The heists of Christmas cash live on

denverpost.com
Aprilm 12, 2007

On Christmas Eve 2004, Jerry Mills gave away $50,000 in hundred-dollar bills at three Denver homeless shelters, then vanished without leaving his name.

Giving felt good to Mills, even if the cash wasn't his.

"They can't take that away from me," Mills would tell Detective Ronnie Chavez when he turned himself in at the Douglas County Sheriff's Office three weeks later.

Mills' stunning generosity made headlines near and far, including USA Today and The Mirror of London.

The mystery of the Christmas Eve Santa, however, is still unfolding in courtrooms from Castle Rock to California. Court records tell a story in which authorities charge that nobody has clean hands.

Mills, the perpetually broke handyman from Parker, admits taking $1.1 million and giving much of it away, but he swears it was dirty money he had been ordered to pick up from a stranger in Las Vegas.

While he promises his career as a bank robber is behind him, his holiday giving could land him back in prison for the rest of his life - as a habitual offender out on parole at the time he made off with the cash.

His former bosses, Wayne and Leah Majors, say Mills stole the savings they had stowed in an attic - and they swear none of it is tied to charges the feds have leveled against them.

Next month, a week after Mills answers theft charges in Castle Rock, Wayne and Leah Majors will be in a California courthouse facing federal charges linked to their curious wealth.

Differing accounts

The story of Mills and the Majors family began in Reno, Nev., in 2002.

An ex-con on a motorcycle, Mills stopped in to rent a car at a dealership operated by Wayne Majors.

Mills had served 14 years of a 25-year sentence in an Idaho prison for a series of armed bank robberies and an escape.

The dealership was remodeling, and Mills knew about welding, Wayne Majors recalled. One odd job led to another.

"He was a good worker and a good talker," Majors said in an interview with The Denver Post last fall. More recently, Leah and Wayne Majors have declined to discuss the case.

When Wayne Majors' asthma prompted the family to move to Las Vegas, then to Colorado, Mills came along.

Leah Majors ran a legal-services business for bankruptcy lawyers. She said she squirreled away cash from her income to pay back taxes.

"It was just money that each week, you know, we would put in the box and allow it to accumulate," she said in a March 2006 hearing in a civil suit they filed to recoup the remaining money Mills had turned over to the cops.

With that money hidden in her brother's attic in Castle Rock, the Majors family headed to Alabama for Christmas in 2004. They left Mills to watch their horses and three Rottweilers.

"So when you went to Alabama ... you gave this guy who you knew was a bank robber access to your brother's house where the money was in the attic?" federal magistrate Patricia Coan asked during the 2005 hearing.

"Sure, we knew he was a bank robber, but we had trusted him, and he had been so dependable and so trustworthy," Leah Majors said in the interview with The Post.

On Dec. 29, 2004, the morning after the Majors family returned from vacation, Mills and the money were gone.

Mills was spending like Scrooge on Christmas morning.

In addition to his visits to homeless shelters, Mills later told an investigator that he saw a vagrant in the rain, pulled over and handed the beggar $10,000. "Please go get a life for yourself," Mills says he told the guy.

He handed out $14,000 to strippers at a club called Northern Exposure in Salt Lake City. He gambled away $70,000 in casinos in Black Hawk and Lake Tahoe.

Mills mailed $135,000 to his family - $20,000 each to his mother and two brothers and $75,000 to a third brother.

A teetotaler, Mills said he bought round after round for everybody else in a bar in Payette, Idaho, where his brother lives. The tab with tips: 20 grand.

"I might have stopped at a whorehouse," he said, according to a 2005 sheriff's report.

In other accounts in public records, Mills said he planned to spread around some cash, testify against his bosses and enter the witness-protection program.

So far, records indicate the IRS, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office have all passed on his offer - despite a keen interest in his bosses.

Suspicious "victims"

Wayne Majors is no stranger to the legal system, the subject of federal money-laundering investigations before his cash went missing, records show.

From the time hOn Christmas Eve 2004, Jerry Mills gave away $50,000 in hundred-dollar bills at three Denver homeless shelters, then vanished without leaving his name.

