Bankruptcy filed by Connor Cochran – alert for anyone awaiting merchandise from Conlan Press.

January 8, 2018January 17, 2018 fan Consumer Complaints, Lawsuits, Publishers, Writers#lastunicorn, #takebacktheunicorn, Conlan press, connor cochran, fraud, last unicorn, peter beagle

Peter Beagle supports the mission to expose and fix bad business practices by Connor Cochran. Connor is facing litigation in relation to this site – never trust info about it sourced from him.

A nightmare legal case for legendary "The Last Unicorn" author Peter Beagle, being abused by former manager. Way to treat a 78-year-old, dude. Go have a read, this is off the scale. https://t.co/Hj8eddm9fC

— Colleen Doran (@ColleenDoran) December 29, 2017

Colleen Doran gave even more perspective on Peter Beagle’s fight. She’s a NY Times bestselling comics creator and a great source for creator’s rights.

The story of legal action until now:

In the early 2000’s, Connor Cochran took control of Peter’s career. While operating in Peter’s name, he gained screening rights to the Last Unicorn movie, took in a $500,000 settlement for it, and started a tour that sold large amounts of merchandise for the business Connor controlled.

Meanwhile, as exposed by this site, Connor was dodging a judgement of $83,000 he owed to his ex wife since 1999. That meant running personal finances through company accounts to hide them and claim little to no income, according to legal documents about it. Behind the front of doing good for Peter, Connor also cheated countless customers who are still waiting for goods since 2005, stiffed vendors on debts, and took a large amount of money from an elderly kid’s art teacher, before countersuing to beat back her attempts to get what she was owed.

Then he sued his own family for money from his mother’s estate, based on his word that she was alcoholic and mentally unfit. The courts rejected his claims. Multiple lawsuits against his family were thrown out in 2014.

In 2015, Peter Beagle sued him (it was followed by another lawsuit for hundreds of thousands from The Last Unicorn Tour investors). Cochran responded by:

Claiming Peter was alcoholic and mentally unfit.
Conspiring with Peters kids to put him in conservatorship. It was thrown out.
Suing Peter’s lawyer. It was thrown out.
Countersuing Peter. It was thrown out.

The scummy tactics always blame someone or something else for problems in which Cochran is the common denominator. When the claims fail he shifts to a new scapegoat or delay game. Dragging on forever runs up costs so he can take what he wants, using the court process – a venue for resolving conflict – as a weapon.

Latest tactics, January 2018:

On the eve of Connor’s trial in Peter’s lawsuit, he filed for bankruptcy. This suspends legal actions until it’s sorted out. How long could it take, if it’s up to him? Ask how long Peter can possibly wait, and it would surely be a little longer than that.

Back in November, fans saw a company contracted to Avicenna Development (named in Peter’s lawsuit as controlled by Cochran) announcing use of Peter’s creation without his approval. Notice how it was shortly before Connor’s trial – and this:

Despite outcry, the company justified Cochran’s employee in a key role by saying “he earned his place on the project”… but they’ll let Peter freelance for them on his creation if critics shut up. Poor Peter, still trying to earn his place.

Posted by the person behind the game project.

Please make sure people understand that this is not related to, or ok with Peter AT ALL. It’s getting shut down, and anyone involved is knowingly defrauding him and ITV right now.

— 🚀 Pluto (@xaoc) December 13, 2017

(Above is the owner of Rickert & Beagle Books.) It’s a group effort to take his rights. Supporting him takes a group too.

The Numbers – what Connor did instead of publishing.

As posted by File770, Connor’s bankruptcy filing lists the largest unsecured claims against him:

$626,558 Rimon, PC – Legal fees
$500,000 Peter S. Beagle – Pending litigation (est.)
$400,000 Justin Bunnell – Judgment
$ 83,592 Gloria Cheng – Property settlement
$ 24,915 Kathleen Hunt – Court-assessed fee
$ 20,000 Law Office of James R. Thompson – Legal fees
$ 7,800 Son-Rise Property Management – Residential lease

(Rimon is the lawyer that helped Connor to capture the Last Unicorn movie and countersue Peter. Bunnell is the Last Unicorn Tour investor. Cheng is the ex wife.)

