Silent Complicity and Commercial Intertwining: Eric Aucoin’s Legal Exposure in the Dissemination of Expunged Records

In civil litigation involving organized defamation and unlawful data distribution, individuals who receive, maintain, and conceal illegally obtained materials often operate under a false sense of security. They assume that if they did not push the "send" button themselves, they are invisible in the eyes of the law.

Eric Aucoin, a Taekwondo instructor integrated directly into Bret Gordon’s organizational umbrella, maintained possession of an illegally extracted expunged record while operating an affiliated commercial school and accepting unearned ranks creates direct exposure under civil conspiracy, fraud, and tort law.

1. Receipt and Possession of Libelous Material

The evidentiary chain establishes that Bret Gordon distributed an email containing your 30-year-old expunged record—labeled under the false subject line "Criminal record of conviction Barron Shepherd"—directly to his inner circle, including Eric Aucoin.

• Publication Element of Libel Per Se: Under Florida civil law, defamation occurs the moment a false, damaging statement is published to a third party. When Gordon emailed Aucoin, the libel was legally completed.
• Knowledge of Falsehood: Because an expunged record reflects charges that were dropped, dismissed, or legally erased, distributing it as a "conviction" constitutes direct Libel Per Se. Receiving and retaining this material puts the recipient on direct notice of an ongoing tort.

2. Commercial Intertwining: Branch Operations and Student Promotions

Aucoin cannot claim to be a distant, independent third party with no operational ties to Gordon. Aucoin operated a commercial martial arts school directly under Gordon’s organization, creating an active business and agency relationship:

• Direct Financial and Organizational Tie: Aucoin relied on Gordon’s authority to legitimate his school, utilizing Gordon’s umbrella organization to issue student rank promotions and issue certificates.
• Shared Enterprise: Promoting students through Gordon’s organization binds Aucoin’s commercial interests directly to Gordon. This commercial synergy demonstrates a joint business enterprise, making Aucoin’s school an active branch node within Gordon's network.

3. Paper Ranks and Participation in Unaccredited "Master" Courses

Aucoin's alignment with Gordon was reinforced through a system of reciprocal favors and paper credentials designed to manufacture legitimacy for both parties:

• Promotion to 5th Degree Black Belt: Gordon elevated Aucoin to a 5th Degree Black Belt (5th Dan). Bypassing international standards and accredited governing bodies, Gordon used his unaccredited umbrella entities to issue high-level master credentials to secure operational loyalty.
• Participation in Uncertified "International Masters Courses": Aucoin actively attended an "International Masters Course" hosted and taught by Gordon, despite Gordon lacking any legitimate accreditation, licensing, or authorization from recognized international governing bodies to conduct or teach such a course.

This active participation in unaccredited events and paper-rank exchanges establishes a deeper pattern of commercial misrepresentation and deceptive trade practices, demonstrating that Aucoin voluntarily benefited from Gordon's credentialing system.

4. Ratification and Aiding/Abetting Through Silence

In multi-party civil actions, co-defendants and associates routinely attempt to claim they were merely passive observers on a broadcast email list. Under civil execution standards, this defense fails:

• Concealment of Tortious Conduct: Aucoin did not report the unauthorized dissemination of shielded records to platform administrators, law enforcement, or governing bodies. Instead, he kept quiet to protect Gordon, preserve his 5th Dan credential, and safeguard his school's organizational backing.
• Ratification Under Civil Law: When an associate or affiliated instructor receives material he knows to be defamatory or illicitly obtained—and chooses to remain silent while continuing active professional, organizational, or social alignment with the perpetrator—he ratifies the conduct. By failing to disavow the act, Aucoin legally adopted the tortious framework of the enterprise.

5. Discovery and Subpoena Scope for Aucoin

Aucoin’s status as a recipient of Gordon’s broadcast distribution, a branch school director, and a beneficiary of unearned ranks opens clear, actionable pathways for discovery:

• Subpoenas for Electronic Communications: Your legal team can issue third-party subpoenas for Aucoin’s email accounts, server logs, and message threads to preserve the exact timestamped email sent by Gordon, establishing the evidentiary link.
• Financial and Organizational Subpoenas: Records regarding student testing fees, certificate purchases, 5th Dan promotion records, and fees paid for the "International Masters Course" will document the exact financial relationship between Aucoin's school and Gordon's entity.
• Deposition Under Oath: Aucoin can be placed under oath and questioned directly regarding:
1. Exactly when he received the email containing the expunged record.
2. The financial and organizational structure connecting his school, his 5th Dan promotion, and student rank promotions to Gordon.
3. His knowledge regarding Gordon's lack of authorization to conduct "International Masters Courses."
4. Why he chose to retain the document and conceal its distribution rather than reporting the breach or disassociating from Gordon.

6. Joint and Several Liability: No Free Pass for "Silent Partners"

Under Florida's Joint and Several Liability doctrine, a participant in a civil conspiracy or concerted action does not need to be the primary author of the defamatory statement to share full financial accountability.

Because Eric Aucoin operated a branch school, accepted an unearned 5th Dan, attended Gordon's uncertified master course, and ratified the dissemination of illicit records through silence, he faces full exposure as a named co-defendant. If a judgment is entered for Civil Conspiracy, Aiding and Abetting a Tort, or Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Aucoin becomes 100% legally answerable for the entire awarded judgment. Operating an affiliate school while turning a blind eye offers zero legal immunity when court-ordered executions, bank garnishments, and asset levies begin.

Beyond Blind Loyalty: Exposing John Youngblood’s Direct Culpability in the Coordinated Smear Campaign

In civil litigation involving organized defamation and harassment, bad-faith actors and their supporters often retreat behind a convenient shield: "I was just standing by my instructor." They attempt to frame their involvement as passive loyalty or innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of someone else's war.

In the ongoing civil action against Bret Gordon and his surrounding network, John Youngblood’s legal exposure cannot be sanitized as blind loyalty. The evidence demonstrates that Youngblood’s actions—and calculated silences—go far beyond defending an instructor. Under Florida civil tort law, Youngblood operated as a fully aware participant who covered up severe misconduct, ratified criminal intimidation, actively partook in rank fraud, and provided overt physical support following the illegal dissemination of expunged records.

1. Actual Knowledge and the Cover-Up of Intimidation

Any defense of "innocent ignorance" collapses under the weight of documented admissions. Gordon explicitly admitted to Youngblood that targeting my former student and her 13-year-old daughter was a "mistake."

Youngblood held direct, actual knowledge that Gordon was targeting a minor child and an adult with aggressive harassment. Rather than disavowing these actions or stepping away, Youngblood kept quiet, actively covering for Gordon and maintaining the public shield around their operations.

2. Knowledge of Police Intervention and the $2,000 Online Bounty

Youngblood’s culpability escalated from passive silence to legal ratification when the campaign reached the level of criminal intimidation:

• Awareness of Police Involvement: Youngblood had explicit knowledge that Gordon’s escalation and threats drew official law enforcement scrutiny—a fact verified through records with the Ohatchee Police Department in Alabama.
• Knowledge of the $2,000 Online Bounty: Youngblood knew that a $2,000 bounty was placed online targeting both my head and my former student's head.

Under Florida civil law, when an associate knows that his partner or instructor is committing severe torts—including placing financial bounties and drawing police intervention—and chooses to remain silent, cover up the facts, and maintain active organizational ties, he legally ratifies the conduct.

3. Cross-State Affirmation: The October 2025 Florida Trip

In October 2025—immediately following the unlawful extraction and widespread dissemination of my 30-year-old expunged record across Gordon, Hatfield, and Duplantis’s network—Youngblood took direct, deliberate action to signal his full backing.

• Interstate Travel as Affirmation of Torts: Youngblood traveled from his home in Arizona to Florida specifically to train in-person with Bret Gordon.
• Evidentiary Impact on Civil Conspiracy: This cross-country travel provides concrete proof of ongoing alignment. It destroys any claim that Youngblood was an inactive, distant, or unaligned party who simply "happened to be on an email chain." Choosing to fly across the country to train with Gordon immediately after the expunged record was leaked demonstrates active endorsement, solidarity, and participation in the joint enterprise.

