On January 12th, Judge Richard Arcara sentenced Barker native David Cain, Jr. to 55 years in federal prison on multiple counts of arson, extortion, and racketeering. So ended a drama that began in 2000 and affected many families in the area…especially those of his competitors in the local tree service industry.
The Department of Justice notes of these experiences in its news release here:
http://buffalo.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/bffo011309.htm
Among those affected by the acts was Gasport resident Dan Gollus, of Dan’s Tree Service. Dan faced years of intimidation from Cain and, in one of the more well-known events from this saga, had his plane burned in one of the arsons for which Cain was convicted.
Dan expressed interest in sharing his story with the community at large, so I recently interviewed him…
CONFER: Between the acts committed against you and the court proceedings, this has gone on for years. You must be relieved that it has finally come to an end...
GOLLUS: It is a relief that we are finally seeing some closure but I can honestly say that others along with myself do not feel this is all over and we can move on. There are several of this group that are still free that we were unable to get a conviction on. Those of us involved still have to worry although we have been told that "they" are being watched very closely and law-enforcement is satisfied that we are safe from further trouble.
CONFER: Very few of us know what it's like to go through a federal court case. How was that process?
GOLLUS: The Federal trial was actually quite interesting and very thorough. It lasted for quite a while with over 80 witnesses for the prosecution being called and not one for the defense. This took a very long time but I was not able to attend most of it because I was called late in the trial and you can't "set in" until you have been called. It was heard before Federal Judge Arcara in Buffalo and we had to go to Buffalo several times. I'm glad it is over, very taxing and wearying.
CONFER: Does Cain have any chance with his appeals?
GOLLUS: As for his appeals, we have been told on good authority that he has very slim to no chance of making any headway although Cain has had 4 years to spend in the prison law library and is well versed in clogging the courts with technicalities and motions. He is not in any way remorseful, only looking for ways to overturn his convictions of which there are about 20.
CONFER: We've all read about the harassment and violence that befell you and the police officers. What other acts happened that went unreported by the newspapers?
GOLLUS: As for the things that were not reported and involved intimidation and life threatening situations, I can only tell of a few. If I were to tell all of it, we would be talking a whole book. A small sample is, I was run off the road twice by a large logging truck just weeks after being told "he" was going to mess me up real good and kill me. Needless to say as I saw the truck coming at me I thought, “my God here it comes.” I can tell about these incidents only because there are 2 police reports to the incidents. I also have suspicion my plane engine was tampered with before it was burned. It suddenly developed a case of badly sticking valves and took much work to fix. I was told by the FBI that they were involved in the shipping of stolen 4-wheelers and snowmobiles out-of-state and many other things I can't even relate at this time. Very intimidating and not all of the players are behind bars
CONFER: Has your business survived all this trauma and stress?
GOLLUS: As for my business suffering, yes there are many ways that has happened. I have been mistaken for him many times which is a real slap in the face. He has stolen jobs from me for instance. The customer was told I had fallen and broken my back and he was sent to do the job by me and they were to pay him. Rumors spread about me. There was outright face-to-face intimidation as I was bidding on a job. I don't mind fair competition, in fact welcome it, but his way was: “don't even dare bid on it.” Many of my competitors wouldn't even bid if they found out he had been to the job. There are many, many other examples of all of this and it is exactly what Cain wanted.
CONFER: Most importantly, how have YOU weathered all this trauma and stress?
GOLLUS: I have weathered all this surprisingly well with the help of my Susie sticking by my side (although it has caused severe stress between us from time to time), the support of many dear friends, and I firmly believe God has given me strength to endure. I was made aware that Cain wanted me to give up and leave town as one of our competitors did. I'm too old and weathered to be chased out of my town and community that I love. I have many good friends at the local airport and we share a common bond of flying which has helped immensely. All in all I am beginning to regain my happiness and a smile does cross my face often. I am not happy he is in prison. I only have a deep sadness that it came to this for, you see, before I knew what kind of monster he was I befriended him as a fellow tree-man and actually took him up in my plane twice! Very sad I feel when I think of it and the waste he has made of his life.