The takeaway:

While taking a $500,000 movie settlement and making what Connor says is 300,000 merch sales, running up such bills involves a lot of credit – apart from payment completed to keep lawyers on the job. Compare to what’s owed to customers. Connor failed to put customer investment into delivering vaporware he’s been selling since 2005. To name one, the Last Unicorn audio CD and accompanying book. What does it cost to manufacture a CD or book? Estimate 5 figures for an edition of 3000 (cited in Peters’ Mirror Kingdoms collection and a 2005 sale announcement by Neil Gaiman). That’s what a real publisher does. During all the pricey litigation, Connor’s business has been, instead, a mission of greed and hubris to raid intellectual properties. Their creator won’t be here forever and then who gets the spoils?

What will happen with Peter’s creations now? Prediction: Connor will attempt to convince the bankruptcy court that he needs to sell them off. A keep-away game would flip blame at Peter for forcing Connor to do it by allowing “influence” to mislead him – the same claims that keep failing in court. (A good term is DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender.)

Don’t expect Peter’s team to let it happen.

It follows Connor blaming supposed influencers in the failed conservatorship attempt, the failed lawsuit at Peter’s lawyer, and the failed countersuit at Peter, not to mention the failed lawsuits to get his mom’s money. The common denominator is Connor, who cast himself as a noble savior to keep the scams going.

One thing he got out of it was, as File770 quoted from Peter’s attorney, running personal expenses through corporate accounts while living off the Beagle name. It allowed hanging out with Hollywood producers, fancy trips and dinners, and a nice house (Peter got an apartment), while dodging his ex wife’s judgement. It’s like Hollywood accounting with predatory corporate raiding against the little guy by a bullying professional litigant. That $626,000 his lawyer won’t get must have been powerful bait to help.

The happy part of this story is how Peter keeps being a productive creator with support of his true fans. Be proud of taking the good side.

So, someone accused me of taking Peter S Beagle's side in a legal case because I did not get hired to draw THE LAST UNICORN graphic novel. Here is my response. https://t.co/0JOlpn0pTM

— Colleen Doran (@ColleenDoran) January 1, 2018

Holy crap. Connor Cochran, former manager of Peter S Beagle creator of THE LAST UNICORN, being sued by Beagle for elder abuse and more, files bankruptcy. Look at the amount of money he owes people. https://t.co/VV1fztjgVd

— Colleen Doran (@ColleenDoran) January 10, 2018

Connor Cochran, who is being sued by Peter S Beagle for elder abuse and fraud, has just filed bankruptcy, one day before…

Posted by Official Colleen Doran Fan Page on Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Fans Respond – and How You Can Help.

The Real Peter S. Beagle on Facebook shared news of the bankruptcy. Fan response validates the side of Peter in several ways: reports of being cheated as customers, and manipulation by Connor.

Critical speakers report getting inboxes flooded with unprovoked, one-sided private messaging. It’s a clue about Connor methodically singling them out to bomb them with selective info, gain compliance, and dodge accountability. One can imagine Peter’s experience of being kept in an apartment leased by Connor, as an elder on low income (described in his lawsuit). These are only the lower level of abusive tactics by a bully who even uses them against other people’s families and his own. Now think about why Fans Against Fraud blew the whistle, and what can be done.

There’s a solution beyond raising awareness and wishing for justice. You can give pro-active help so Peter regains his rights. Bankruptcy law advice is costly, but donation to his legal fund will help him win the fight. (This fan site is not affiliated with any such appeal for Peter.)

SupportPeterBeagle.com is his official site with Paypal link to the legal fund.