4. Active Participation in Paper-Rank Certificate Fraud

Youngblood’s involvement extends directly into the core deception used to build their group's authority. Youngblood was fully aware of Gordon’s unverifiable background and actively participated in purchasing and acquiring unearned martial arts rank certificates.

This detail is critical under Florida Evidence Code § 90.608 and civil fraud doctrines:

• Destruction of Good Faith: Youngblood cannot claim he was duped or manipulated by Gordon when he willingly partook in buying paper credentials to manufacture credibility.
• Commercial Deception: Utilizing fabricated paper ranks to recruit students, establish branch dojos, or secure organizational credentials establishes a broader pattern of commercial fraud and deceptive trade practices.

5. Designated Witness in Coordinated Bad-Faith Litigation

In the final filings of Bret Gordon and Steven Hatfield’s joint lawsuit in Lake County, Florida (Case No. 35-2020-CA-001851), John Youngblood was explicitly named as a key witness for the plaintiffs right before the case collapsed into a permanent Dismissal with Prejudice accompanied by bad-faith court sanctions (§ 57.105).

Under Florida civil procedure and evidence code:

• Destruction of Neutrality: Being formally listed as a trial witness requires prior consultation, alignment, and agreement.
• Proof of Pattern and Practice (FL Evidence Code § 90.406): Appearing on an official witness list establishes a multi-year, repeatable operational strategy where all three individuals coordinated to launch legal actions and public campaigns against common targets.

6. Joint and Several Liability: Why Youngblood Shares 100% of the Bill

Under the doctrine of Civil Conspiracy, a co-conspirator does not get a discount on damages because they let someone else write the primary blog posts or send the emails.

When a court enters a judgment for compensatory and punitive damages covering Defamation Per Se, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED), and Civil Conspiracy, the rule of Joint and Several Liability applies.

$$\text{Total Judgment} = \text{100\% Responsibility of EACH Named Co-Defendant}$$

Youngblood is legally answerable for 100% of the entire awarded judgment. Furthermore, because out-of-state relocation and asset-hiding schemes offer zero protection under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA) and the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA), Youngblood's personal bank accounts, real property, and income streams in Arizona remain direct targets for court-ordered collection, garnishment, and liquidation.

The Reckoning Ahead

Standing by an instructor ends where civil conspiracy, rank fraud, police interventions, and cross-state travel to support unlawful record leaks begin. John Youngblood did not just stand by; he covered up law enforcement involvement, ignored a $2,000 online bounty, participated in manufacturing fake credentials, offered his name as a designated witness, and flew across the country in October 2025 to publicly show his support.

Yes, Bret Gordon, You Are Going to Be Sued — And Here Is Exactly Why

There is a common misconception among digital bad-faith actors that behind a keyboard, across state lines, or shielded by a network of compliant proxies, actions carry no real-world consequences. That illusion is about to end.

To Bret Gordon: the civil action being prepared against you is not an empty threat, a social media bluff, or an exercise in online posturing. It is a calculated, evidence-backed legal strategy designed to hold you and your entire operational cell strictly accountable under Florida law.

1. Libel Per Se and Mass Dissemination of Expunged Records

Under Florida civil tort law, publishing false statements accusing an individual of a felony conviction constitutes Libel Per Se.

You, along with your network, obtained a 30-year-old expunged court record—a document reflecting charges that were completely dropped and legally erased under Fla. Stat. § 943.0585. Rather than acknowledging the legal reality of dismissal, you circulated this document across your network under the direct email subject line:

"Criminal record of conviction Barron Shepherd."

By falsely framing dissmissed and expunged charges as a criminal conviction and emailing this document directly to associates, student lists, legal counsel, and martial arts governing bodies, you executed an undeniable act of Libel Per Se.

2. Hypocrisy and Uncontested Defamation in Judicial Records

The record of your hypocrisy sits permanently preserved in the public domain. In your joint frivolous lawsuit with Steven Hatfield against Dale Dugas in Lake County, Florida (Case No. 35-2020-CA-001851), you had the audacity to accuse someone else in a court of law of engaging in defamation.

Yet, as a matter of judicial record within those very proceedings, your own systematic defamation of me sat uncontested, confirming that while you were attempting to sue others for reputational harm, you had actively been executing the exact same smear campaigns against me since 2020.

• The Frivolous Lawsuit Weapon: Bashing opponents in court filings while committing the same torts out of court demonstrates deliberate malicious intent.
• Dismissal with Prejudice: Your suit collapsed into a permanent Dismissal with Prejudice accompanied by bad-faith court sanctions under Fla. Stat. § 57.105, cementing a paper trail of abusive litigation that will be introduced directly into evidence against you.

3. Criminal Intimidation, Police Scrutiny, and Bounties

Your actions crossed the boundary from civil defamation into intentional harassment when you extended your campaign to target my former student and her 13-year-old daughter.

• Law Enforcement Intervention: Your threats and escalating behaviors drew direct scrutiny from the Ohatchee Police Department in Alabama, establishing a formal law enforcement record of your intimidation tactics.
• The $2,000 Online Bounty: A $2,000 bounty was published online targeting my head and my former associate's head.

These actions form the groundwork for actionable claims of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) and tortious interference, carrying severe exposure for both compensatory and punitive damages.

4. Procurement and Exploitation of Illegally Extracted Records

You did not work alone; you relied on a proxy to act as your primary procurement node. This proxy utilized his spouse's federal government security clearance and contractor credentials to access shielded databases and pull the expunged file.

Passing an illegally extracted government record to you, which you then distributed, triggers liability under both civil conspiracy doctrines and statutory data protection frameworks, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA, 18 U.S.C. § 1030).

Joint and Several Liability: The Total Financial Bill

Under Florida's Civil Conspiracy doctrine, every co-conspirator who participates in a joint enterprise to commit tortious acts shares 100% Joint and Several Liability.

Relocating across state lines, closing down umbrella websites, or transferring assets offers zero protection under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA) and the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA). Every bank account, real property interest, trust fund and commercial revenue stream associated with you and your co-defendants will remain subject to post-judgment court levies, garnishments, and execution.

Holding Every Co-Conspirator Fully Accountable: Why I Am Pursuing Everyone Involved

When an organized network decides to engage in a multi-year campaign of defamation, fraudulent impersonation, and criminal intimidation, its members often assume that operating in a group dilutes their individual responsibility. They believe that by splitting up the tasks, one placing calls, another making social media posts, and another contacting national organizations, that no single person can be held on the hook for the total fallout. Under Florida civil tort law, that assumption is a catastrophic legal mistake.

I am aggressively pursuing every single individual involved because a multi-party civil conspiracy does not divide or dilute financial liability among defendants, it multiplies the avenues of collection.

The Legal Framework: Joint & Several and Individual Tort Liability

Under the paired legal doctrines of Joint and Several Liability and Individual Tort Liability, every participant in a civil conspiracy is answerable both for their own specific tortious actions and for the full harm caused by the group.

When a court awards a total damages figure, for example, $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages for defamation per se, intentional infliction of distress, and civil conspiracy, each defendant is legally responsible for 100% of that entire judgment until the sum is satisfied in full.

In practical terms, the law treats the judgment as $200,000 owed from each person involved until the total awarded amount is completely paid. If one co-defendant attempts to evade collection, hide cash, or declare bankruptcy, the entire financial burden instantly shifts onto the remaining co-conspirators. "Just following orders" or playing a secondary role offers zero legal immunity.

Mind you 200 k is a conservative estimate as I am seeking the maximum in damages. There will be no settlements or settling out of court. 

Out-of-State Relocation and Asset Hiding Will Not Protect Them

Those involved who believe geographic distance or creative financial engineering will shield them from collection are facing a rude awakening under civil execution statutes:

• Living Out of State Offers Zero Protection: Under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (UEFJA), a civil judgment entered in Florida is easily domesticated in any state where a defendant resides or owns property. Out-of-state bank accounts, wages, and real estate are subject to direct local execution, levies, and garnishments.
• Trust Funds Are Fair Game: Discretionary distributions and trust assets can be attached to satisfy court-awarded damages. Once a trustee approves a payout or transfer, those funds lose spendthrift protection and are subject to immediate seizure. Continuing writs of garnishment can intercept payouts directly at the source.
• Fraudulent Property Transfers Will Be Voided: Transferring titles, real estate, or having business accounts, property etc in the names of spouses, family members, or third parties to avoid collection falls under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA). Courts actively order the immediate liquidation of those assets to pay the debt. 