Giving felt good to Mills, even if the cash wasn't his.

"They can't take that away from me," Mills would tell Detective Ronnie Chavez when he turned himself in at the Douglas County Sheriff's Office three weeks later.

Mills' stunning generosity made headlines near and far, including USA Today and The Mirror of London.

The mystery of the Christmas Eve Santa, however, is still unfolding in courtrooms from Castle Rock to California. Court records tell a story in which authorities charge that nobody has clean hands.

Mills, the perpetually broke handyman from Parker, admits taking $1.1 million and giving much of it away, but he swears it was dirty money he had been ordered to pick up from a stranger in Las Vegas.

While he promises his career as a bank robber is behind him, his holiday giving could land him back in prison for the rest of his life - as a habitual offender out on parole at the time he made off with the cash.

His former bosses, Wayne and Leah Majors, say Mills stole the savings they had stowed in an attic - and they swear none of it is tied to charges the feds have leveled against them.

Next month, a week after Mills answers theft charges in Castle Rock, Wayne and Leah Majors will be in a California courthouse facing federal charges linked to their curious wealth.

Differing accounts

The story of Mills and the Majors family began in Reno, Nev., in 2002.

An ex-con on a motorcycle, Mills stopped in to rent a car at a dealership operated by Wayne Majors.

Mills had served 14 years of a 25-year sentence in an Idaho prison for a series of armed bank robberies and an escape.

The dealership was remodeling, and Mills knew about welding, Wayne Majors recalled. One odd job led to another.

"He was a good worker and a good talker," Majors said in an interview with The Denver Post last fall. More recently, Leah and Wayne Majors have declined to discuss the case.

When Wayne Majors' asthma prompted the family to move to Las Vegas, then to Colorado, Mills came along.

Leah Majors ran a legal-services business for bankruptcy lawyers. She said she squirreled away cash from her income to pay back taxes.

"It was just money that each week, you know, we would put in the box and allow it to accumulate," she said in a March 2006 hearing in a civil suit they filed to recoup the remaining money Mills had turned over to the copse and his wife reported their money gone, authorities were suspicious.

They initially claimed to have lost $400,000 but later increased the amount to as much as $750,000.

Meanwhile, Mills had told local and federal authorities he had taken more than $1.1 million, as he sought a deal to testify.

After his spending spree, authorities recovered $534,070.

Wayne Majors had spent almost two years in federal prison in the late 1980s for mail fraud, according to a 1994 series in the Phoenix New Times newspaper. He was originally convicted in 1979, but he fled to Mexico. He was picked up in Texas in 1987.

The Post sought to confirm Majors' criminal record, but in Minnesota, where he lived in the late 1970s, criminal records are sealed after 15 years of an offender's release from custody.

In the series, New Times reporter Paul Rubin investigated zero-down bankruptcy services, calling Wayne Majors and his brother, Larry, its chief profiteers.

Critics say zero-down bankruptcy lawyers front legal costs to customers who are lured in by TV ads.

Clients sign contracts that give them little representation and expensive fees for lawyers and document preparation. Those who can't pay the fees face high interest payments and aggressive collections.

Mills sometimes did collections, he and Leah Majors said in 2005 depositions.

Mills said Wayne Majors sometimes told him to bury or dig up cash, so his claim of dirty money made sense.

The cash Mills turned over to investigators smelled "rotten," as if it had been packed in dirt, Detective Chavez said in a 2005 deposition.

"Jerry Mills did not take money from the attic of that house," Chavez said. "I have no doubt in saying that."

In April 2006, a federal grand jury indicted Wayne and Leah Majors for "substantially" underreporting income from the American Law Center in Sacramento.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Twiss said the couple offered to plead guilty, but he declined that offer. He would not discuss the terms they sought.

If convicted, they face up to nine years in prison and up to $3.6 million in fines.

The law center's owner and president, Michael O'Neal, has already pleaded guilty.

Twiss said he did not know whether the money Mills took is related to the case he is prosecuting.