The Department of Justice notes of these experiences in its news release here:
http://buffalo.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/bffo011309.htm
Among those affected by the acts was Gasport resident Dan Gollus, of Dan’s Tree Service. Dan faced years of intimidation from Cain and, in one of the more well-known events from this saga, had his plane burned in one of the arsons for which Cain was convicted.
Dan expressed interest in sharing his story with the community at large, so I recently interviewed him…
CONFER: Between the acts committed against you and the court proceedings, this has gone on for years. You must be relieved that it has finally come to an end...
GOLLUS: It is a relief that we are finally seeing some closure but I can honestly say that others along with myself do not feel this is all over and we can move on. There are several of this group that are still free that we were unable to get a conviction on. Those of us involved still have to worry although we have been told that "they" are being watched very closely and law-enforcement is satisfied that we are safe from further trouble.
CONFER: Very few of us know what it's like to go through a federal court case. How was that process?
GOLLUS: The Federal trial was actually quite interesting and very thorough. It lasted for quite a while with over 80 witnesses for the prosecution being called and not one for the defense. This took a very long time but I was not able to attend most of it because I was called late in the trial and you can't "set in" until you have been called. It was heard before Federal Judge Arcara in Buffalo and we had to go to Buffalo several times. I'm glad it is over, very taxing and wearying.
CONFER: Does Cain have any chance with his appeals?
GOLLUS: As for his appeals, we have been told on good authority that he has very slim to no chance of making any headway although Cain has had 4 years to spend in the prison law library and is well versed in clogging the courts with technicalities and motions. He is not in any way remorseful, only looking for ways to overturn his convictions of which there are about 20.
CONFER: We've all read about the harassment and violence that befell you and the police officers. What other acts happened that went unreported by the newspapers?
GOLLUS: As for the things that were not reported and involved intimidation and life threatening situations, I can only tell of a few. If I were to tell all of it, we would be talking a whole book. A small sample is, I was run off the road twice by a large logging truck just weeks after being told "he" was going to mess me up real good and kill me. Needless to say as I saw the truck coming at me I thought, “my God here it comes.” I can tell about these incidents only because there are 2 police reports to the incidents. I also have suspicion my plane engine was tampered with before it was burned. It suddenly developed a case of badly sticking valves and took much work to fix. I was told by the FBI that they were involved in the shipping of stolen 4-wheelers and snowmobiles out-of-state and many other things I can't even relate at this time. Very intimidating and not all of the players are behind bars
CONFER: Has your business survived all this trauma and stress?
GOLLUS: As for my business suffering, yes there are many ways that has happened. I have been mistaken for him many times which is a real slap in the face. He has stolen jobs from me for instance. The customer was told I had fallen and broken my back and he was sent to do the job by me and they were to pay him. Rumors spread about me. There was outright face-to-face intimidation as I was bidding on a job. I don't mind fair competition, in fact welcome it, but his way was: “don't even dare bid on it.” Many of my competitors wouldn't even bid if they found out he had been to the job. There are many, many other examples of all of this and it is exactly what Cain wanted.
CONFER: Most importantly, how have YOU weathered all this trauma and stress?
GOLLUS: I have weathered all this surprisingly well with the help of my Susie sticking by my side (although it has caused severe stress between us from time to time), the support of many dear friends, and I firmly believe God has given me strength to endure. I was made aware that Cain wanted me to give up and leave town as one of our competitors did. I'm too old and weathered to be chased out of my town and community that I love. I have many good friends at the local airport and we share a common bond of flying which has helped immensely. All in all I am beginning to regain my happiness and a smile does cross my face often. I am not happy he is in prison. I only have a deep sadness that it came to this for, you see, before I knew what kind of monster he was I befriended him as a fellow tree-man and actually took him up in my plane twice! Very sad I feel when I think of it and the waste he has made of his life.