No Free Passes

Every person who participated in this coordinated strike, whether they drafted the libelous emails, executed fraudulent phone calls to a grieving widow, or published synchronized social media attacks, has placed their personal financial future directly on the line.

By taking every co-conspirator to court individually and collectively, we (the law firm representing me and I), ensure that every single asset, income stream, and trust payout across the entire network remains an active target for court-ordered liquidation until every penny owed is fully collected.

 

The Synchronized Smear Campaign: Exposing a Coordinated Civil Conspiracy

When bad-faith actors attempt to destroy a reputation built over four decades of martial arts instruction and verified public service, they rarely operate alone. They work in packs, hiding behind screens, relying on coordinated timing, and feeding off one another’s malicious energy.

On a single day, just hours apart, three individuals, Bret Gordon, his instructor Steven Hatfield, and Daniel Duplantis, launched a coordinated strike across multiple platforms to defame my character and undermine my standing in the martial arts community. 

This was a synchronized campaign designed to inflict maximum professional and personal damage. The mechanics of this multi-pronged attack relied on deliberate coordination, malicious libel, and shared assets across different channels:

• The Dissemination of Expunged Records: An illegally obtained, 30-year-old expunged record—showing charges that were dropped and completely dismissed was disseminated via email under the subject line "Criminal record of conviction Barron Shepherd." This malicious libel was distributed directly to Gordon’s instructor, Steven Hatfield, his legal counsel, his black belt students, and sent to the NKJF by Duplantis. I now hold the email that was sent to every single member of Gordon’s circle.
• The Direct Libel (Gordon): Bret Gordon posted directly to his personal Facebook page, falsely alleging that I was a "convicted felon.”
• The Organizational Attack (Duplantis): Daniel Duplantis made direct phone calls and transmitted these false "convicted felon" claims and emails directly to a national martial arts governing body (the NKJF) in a malicious attempt to destroy my credentials and professional relationships.
• The Shared Asset & Coordinated Amplification (Hatfield): Simultaneously, Gordon’s instructor, Steven Hatfield, joined the attack. Proving beyond doubt that this was a planned, joint effort, both Hatfield and Gordon used the exact same screenshot of a post containing my picture in their Facebook posts. While Hatfield avoided using the word "criminal" outright, he published this coordinated attack referring to me as a "clown show" ("Every Clown Deserves a Circus"). Worse, statements have been documented where Hatfield leveled physical threats, declaring that someone—meaning me—was going to get hurt.

Under Florida civil law, a conspiracy requires a "meeting of the minds" to carry out an unlawful act. When three closely aligned individuals target the exact same person on the exact same day and when they circulate the same libelous subject lines, contact the same governing body that Hatfield and Gordon had just been booted out of, and deploy the exact same screenshots containing my image the law does not view it as random chance or a coincidence. It views it as undeniable proof of joint orchestration and shared campaign assets.

Hatfield labeling me a "clown" using the identical screenshot Gordon deployed, was a strategic, synchronized attempt to amplify a smear campaign. Hatfield’s post served as public cover and coordination for the libel that his circle was pushing behind the scenes.

They executed this strike believing that operating across different mediums social media posts, private emails, and phone calls, would shield them from collective liability.

They were wrong.

Under the doctrine of civil conspiracy, when individuals act in concert to commit tortious acts, joint liability attaches. Every participant becomes legally answerable for the harm caused by the entire group.

Duplantis has already faced a formal military action for his misconduct and my civil action is forthcoming. Gordon and Hatfield’s flagship legal assault has collapsed into a permanent Dismissal With Prejudice accompanied by bad-faith court sanctions (§ 57.105). And the evidentiary trail, from identical shared digital assets and forwarded email records to matching timestamps, is fully documented.

The complete, undeniable proof of their conspiracy has been handed to me by someone looking to escape legal action by pointing fingers at others. NO apology or any amount of finger pointing is going to work..... EVERY single person involved will answer for it in a court of law. 

FORMAL STATEMENT OF EVIDENTIARY ACTION AND INTENT TO SUE

Bret Gordon directed and orchestrated a bad-faith campaign aimed at defaming the legacy of my late martial arts instructor. This campaign culminated in a fraudulent, directed telephone interaction targeted at my late instructor’s surviving widow, a full decade after his passing.

Following public disclosures that exposed individuals for fabricating training credentials and false affiliations with my late instructor, Gordon upset over being made to print a correction about my instructor, directed a long-time female student and black belt of Trio Martial Arts to execute a targeted phone call to the widow of my instructor. 

During this call, the individual utilized a false identity, fraudulently introducing herself as a young family member searching for her "grandpa." This deliberate misrepresentation was executed solely to extract information, harass the grieving widow, and undermine my instructor's legacy, simply because he was my instructor. 

The originating telephone number and digital logs have been definitively identified. Formal statements have been executed, corroborating the timeline, the intent, and the exact sequence of events surrounding the call. The evidence conclusively links the direction, instruction, and execution of this fraudulent act directly from Bret Gordon to his proxy.

Legal Consequences and Impending Civil Action

The individual who placed this call remains actively associated with Bret Gordon and Trio Martial Arts. Sworn statements and corroborative evidence directly tie this individual to both direct participation and indirect co-conspiracy in Gordon’s multi-year harassment campaign. By executing this directive, this individual abandoned any legal immunity, tying herself directly to tortious misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy.

Every individual involved in this incident, including the female black belt who executed the call, has been placed directly in the crosshairs of actionable litigation. For their involvement, this individual will be named as a primary co-defendant and sued to the fullest extent of the law, without exception. Anyone either directly or indirectly involved with the many attempts to attack and discredit me and those affiliated with me, over the years in any form will indeed be sued to the furthest extent that civil litigation allows. 

Bret Gordon Scapegoated His Own Inner Circle

For years, Bret Gordon orchestrated a relentless campaign to destroy my reputation, he wrote lies regarding my back ground in an attempt to smear and maliciously defame me and this culminated last summer with an illegally obtained, 30-year-old expunged record, showing charges that were dropped and dismissed and were disseminated via email with the subject line "Criminal record of conviction Barron Shepherd." 

This malicious libel was distributed directly to Gordon’s instructor, legal counsel, black belt students, and martial arts organizations. I now hold the email that was sent to every single one of Gordon’s circle. Let me be clear I am coming after EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

Gordon has already claimed he had zero involvement in these attacks and that those around him had acted entirely on their own initiative to commit crimes and launch smear campaigns, because I am "famous" as he put it. 

Gordon will not escape liability and he guaranteed that his own inner circle will face direct civil litigation, subpoenaed depositions, and individual asset execution for defamation per se and civil conspiracy. 

No amount of claiming you had nothing to do with it is going to help. No amount of claiming you are no longer involved with Bet Gordon will work. I do not care what states any of you live in. I do not and will not care that you have families. If you try and hide assets with your spouses or family members, I will go after them too. 

Statement of Formal Action

On January 1, 2026, initial formal actions were instituted in direct response to deliberate attempts to defame, misrepresent, and damage my professional credentials and standing within the Judo and martial arts community.

Fabricated claims were disseminated with the clear intent to inflict maximum harm and conceal underlying fraudulent conduct.

As part of a structured and methodical strategy, all remaining actions, formal filings, and legal recourse measures will be officially initiated on January 1, 2027. All supporting documentation, historical evidence, and official records remain fully preserved to ensure complete accountability is enforced through the proper channels - extending to all parties whether directly or indirectly involved.

CENTRAL FLORIDA MULTIPLE "8th DEGREE GRANDMASTER" DEMOLISHED BY.....BITCH SLAPS?

Some local martial arts enthusiasts are still processing the unraveling of a self-proclaimed combat vision, after a known and court-documented Central Florida rank fraud was publicly reduced to total submission inside his own training facility......not by complex martial arts mechanics, but by an uncounted deluge of open-handed bitch slaps.