"They are accused of skimming a large amount of money; that money had to go somewhere," Twiss said. "Where did they earn the money they say was taken from them? Is there a connection between the dots?

"Those are connections for another day."

           WARNING - FRAUD ALERT
                 AVOID PHILLIPS & ASSOCIATES
                        
                       Please Visit
             

Phoenix criminal attorneys - Phillips and Associates
The Phoenix criminal attorneys with Phillips & Associates defend all types of Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " Your phillipslaw.com/html/criminal_law.html

Phoenix DUI Attorneys Phillips and Associates Latest case results
The Phoenix DUI attorneys with Phillips and Associates discuss DUI cases in Arizona including the firm's latest case results, types of DUI cases, the DUI process, phillipslaw.com/html/dui.html

Criminal defense attorneys Phoenix Bankruptcy attorneys Phillips
Our criminal defense attorneys in Phoenix represent clients in all criminal matters and we offer Board Certified Criminal Law, Personal Injury and Bankruptcy phillipslaw.com/html/attorneys.html

For Your Seroquel Side Effects/Diabetes Lawsuit Experienced If you have taken Seroquel® and have developed diabetes or suffered from other side effects associated with the drug, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit. phillipslaw.com/html/seroquel.html

Avandia Side Effects Lawyer Information from an Attorney
To view this, you need to install the Flash Player 7. Please go to here and download it. Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " phillipslaw.com/html/avandia.html

Phoenix, Arizona Peter Pan Peanut Butter Recall Attorneys – Salmonella Located in Phoenix, the peanut butter recall attorneys at Phillips & Associates provide experienced product liability representation to victims in Arizona and phillipslaw.com/html/peanut_butter.html

Ortho Evra®Birth Control Patch Lawyers - Phoenix, Arizona
Our Ortho Evra® Birth Control Patch lawyers in Arizona and Phoenix provide answers to your questions. To view this, you need to install the Flash Player 7. phillipslaw.com/html/ortho_evra.html

Phoenix personal injury lawyers Phillips and Associates
Our Phoenix personal injury lawyers with Phillips and Associates represent victims of auto accidents, medical malpractice, slip and fall, defective products, elder phillipslaw.com/html/personal_injury.html

Phoenix car accident lawyers Phillips and Associates
Our Phoenix car accident lawyers help the victims of auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents receive the compensation they are legally entitled to. phillipslaw.com/html/motor_vehicle_accidents.html

Tucson, Phoenix Medical malpractice lawyers Attorneys with Phillips
In Tucson and Phoenix, our medical malpractice attorneys have the experience and dedication necessary to successfully represent the victims of medical negligence. phillipslaw.com/html/medical_malpractice.html

Phoenix Avandia Lawyers Phillips and Associates Attorneys at Law
In Phoenix, our Vioxx lawyers at the law firm of Phillips and Associates help those who have been harmed by the prescription drug receive the compensation they may phillipslaw.com/html/defective_drugs.html

Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers - Debt Relief Attorney AZ Phoenix, Tucson
Arizona bankruptcy lawyers can help you get out of debt and on the road to financial stability. Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common
 
Attorneys at Law
In Phoenix, the wrongful death attorneys with Phillips and Associates will fight Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " Your phillipslaw.com/html/wrongful_death.html

Fosamax®Injury Attorneys Serving Phoenix, Arizona Phillips&Associates
The Fosamax® injury attorneys at our Phoenix, Arizona firm help individuals suffering from osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), a serious disease linked to use of the drug. phillipslaw.com/html/fosamax.html

Phoenix criminal defense attorneys answer frequently asked questions
The Phoenix criminal defense attorneys with Phillips & Associates answer many frequently asked questions including when a criminal defense lawyer is needed, how to phillipslaw.com/html/criminal_law_faq.html

Our Phoenix, Arizona Mesothelioma (Asbestos) Lawyers Will Review Your Case
At the offices of Phillips and Associates in Phoenix, Arizona, our mesothelioma (asbestos cancer) lawyers can help those injured by asbestos exposure receive phillipslaw.com/html/mesothelioma_litigation.html

