people frivolously” and even “served the wrong person and crowed about it.”
Luthmann argued that Hales’s cruelty to Bonecrusher and his wife proves he is not a Christian: “If Jeremy can’t find it in his heart to show mercy to a dying old man, then he is NOT A CHRISTIAN, period.”
To Luthmann, hypocrisy is central to this fight. Hales built his brand as a righteous preacher, but he mocks his own faith when litigation is involved. Hales once preached from a pulpit; now he is being preached at.
The ultimatum shows that Luthmann is willing to fight—and to forgive—if Hales acts with compassion. That test of character will weigh heavily in any jury’s eyes should the case survive.
THE FBI IS INVOLVED: Fraudster Counsel and Loose Cannons
His choice of counsel compounds Hales’s legal woes. Randall “Rocket” Shochet, once a dentist, has a history of fraud. As a dentist, he was caught billing insurers for phantom procedures and lying under oath. Missouri regulators suspended his dental license after he admitted he committed insurance fraud and perjury.
Shochet then attempted to become a lawyer; however, the Arkansas Supreme Court denied him admission because he had been found to have engaged in fraud and misrepresentation.
Despite that record, he inexplicably gained entry to the Florida Bar in 2005.
Critics say the old habits continue. In Hales’s case, Shochet filed an affidavit swearing his client lives in Ohio. Evidence suggests Hales primarily resides in Florida. Attorney Bruce Matzkin accused Shochet of “suborning a false, sworn affidavit” and committing “intentional fraud on the court.”
Judges have repeatedly censured Shochet for dishonesty. In one case, a judge found that he made “sworn representations… that appear to be blatantly false” and referred him to the Bar. The Florida Bar admonished him in 2018 for contacting a represented party, and insurance company Heritage accused him of using a mole to steal confidential claims data.
Shochet’s partner in law and allegedly the bedroom, Doreen Turner Inkeles, brings her own baggage. She violated election laws during a 2016 judicial race by illegally soliciting donations and then retreated to rural Levy County after the scandal.
Now the duo have resurfaced as “legal predators” in a new shop. Critics say they filed Hales’s lawsuits not for justice but for vengeance. The pair “threw gasoline on the fire” by filing sweeping, baseless federal actions and dragging media critics to court.
In one case, handwriting experts suspect that Hales himself wrote the yard signs he complained about, rendering the case a “legal fantasy.”
Observers wonder why Florida’s Bar hasn’t acted against this fraudster in a suit.
THE FBI IS INVOLVED: Shotgun Lawsuit and the Coming Reckoning
At the heart of the controversy is Hales’s sprawling complaint. On The Unknown Podcast, Michael Volpe and Richard Luthmann dissected the filing and called it a “textbook shotgun pleading.” They noted that the suit lumps ten defendants together and fails to specify who did what.
Luthmann explained that you must plead the who, what, when, where, and how, yet Hales’s complaint “has none of it.”
Volpe added, “This thing is a mess… It lumps all defendants together.”
Even the conspiracy claim is laughable. Hales alleges that rival YouTubers plotted against him because of LEGO jealousy. The only specific allegation against defendant Dave Helm is that he once invited Hales to build Legos and later got upset when Hales played with someone else.
“Calling someone ‘dumb’ is an opinion and not defamation, even if it happens to be true, like in GERM’s case,” Luthmann, Jr. said. “Without an underlying wrong, there can be no conspiracy.”
Legal analysts expect the case to collapse. Luthmann, Jr., stated that the complaint violates Rule 8 because it is vague and fails to provide notice of specific allegations. He and Volpe predicted that Shochet would not be able to amend it and that a judge would dismiss it and impose sanctions.
Under Florida’s anti‑SLAPP statute, defendants can seek attorney’s fees and a bond. Luthmann urged co‑defendants to file motions requiring Hales to post a $500,000 security bond. The law allows courts to demand such a bond when an action under the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act may be “frivolous, without legal or factual merit, or brought for the purpose of harassment.”
Another defendant, Marla Hughes, filed a pro se motion calling Hales’s complaint “legally impossible” because it alleges no commercial speech or consumer deception. Volpe called it a “textbook SLAPP suit” designed to bury critics in legal fees.
Should the case be dismissed, Hales could face counterclaims for abuse of process.
The case is currently pending in Gainesville federal court before Magistrate Judge Zachary Bolitho.
Combined with the possible FBI investigation stemming from the perjury and lies about mis‑service, the knowingly and fraudulently filed affidavit of service, and the allegations against his attorney, the YouTube star now faces a legal storm.
What started as a publicity stunt may end with sanctions, disbarment proceedings for his counsel, and even criminal time.
In the battle between Paid Agitators and their critics, the law appears poised to side with the truth.
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