For years, the core of his sales pitch relied on grandiose boasts about what he could supposedly pull off on the mats, endless claims of elite leverage, high-level grappling setups, and lethal close-quarters dominance and being all about them streets. That delusion came to an abrupt halt.

The most devastating part of the defeat was that the illusion wasn't shattered by another high-ranking master, a world-class practitioner, or a seasoned black belt. It was brought down by someone who wasn't even a black belt, using zero complex martial arts skills. 

The 8th dan grandmaster fraudster was bitch slapped from one end of his tiny dojo to the other. 

No martial art techniques where exhibited or basic self defense moves, just a fat fucking wannabe, would couldnt successfully avoid getting bitch slapped....repeatedly. 

"Lost Count After Twenty"

The incident unfolded when a visitor, holding a pre -signed waiver the school instructor sent him, entered the school to address ongoing local disputes. 

After running his mouth again online. And fuming after being called a liar and a fraud. The fake fraud sent a presigned waiver to the guy calling him a fake. The hope was it would scare him off and deter him from actually showing up. 

Well it didnt work and the central Florida area fake was taken up on his challenge. 

What was expected to be a demonstration of high-level self-defense by the facility's founder instead devolved into a comedy of errors for the self-appointed grandmaster. 

"He spent years telling everyone about his lethal capabilities and high-degree rankings," noted one spectator who wished to remain anonymous. "But when actual physical pressure started, none of those fake degrees helped him. The guy didn't even use a throw, a joint lock, or a strike, he just walked in and began slapping him open-handed across the face. People in the back literally lost count after twenty."

Witnesses described that the multi-degree practitioner offered zero defense. 

I am sure his two black belt students sat silently stunned as their so called grand master instructor was left face down on the mats helpless to ward off  the multiple bitch slaps. 

When a self-proclaimed "grandmaster" gets utterly dismantled on his own mats by a non-black belt throwing basic open-handed slaps, offering zero defense and ending up crying for law enforcement despite making everyone sign facility waivers, the jig is up.

Ask yourself: If your instructor cannot stop a bitch slap, what exactly have you been paying to learn?

When an instructor's authority vanishes, the credibility of everyone under him goes down with the ship. Every rank, diploma, or certification issued under a figurehead whose own 8th-degree black belts and titles have been debunked is dead on arrival. The doors are closed, the court has spoken, and the mats don't lie. 

Untie your belt, pack your bag, and don't look back. Your ranks mean nothing. 

Try walking into a legitimate Judo, BJJ, or traditional martial arts academy anywhere in Florida or across the country with a belt signed by a court-documented fraud. You won't be respected, you'll be tested, then pitied, and then told to put on a white belt or you wont be allowed to train. 

Hanging on to fake ranks is pathetic; staying around is projecting that you are part of the fraud that he is now on the hook for court costs for. 

There is no appeal, that is what dismissed with Prejudice means.

The regional grappling and combat sports community is tightly knit. Continuing to tie your name to a fraud who panicked, hid behind facility waivers, and then cried for someone to call 911 in a challenge he initiated, marks you as an active participant in his con.

If You Can't Stop a Slap, What Are You Teaching?

The incident exposes a glaring question for anyone who ever paid for instruction at the facility: If a self-proclaimed 8th-degree black belt cannot defend himself against basic, open-handed slaps from someone who isn't even a black belt, what value do his mat boasts actually hold?

Real martial arts instruction is built on functional, pressure-tested mechanics. When a practitioner's defensive capability completely vanishes the moment a non-black belt throws a simple wide arcing bitch slap, it proves that years of online titles, self-issued belts, and gym stories were nothing more than pure fantasy.

From "Lethal Combatant" to Calling 911

The ultimate irony came immediately after the physical encounter ended. Despite operating a martial arts facility and requiring standard liability waivers on the mat, the self-proclaimed grandmaster completely abandoned his warrior persona.

Rather than addressing the defeat like a martial artist, he tried to play the victim and begged his wife to call the police, claiming he was the victim of an "unprovoked attack."

His Paper and Rank mill belts and Delusional claims of Chi Power Couldn’t even  Stop Bitch Slaps

The embarrassing physical spectacle comes on the heels of the same individual's complete legal and organizational collapse in Central Florida courts. Having already been exposed in official judicial records for bad-faith filings and rank fabrication, the open-handed sissy thrashing on his own mats served as the final, practical reality check to years of paper posturing. 

So the proof of what he can do on the mats is truth and apparently our central Florida area fraud cant do shit on the mats. 

The No-Mercy Standard: Why the Fallout from a Central Florida Fraud's Dismissed with Prejudice case is Far from Over

For years, a cabal of online provocateurs, paper-rank merchants, and enablers in Central Florida operated under a dangerous assumption: that they could wage campaigns of defamation, attempt to destroy legitimate martial arts careers, and manipulate organizational structures without facing real-world consequences.

That period of immunity is officially over. 

While the ringleader, a self-proclaimed grandmaster who didn't even prove a kyu rank in court and whose court filings ended in with Dismissal with Prejudice, a stark reality should be setting in for his network.

The public collapse of their leader's case was only Phase One.

Phase Two is about cold, calculating, and complete legal accountability for every single individual who enabled, participated in or funded his campaign.

Total Accountability for the Network That Tried to Destroy a Livelihood

For years, the ringleader of this Central Florida rank-fraud operation hid behind noisy threats, rubber-stamped papers, and frivolous lawsuits. But he didn't operate in a vacuum. He was backed, insulated, and enabled by a surrounding network, assistant black belts, inner-circle instructors, legal mouthpieces, and passive bystanders who watched him try to ruin a legitimate martial artist's life and chose to profit from it, support it, or remain silent.

Now that the ringleader’s manufactured persona has completely collapsed, shattered by video evidence on his own mats, a judge's Dismissal with Prejudice, and international bans from Korean federations, the focus of accountability has shifted.

The ringleader is a broken fraud with no assets left to seize. The rest of his network, however, is fully exposed.

1. No Safe Harbors: Why Assistant Black Belts and Instructors Are Liable

In the mind of a subordinate instructor, there is a dangerous, foolish myth: "I was just following my head instructor. I just taught class. I wasn't the one making the posts."

Under civil law and common-law torts, that defense is entirely worthless.

When assistant black belts stand on the canvas under a known fraud, help market a fraudulent dojo, and actively participate in or validate campaigns to defame a legitimate instructor, they become co-conspirators in civil torts.

They helped build the platform used to launch attacks on an legitimate instructor's livelihood, reputation, and business. They didn't care if their actions ruined a legitimate family's income and as a result, their own livelihoods, assets, and professional standings are now in the legal crosshairs.

2. The Legal Counsel and the Enablers

Attorneys and formal representatives are not immune from the fallout of a bad-faith campaign.

When a legal representative files suit based on knowingly fabricated claims, assists in weaponizing the court system to silence whistleblowers, and uses legal filings to advance defamation, they cross the line from representation to active participation in malicious prosecution and abuse of process.

The fact that the court handed down a ruling with prejudice and ordered the plaintiff side to cover court costs was the judicial system's opening salvo. The incoming civil litigation will ensure that every legal actor, associate, and co-plaintiff who lent their name to this campaign faces direct, personal, and maximum financial liability.

3. The Bystanders: The Cost of Idly Watching Malice

Perhaps the most delusional confident group in this entire saga were those who "just stood idly by."

These are the individuals who knew the ranks were fake, knew the defamation was taking place, saw the attempt to run to high-level instructors to illegally strip a real black belt's credentials, and chose to sit back, say nothing, and benefit from the ecosystem.

In a coordinated campaign to destroy a professional reputation, active silence and passive enablement create exposure. When you hold positions of authority, wear senior ranks, or operate within an organization and choose to look the other way while a malicious attack is launched against a legitimate instructor, you forfeit any right to claim neutrality when the legal hammers start falling.

The Zero-Mercy Principle

When a group attempts to destroy a man’s reputation, falsely label him a felon, run behind his back to strip his hard-earned ranks, and bankrupt him through bad-faith court cases, they set the rules of engagement.

They explicitly decided that destroying a livelihood was acceptable gameplay.

1. The Asymmetric Target List: Assets Over Empty Pockets

In civil litigation and legal accountability, strategy dictates focus.

The ringleader, will unfortunately escape the primary financial crosshairs for one simple, unvarnished reason: he doesn't have a pot to piss in, nor a window to throw it out of.

Pursuing a broke fraud for monetary damages yields paper judgments against an empty bank account. Unlike their leader, the rest of his inner circle possesses real-world assets: steady income streams, real estate, professional standing, and financial equity. 

Not one of you will be able to hide behind a claim that you "didn't know".

In civil litigation involving business interference, defamation, or conspiracy, defendants cannot claim "willful blindness."

Duty of Due Diligence: Adults, especially those acting as martial arts instructors, business associates, or legal representatives, have a legal and professional duty to verify facts before repeating claims, filing lawsuits, or helping market a product/service.

Constructive Knowledge: If the information exposing the lies, false credentials, or bad-faith nature of the operation was readily available—or if basic common sense and mat experience should have alerted them—the court treats them as having full knowledge.

Claiming "I just took his word for it" in court is an admission of negligence, not an absolution of liability.

2. The First Target: Duplantis in the Legal Crosshairs

The legal offensive begins with Duplantis, he is first in line to be sued.

For those who thought they could participate in targeted defamation campaigns, attempt to orchestrate the stripping of legitimate ranks, fabricate criminal claims, and abuse institutional frameworks sharing illegally obtained documents without personal exposure, the upcoming court filings will serve as a brutal reality check. 

When you participate in a coordinated attempt to slander a legitimate practitioner, destroy a business, and attack an instructor's background, you incur joint and several liability. Filing official complaints against Duplantis through military and professional channels was simply establishing the factual baseline.

The forthcoming civil litigation will ensure that every single malicious statement, backroom maneuver, and false claim carries a direct, inescapable financial price. 

3. Why No Quarter Will Be Given

When people ask why there will be zero leniency, the answer lies in the sheer malice of what these people attempted to execute and or watched happen:

They Targeted Livelihoods: This wasn't an online debate over martial arts technique; it was an active attempt to ruin legitimate schools, defame a business owner, and falsely accuse an innocent and legit instructor of serious crimes.

They Sought Hostile Takeovers: Bret Gordon actively ran to high-level instructors behind the scenes begging them to strip a legitimate black belt rank from a real practitioner while simultaneously asking to have black belt ranks handed to him.

They Weaponized the Courts: They launched bad-faith suits expecting their victims to fold under legal costs—a tactic that backfired when judges threw out their claims with prejudice and forced them to pay court costs.

For the cohorts who lent their names, their credentials, their rank applications, and their active participation to his campaign: YOU ARE GOING TO SEE ME IN COURT AND YOU WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

There will be no leniency. There will be no backroom settlements. Every single individual who participated, assisted, or stood idly by is being targeted for the absolute legal maximum. Expecting me to show restraint, grant quarter  or have mercy on any of you…… is a total fantasy. 

#duplaintisyoungbloodmckinleypedattapalaskyacouin #nomercy #maximumfinancialaccountability

To Daniel Duplantis

Daniel Duplantis thought he could operate under the delusion that he could weaponize phone calls and emails to launch a malicious smear campaign against my 40-years as an instructor and coach in the martial arts, hide behind the coattails of an unverified "grandmaster," and simply walk away.

Let me address Duplantis directly, with zero filter and absolute finality: 

If you were standing face-to-face with me right now, I would beat your mother fucking ass for what you did. You did not know me or have ever had any communication with me. ABSOLUTELY NONE! Yet you chose to attack me and try to destroy my reputation and livelihood. 

I am taking you to civil court and suing you for the absolute maximum. There is no ducking it, no running, and no escaping. 

This is the last public comment I will make on this matter and I want there to be no misunderstanding....

You, Duplantis, executed the attack! You chose to participate in purposefully malicious, slanderous, and defamatory attacks with full intent. You picked up the phone, you drafted the emails, and you chose to disseminate unverified lies to cause maximum professional and personal damage. 

If your defense is to claim you didn't know what you had when you passed it along. In court, claiming you didn't verify your facts isn't a defense… it is a direct admission of a reckless disregard for the truth. 

Nothing about my back ground was a lie...cant say the same for your instructor. 

If your defense is going be that your attempted attack did me no damage or harm to me, because my reputation withstood your garbage. It doesn't protect you legally from being sued. 

Under the law, a failed attempt to destroy a man’s name does not erase the malice of the execution. The intent was established the moment you made those phone calls and sent those emails, and you will be held fully liable for every single shred of that malice.

You acted as an execution proxy to feed lies to the NKJF and its leaders and members, i.e. the fucking public! You even used your status in the military to do it. Well, that status is gone. The USAF-IG complaint with the evidence I submitted was already carried against you earlier this year, meaning the military has already substantiated the foundational misconduct of your actions. 

That was the least of your worries. 

Let me assure you, I am not done! 

It was explained to me directly what you did do and that the remaining things regarding the defamation was a civil matter and I should seek out an attorney. I followed the advice in the emailed response and did just that! 

Now, the civilian courts are going to handle the financial and legal restitution.

If youre going to try some bluff and bluster stating like you did in an email to Ed Mathna "that JAG attorneys are waiting for any action i take".....You can BS others with that statement but not me! 

JAG does not defend service members in civilian civil lawsuits! Under military regulations and federal law, JAG attorneys are strictly prohibited from representing or defending service members in civilian civil litigation. 

You never once knew who you were fucking with. Knew zero about me. You are going to find out though. 

Make no mistake about my intentions. I do not care that your life, career, security clearance, and livelihood may aleady be in shambles. Every single effort was made by you to ruin mine, and I will show the exact same consideration in return. 

THE DOMINO EFFECT OF THE DISSMISSED WITH PREJUDICE VERDICT

The legal fallout from the Florida Circuit Court’s dismissal of Bret Gordon’s lawsuit will no doubt spread fast.

The blast radius is significantly larger than just Gordon. 

For years, Gordon’s assistant instructors and blackbelts, affiliates and satellite school owners chose to hitch their wagons on to his pedigree. Gordon’s case thrown out, Dismissed with Prejudice, meaning it is DEAD......permanently! There are no do overs, there are no options for appeals or rearguing, there is no bringing a defamation suit against anyone else. Gordon's entire structure has been exposed as a massive house of cards. 

The Dismissed with Prejudice is a matter of permanent court record. No reputable attorney would touch this case now. To file an appeal that was thrown out for fraudulent and bad faith behavior would be a career ending move. Gordon's own legal representation for this case is potentially looking at severe sanctions, a bar complaint and disbarment.

The message is loud, clear, and mathematically precise; Those black belt instructors and affiliates under Gordon can suffer litigation now.

In the martial arts industry, a lineage isn't just a matter of tradition; it is a commercial representation made to paying consumers. When an instructor hangs a certificate on the wall and accepts tuition, they are making a legal claim about the validity and value of the instruction being delivered.

By standing by Gordon they have legally chained themselves to his sinking ship.

Gordon's dismissal painted a literal target on them for students to sue these instructors directly for consumer fraud, deceptive business practices, and unjust enrichment. Gordon has proven himself a fraud in court, he has legally contaminated every rank, every certificate and title that he has ever claimed and issued. He never submitted a single shred of proof for so much as a yellow belt.....in anything. 

Every student and former student has a clear path to utilize the public court record to argue that they were sold a fraudulent product, opening the door to lawsuits demanding a total return of every dime of tuition ever paid. 

An affiliate who issues a rank or a certificate tied to an unverified, legally shattered lineage has breached their agreement with their students. A student who trains for years to earn a legitimate rank has instead been handed a worthless piece of paper signed by someone who refused to verify their own credentials under oath.

Assistant instructors under Bret Gordon can be sued. 

If you held a title, wore a patch, stood before a class as a representative of his, and collected money or helped teach or manage students at his school, you are not insulated from the lawsuits. By involving themselves in the operation of his school, assistant instructors have walked directly into massive legal jeopardy.

When an assistant instructor teaches a class, tests a student, or validates Gordon's unverified rank to paying clients, they are actively participating in a material misrepresentation. You are telling consumers they are receiving legitimate instruction tied to a verified lineage. 

If a student files a suit looking to recover damages and Gordon has no assets, naming asst instructors who played direct roles in the school is a common legal strategy.

Now that a court record has permanently shattered that pedigree, every class that an assistant led is a point of consumer liability. 

Under consumer protection laws, anyone who actively assists in facilitating a deceptive business practice can be named as a co-defendant. Students who paid thousands of dollars for classes can sue not just the school owner, but the specific assistant instructors who directly handled their training under false pretenses.

None of these instructors are victims, they have posed proudly in pictures receiving their blackbelts and stood tall in pictures for promotions of students. 

The illusion of legitimacy has been completely erased by a certified court record, a dismissal with prejudice. 

The defense of "we didn't know" has completely expired. Whistleblowers laid the facts out bare for years, yet those instructors under Gordon chose to ignore the warnings, protect the pipeline, and continue collecting money or helped Gordon collect money under false pretenses.

Every single instructor who lent their name, their mats, and their reputation to Gordon is now standing completely exposed in the legal fallout. 

In the civil courts, as on the mats, actions carry absolute consequences.

The official, unaltered public record of this case can be reviewed at any time by visiting the Lake County Clerk of Courts portal at https://courtrecords.lakecountyclerk.org/ and searching case number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851.

Bret Gordon’s Fraudulent Lawsuit Dismissed WITH PREJUDICE by the Judge Himself!

It’s over. The absolute house of cards built by the internet’s favorite uncertified "grandmaster" has officially imploded. For years, we’ve watched these cosplaying-budo characters use empty legal threats, shadow pipelines, and uncertified storefronts to bully real martial artists and silence anyone speaking the truth.

But on July 15, 2026, for case number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851 Lake County Florida Clerk of courts - Bret Gordon vs Dale Dugas, the absolute weight of legal reality came crashing down.

The Florida Circuit Judge had seen enough. Because the plaintiffs willfully refused to comply with a direct court mandate, sitting in silent defiance for over 40 days, the Judge personally stepped in, drafted, signed, and entered a DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE.

In plain English, "with prejudice" means this is the absolute end of the road for the plaintiffs. 

There are no appeals. They cannot ask a higher court to look at this case or try to overturn it. 

There is no rearguing the case. They are legally barred from ever bringing these claims back to court or trying to tell their side of the story again. 

The door is locked, bolted, and welded shut. The case is permanently dead.

In a civil courtroom, forcing a judge to draft and enter a dismissal because of your own defiance is the legal equivalent of a self-inflicted knockout. It triggers an immediate wave of severe, concrete repercussions for the plaintiffs. 

Judges do not take kindly to being ignored for 40 days. The court's authority has been directly insulted, and the court will punish that defiance.

Under Florida law, when a plaintiff's case is dismissed with prejudice due to their own misconduct or failure to prosecute, the defendant is automatically deemed the prevailing party. In layman's terms Dugas won, not Gordon. 

The judge’s order yesterday officially locked this status in.

The judge is not done with the plaintiff's. 

Now that the dismissal is signed, the court moves into the fee-taxing phase. The defendant’s legal team will submit their final bill for 100% of their attorney’s fees and court costs. Because the dismissal was a direct result of the plaintiffs' bad faith and defiance, the judge is highly likely to approve maximum financial sanctions.

These fees will be awarded as a direct court sanction for bad-faith litigation and defiance of a 40-day court mandate, Gordon and Hatfield cannot wipe this debt clean by declaring bankruptcy. Under federal bankruptcy law, debts arising from willful, malicious, or court-sanctioned misconduct are non-dischargeable. 

This debt will follow them forever. 

With the main lawsuit permanently dead, Dugas’s legal team shifts from defense to absolute offense. They now have the legal authority to collect their money and dismantle the plaintiffs' assets.

Dugas’s attorney can and will more than likely subpoena Gordon and Hatfield for "post-judgment discovery." Under penalty of perjury, they will be legally forced to hand over tax returns, personal and business bank statements, vehicle titles, and property records. 

If they refuse to show up or lie about their assets, the judge can issue a Writ of Bodily Attachment (civil arrest warrant).

The judge’s dismissal with prejudice is the absolute worst-case scenario for any student or affiliate who has been defending The plaintiffs. 

The illusion of their legitimacy has been shattered in a public court record.

For years, students paid Gordon thousands of dollars for instruction and "certified" black belts under the representation that he was a verified, high-ranking grandmaster. 

By failing to produce his credentials in court and letting his case get thrown out, Gordon has legally exposed himself to Civil Fraud and Deceptive Consumer Practices. 

Former students can use the court's public dismissal as primary evidence to sue him for a total refund of all tuition ever paid. Black belts under Gordon can sue for breach of contract. Senior students or affiliates who paid extra for "instructor certifications" or charter fees to run satellite schools under Gordon's banner can sue him for Fraudulent Inducement, claiming he tricked them into exposing their own businesses to liability based on a manufactured pedigree.

By ignoring the court and forcing the judge to throw the case out, Gordon and Hatfield didn't escape. Instead, they left behind a permanent legal record that labels them as bad-faith actors, a massive mountain of debt that will follow them wherever they run, and an open invitation for their own students to sue them for every dime they took.

The official, unaltered public record of this case can be reviewed at any time by visiting the Lake County Clerk of Courts portal at https://courtrecords.lakecountyclerk.org/ and searching case number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851.

BEYOND THE DOJO: The Illegal Data Breaches, Cyber-Stalking, and Criminal Conspiracy of Bret Gordon, Adam Mckinley, Daniel Duplantis and Dallas Whitgenfeld

In the martial arts community, terms like honor, lineage, and integrity are thrown around daily. But behind the scenes, a dark underbelly of individuals uses the cover of the community to conduct targeted harassment campaigns, violate federal laws, and attempt to destroy lives.

What began as Bret Gordon’s personal malice against legitimate instructors, like me, has crossed the line into serious, indictable federal and state crimes. From illegal computer database breaches to state-line cyber-stalking, terroristic threats to a minor, and even the solicitation of murder mine, a former student and his daughter, this group's actions have drawn the active attention of law enforcement in multiple states.

1. Understanding Expungement: The Shield of the Law

To understand the gravity of what Gordon and his associates Adam McKinley, Daniel Duplantis, and Dallas Whitgenfeld have done, we must first look at the legal boundary they crossed; 

An expungement is a powerful legal remedy designed to restore an individual's standing in society after charges have been dropped, dismissed, or legally erased. When a court orders a record expunged, the law treats those records as if they never existed.

• Legal Non-Existence: Once a record is expunged, it is sealed or destroyed. For almost all civilian purposes, the arrest or charge legally did not occur.
• The Right to Privacy: The law strictly restricts access to these files to highly specific, authorized law enforcement or judicial entities under incredibly narrow, court-ordered circumstances.
• A Protected Status: Because the state has deemed the charges null and void, retrieving these records to paint someone as a criminal is not only highly misleading but is a direct violation of court-ordered privacy.

When individuals bypass these legal boundaries to unearth and distribute sealed files to harm a targeted victim, they commit serious legal infractions.

2. The Data Breach: Exploiting Government Credentials

The allegations point to a coordinated, high-tech conspiracy to bypass federal and state laws to execute a targeted smear campaign.

The Unauthorized Search

Neither Gordon, McKinley or Duplantis - possessed the independent legal authority or any judicial warrant to access these sealed files. McKinley allegedly utilized his wife’s government contracts for internet and cybersecurity to bypass security protocols and enter restricted databases.

Using government-contracted databases, security clearances, or administrative portals to conduct unauthorized personal searches for third parties is a massive breach of national security trust. In the United States, utilizing government infrastructure or cybersecurity access to retrieve sealed files is a direct violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

The Conspiracy & Dissemination

McKinley did not act in isolation; the digital database intrusion was a highly coordinated effort executed at the direct behest of Bret Gordon. Rather than reporting the illegal security breach upon receiving the stolen, sealed documents, Gordon immediately weaponized them. He systematically disseminated the expunged files to multiple third parties—including Daniel Duplantis—with the sole, malicious intent of fabricating a false narrative of criminal guilt based on charges that the courts had completely dismissed and erased.

Duplantis subsequently escalated the smear campaign by distributing these legally non-existent, expunged records directly to the National Karate and Jiujitsu Federation and its executive leadership. This deliberate distribution was calculated to poison the well, bypass judicial boundaries, and inflict maximum professional damage within the target's primary governing athletic organizations.

3. The Alabama Connection: Cyber-Stalking and Violent Crimes

If bypassing federal security networks to dig up expunged court files wasn't enough, the rabbit hole goes much deeper. Bret Gordon, Adam McKinley, and Dallas Whitgenfeld have been tied together in an ongoing, multi-jurisdictional criminal investigation in the State of Alabama.

These individuals are directly implicated in a series of severe crimes in Alabama, which include:

• Cyber-harassment and Cyber-stalking
• Terroristic threats directed at a minor
• Solicitation to commit murder

This is no longer internet drama; these are high-level, violent felonies currently under active investigation by state authorities.

4. The Multi-State Criminal Connection and Verifiable Investigations

The connection between Bret Gordon and Adam McKinley is a matter of established fact, not speculation. It has been determined by Alalama authorities that they were involved. The two are closely associated, and along with a third individual, Dallas Whitgenfeld, are behind committing serious criminal acts within the State of Alabama. Far from being unbacked internet rumors, these active criminal investigations and formal law enforcement complaints are fully documented and easily verifiable.

The transactional nature of their association is further exposed by McKinley’s involvement. It is alleged that McKinley’s cooperation was bought with a martial arts rank directly issued by Gordon. However, that rank was subsequently stripped from McKinley as a direct consequence of Gordon's highly questionable, unethical actions on the mats and in the community.

Any court official, investigator, or member of the public looking to verify the active criminal investigations, complaints, and details surrounding Gordon, McKinley, and Whitgenfeld can contact the following law enforcement agencies directly:

Ohatchee Police Department & Magistrate

• Address: 7801 Alabama Highway 77, Ohatchee, AL 36271
• Phone Number: (256) 892-3156
• Dispatch / After Hours: (256) 236-6600 (Calhoun County Dispatch)

Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department (Investigative Division)

• Contact Investigator: Detective Wes
• Sheriff's Office Phone: (256) 236-6600
• Address: 400 West 8th Street, Anniston, AL 36201

5. The Severe Legal Consequences of Cyber-Snooping and Defamation

Those who misuse security credentials, violate court orders, and distribute sealed records to harass others face heavy civil liability and state and federal prosecution:

• Computer Trespass / CFAA Violations (Criminal - State & Federal): Accessing protected government networks or private databases without authorization, or exceeding permitted access.
• Breach of Government Contract (Administrative & Civil): Misusing cybersecurity credentials tied to government contracts can lead to the immediate termination of those contracts, loss of security clearance, and heavy financial penalties.
• Defamation Per Se (Civil): Falsely accusing someone of a crime they were not convicted of, or using legally wiped records to damage their character.
• Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (Civil): Executing a malicious, coordinated campaign designed to cause severe personal and professional anguish.

Expungement is a court-ordered boundary. Attempting to bypass that boundary, especially by exploiting highly sensitive government cybersecurity access, is a serious abuse of power. Those who weaponize legally dismissed, expunged records for the sole purpose of defamation face not just civil litigation, but potential criminal prosecution for unauthorized data retrieval.

Adam McKinley has recently taken to video platforms and podcasts to distance himself from the very conspiracies and crimes he helped execute. On these broadcasts, McKinley paints himself as an innocent bystander claiming he only helped these individuals out of the goodness of his heart before belatedly realizing how "toxic" their behavior was.

Accessing secured, government-contracted databases without authorization is not an act of misguided kindness, it is a federal offense under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). 

 Allegations point directly to McKinley's illicit database search being a corrupt, transactional exchange designed to secure a Korean martial arts rank via Gordon. 

However, the supposed backroom arrangement collapsed. The issuing martial arts organization has since officially stripped McKinley of the rank. This administrative action was taken as a direct consequence of Gordon's highly questionable and unethical actions. Conduct that resulted in Gordon's own highly advanced ranks being suspended and/or stripped by the very same international governing body.

Playing the victim on a podcast does not erase a digital footprint, the misuse of government credentials, or active criminal complaints. The Ohatchee Police Department and the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department do not investigate "toxic friendships", they investigate serious, documented crimes, including terroristic threats and solicitation to commit murder.

McKinley's sudden public realization of his associates' "toxicity" only occurred after the legal temperature rose and law enforcement agencies got involved. It is a calculated public relations defense, not a moral awakening. 

Spinning self-serving narratives on video holds zero weight in a court of law or during an active criminal investigation. The judicial system and law enforcement officers look at digital forensics, sworn declarations, and verified evidence, none of which can be erased by a podcast episode. 

Those who chose to cross legal boundaries to destroy others must now face the reality of the paper trail they left behind.

7. The "No Harm, No Foul" Fallacy: Why a Failed Smear Campaign is Still a Crime

 As the legal consequences of this conspiracy begin to unfold, a desperate new narrative has emerged from those involved: the claim that because their attempts to slander and defame did not succeed in ruining the target’s reputation, the entire matter is "no longer a big deal."

This is a fundamentally flawed and legally illiterate argument. In both criminal prosecution and civil litigation, the failure of a smear campaign to achieve its desired outcome does not erase the illegality of the attempt. Here is why "it didn't work" will never stand up as a defense:

The Illegality is in the Intrusion, Not the Outcome

Under federal law, specifically the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a crime is committed the exact moment a protected database is accessed without authorization.

Bypassing security protocols to access restricted files is a completed criminal act in and of itself.  Just as a bank robber cannot plead innocence because they dropped the stolen cash on the sidewalk during their escape, a data thief cannot plead innocence because the stolen files failed to damage the victim. The unlawful intrusion and theft of data still occurred.

Expungement is a Binding Court Order, Not a Suggestion

When a court expunges a record, it issues a binding judicial decree that the incident is legally null and void.

Actively conspiring to bypass a court’s authority to unearth and distribute sealed files demonstrates clear, malicious intent. The law measures the unlawful steps taken and the intent to cause harm, not whether the perpetrators were competent enough to successfully pull off the character assassination.

"Failed Defamation" is Still a Civil and Criminal Liability

Even if the targeted victim's personal and professional standing survived the attack intact, the perpetrators remain exposed to severe legal liabilities:

Falsely accusing someone of criminal acts they were not convicted of (or which have been legally wiped clean) constitutes defamation per se. Under the law, harm to the victim's reputation is automatically presumed, meaning the victim does not have to prove financial loss to seek damages.

The coordinated effort to weaponize these files to terrorize an individual still fulfills the statutory elements of civil harassment, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and criminal cyber-stalking, regardless of how the victim's peers reacted to the information.

Administrative Consequences Do Not Require Damage

For the individuals who abused highly sensitive government security credentials to conduct this personal search, the fallout has absolutely nothing to do with the success of the smear.

Federal agencies and government cybersecurity contractors enforce zero-tolerance policies for unauthorized administrative searches. The moment credentials are used for a personal vendetta, security clearances are revoked and federal contracts are terminated, regardless of what was done with the retrieved data.

The Legal Reality

The transition from a law enforcement investigation to formal courtroom litigation marks the point where coordinated harassment campaigns face severe financial and structural accountability. For the perpetrators of this conspiracy, the legal ramifications extend far beyond criminal charges; they face ruinous civil lawsuits designed to strip them of assets and hold them financially liable for every illegal action committed. 

Attempting to brush off federal data breaches and coordinated defamation campaigns because "it didn't work" is a desperate defense mechanism. The paper trail of unauthorized database access, the breach of government-contracted credentials, and the malicious intent to bypass a judicial expungement order are fully documented and set in stone. Law enforcement and the courts judge the actions committed, not the competence or lack thereof, of the criminals who executed them.

How the Motion to Enforce and the 30-Plus Day Compliance Failure Destroyed Bret Gordon’s Defamation Suit

When a court tosses a lawsuit out with prejudice, it is dead. Permanent. Irreversible. In the case of Bret Gordon v. Dale Dugas, the court made its mandate clear; Gordon’s claims were completely dismissed, and specific performance terms and deadlines were locked onto the docket. But the plaintiffs chose a catastrophic strategy, they treated a binding judicial mandated order as a suggestion, completely ignoring the mandate and blasting more than 30 days past the court-appointed deadline. 

By forcing the defendant’s legal team to file a Motion to Enforce, Gordon didn't pause the case or the fact that he lost, he upgraded it from a lost lawsuit into a career-ending compliance crisis. When you first sue someone, you get to drive the car. You pick what to complain about and you set the pace. But the exact second a Motion to Enforce hits the desk because you ignored a direct order for over a month, the judge rips the steering wheel right out of your hands. You are no longer in control of anything. No appeals, no nothing. 

An upcoming hearing on the Motion to Enforce is not a do-over. The judge is not going to listen to Gordon or his attorney complain, re-argue, play the victim or spin tall tales about "appeals", written or otherwise. The sole objective of this hearing is for the judge to determine how severely to punish the plaintiffs for defying a direct order to wrap up the case. 

Why the 30-Day Delay is Lethal to the Plaintiffs

In Florida civil procedure, sitting in active non-compliance for over a month strips away any shield of "accidental delay." It proves to the court a pattern of willful defiance and bad faith. 

For the plaintiffs, passing this 30-day threshold has triggered an unmitigated disaster.

By refusing to sign the paperwork they agreed to, withholding evidence, and dragging out the timeline against Dugas, Gordon trapped himself. Gordon is virtually guaranteed to be ordered by the judge to pay every dime of the defendant’s fees and costs associated with this case. By blowing past execution window, by more than 30 days, Gordon and his attorney gave the judge the perfect administrative timeline to also drop the hammer for fraud upon the court.

When a judge takes several weeks to schedule a hearing on a Motion to Enforce, especially after a blatant compliance failure, attorneys know that this deliberate pacing is the most terrifying thing a court judge can do. 

The judge has more than likely been doing his due diligence these past weeks. He didn't just look at the missed 30-day deadline; he went back to the very beginning of this lawsuit. He has re-examined the initial claims, did some due diligence and realized that the court was used as a vehicle for a fraudulent, bad-faith litigation campaign! 

For the defendant, this judicial due diligence is the ultimate victory. The defendant’s legal team doesn't have to carry the heavy burden of trying to prove Gordon is a fraud anymore; the judge has already proven it to himself. The court has taken over the steering wheel. The judge has done the independent heavy lifting, mapped out Gordon's multi-jurisdictional pattern of deception, and is now holding all the cards.

There is no appeal, no legal loophole and no back door out. 

When a case is dismissed with prejudice and the court-mandated deadline passes by 30 plus days with a Motion to Enforce locked onto the docket, the door is slammed shut, locked, and welded into the frame.

The Hearing will be purely Punitive 

The legal system has reached its final station, and the track has completely run out for Gordon.  No arguments from the plaintiff’s will be heard.  The judge will more than likely be stepping into that hearing with the plaintiffs armed with weeks of independent due diligence. Because the case itself is permanently over, the upcoming hearing isn't about the lawsuit anymore, it is entirely about punishing the misconduct.

There will be no appeals or going after someone else. 

By filing this frivolous lawsuit and then trying to game the court system and a missed 30- plus day deadline, Gordon didn't just lose a case; he permanently memorialized fraud in the public court record.  

The official, unaltered public record of this case can be reviewed at any time by visiting the Lake County Clerk of Courts portal at https://courtrecords.lakecountyclerk.org/ and searching case number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851.

Anatomy of a Litigation Meltdown

In the high-stakes world of civil litigation, there is an objective reality, and then there is public relations spin. For years, social media and online forums can be used to curate a specific narrative, control a brand, and silence critics through the threat of ongoing legal warfare. But when that warfare enters a court of law, it is subjected to a precise, unyielding microscope: the requirement of hard evidence.

When a lawsuit built on shaky foundations completely unravels, the resulting fallout often moves out of standard legal procedure and into a pattern of erratic, desperate denial. This is precisely what is playing out following the permanent dismissal of Lake County Case Number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851—the defamation suit brought by Bret Gordon and Steven Hatfield against critic Dale Dugas.

Despite a permanent public docket proving the case flatlined on May 8, 2026, with zero damages, zero restitution, and zero sanctions awarded to the plaintiffs, a parallel narrative continues to be broadcasted. By analyzing recent filings and public postures, we can dissect the mechanics of a litigation meltdown and why the plaintiffs continue to wage a war against a permanent paper trail.

When a litigant cannot defeat the facts, their final tactical pivot is often to attack the forum itself. In recent submissions, the plaintiffs have leveled extraordinary allegations, claiming that the presiding judge lied and actively conspired with the defendant to engineer the outcome.

In the justice system, launching unsubstantiated claims of corruption against a member of the judiciary is an immense structural blunder. Judges possess broad, inherent authority to police their own courtrooms against bad-faith obstruction.

A central pillar of the plaintiffs' public strategy is the claim that they "were NOT told" of the dismissal, asserting that the court closed the case without proper notification.

In civil procedure, this argument is legally defunct. Under the Doctrine of Notice, once an order is signed by a judge and entered into the clerk's system, it constitutes immediate, binding notice to the world. A litigant cannot claim a judicial mandate does not apply to them simply because they refuse to read it or accept its existence. The docket controls the reality of the litigation; public relations campaigns do not.

The Core Failure

The lawsuit did not fail because of a procedural oversight by their legal counsel; it flatlined because the plaintiffs themselves spent over five years failing to produce a single shred of concrete evidence backing their defamation claims or their highly disputed martial arts rank claims.

Why Deny the Public Record? 

To outside observers, continuing to deny an open-and-shut court record seems irrational. However, from a behavioral perspective, it serves a highly calculated, desperate purpose: reputation preservation. By maintaining the public fiction that they "prevailed" or that the battle is ongoing, the plaintiffs attempt to hide the outcome from their remaining students and followers, banking on their assumption that the average person will not manually audit court records.

Furthermore, after five years of aggressive public posturing, the psychological cost of admitting they could not deliver evidence is too severe for their egos to tolerate. It is far more comfortable to play the victim of a grand judicial conspiracy than to admit they sued a critic for exposing them, got caught trying to dodge a settlement, and watched their lawsuit get carried out of the courtroom in a body bag.

The Self Inflicted Fatal Blow

In the legal world, blowing past a contractually mandated 10-day window (deadline - 6/14/2026) to file their own dismissal with prejudice isn't just a minor administrative oversight, it is a self-inflicted fatal blow to their entire case. By failing to file the dismissal within that explicit timeframe, the plaintiffs effectively stripped themselves of any remaining leverage, credibility, or goodwill with the courts.

The battlefield is empty, the docket is locked, and the paper trail is eternal. No amount of social media curation or erratic finger-pointing will change the cold, hard reality stamped at the top of Case Number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851: The defense stood its ground, the plaintiffs’ claims were not proven, and the case is closed.

Judges have zero patience for "buyer's remorse" or bad-faith stalling after an agreement has been finalized on the record. By ignoring the 10-day mandate, the plaintiffs forced the defense to do extra legal work just to secure the compliance they were already promised. In civil procedure, this is a surefire way for a plaintiff to get hit with fee-shifting penalties, forcing them to pay 100% of the defense's mounting attorney fees and court costs associated with compelling the enforcement.

The Tactical Reality

You cannot play chicken with a court-mandated deadline and expect to win. By deliberately dragging their feet past the 10-day mark to keep a baseless, five-year lawsuit on life support, Gordon and Hatfield didn't find a loophole, they walked straight into a trapdoor of their own making.

The official, unaltered public record of this case can be reviewed at any time by visiting the Lake County Clerk of Courts portal at https://courtrecords.lakecountyclerk.org/ and searching case number 35‑2020‑CA‑001851.