Phoenix DUI lawyers Frequently Asked Questions Phillips and Associates
Our Phoenix DUI lawyers answer frequently asked questions concerning what DUI is, hiring a lawyer, what to do if stopped for DUI, and DUI tests.
phillipslaw.com/html/dui_faq.html

Phillips and Associates, Arizona personal injury, bankruptcy
Phillips and Associates in Arizona has provided this site map so you can learn Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " Your phillipslaw.com/html/site_map.html

Qualified Guidant Defibrillator Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona–Recall
The Guidant Defribrillator lawyers with Phillips & Associates in Phoenix, Arizona are currently handling cases involving heart defibrillator failure and phillipslaw.com/html/guidant_defibrillator.html

Tucson, Phoenix slip and fall lawyers, property accident attorneys
In the Phoenix area, the slip and fall lawyers with Phillips and Associates fight to ensure the victims in premises liability lawsuits receive the compensation they phillipslaw.com/html/premises_liability.html

About our Phoenix and Tucson personal injury attorneys and Phillips and
The Tucson and Phoenix personal injury attorneys, criminal defense lawyers, and bankruptcy attorneys with Phillips and Associates provide experienced, aggressive phillipslaw.com/html/about.html

Phoenix and Tucson product liability lawyers Attorneys at Law
In Arizona, our Tucson and Phoenix product liability lawyers fight for your Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " Your
phillipslaw.com/html/product_liability.html

Phoenix, Arizona DUI and Criminal Defense Attorney Jeffrey Phillips
Jeffrey Phillips is a successful Phoenix, Arizona DUI and criminal defense attorney with the firm of Phillips and Associates. Mr. Phillips has years of trial phillipslaw.com/html/about-jeffrey-phillips.html

Contact our Phoenix personal injury attorneys at Phillips and Associates
Contact Phillips and Associates in Phoenix - Attorneys for personal injury, bankruptcy, criminal defense or DUI defense representation. We handle all personal phillipslaw.com/html/contact.html

Phoenix DUI attorneys Types of drunk driving cases Phillips and
The Phoenix DUI attorneys with Phillips and Associates discuss types of DUI cases including first offense, second offense, extreme, and aggravated DUI cases. phillipslaw.com/html/dui_types.html

Criminal defense attorneys Phoenix What to do if Arrested
Our criminal defense attorneys in Phoenix with the law firm of Phillips and Associates discuss what happens after an arrest including Miranda rights, warrants, bail, phillipslaw.com/html/criminal_law_arrested.html

Phoenix criminal defense attorneys explain various criminal charges
The Phoenix criminal defense attorneys with Phillips and Associates represent defendants in many different types of cases including murder, sex crimes, domestic phillipslaw.com/html/criminal_law_offenses.html

Phoenix, Arizona Mesothelioma and Asbestos Attorneys Phillips and
In Phoenix and across Arizona, the mesothelioma (asbestos cancer) attorneys with Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " Your phillipslaw.com/html/about-mesothelioma.html

Phoenix DUI lawyers DUI Penalties Phillips and Associates
Our Phoenix DUI lawyers with Phillips and Associates explain the penalties involved with the various drunk driving offenses, including the Ignition Interlock Device. phillipslaw.com/html/dui_penalties.hml

Phoenix DUI lawyers DUI Penalties Phillips and Associates
Our Phoenix DUI lawyers with Phillips and Associates explain the penalties involved with the various drunk driving offenses, including the Ignition Interlock Device. phillipslaw.com/html/dui_penalties.html

Our Phoenix personal injury attorneys answer frequently asked questions
Our Phoenix personal injury attorneys answer questions regarding the filing of personal injury lawsuits, compensation, and more. phillipslaw.com/html/personal_injury_faq.html

Phoenix criminal lawyers explain your rights if charged with a crime
The Phoenix criminal lawyers with Phillips & Associates explain your rights if arrested, including your right to an attorney, right to a jury trial, and right to phillipslaw.com/html/criminal_law_rights.html

Phoenix dog bite and personal injury lawyers - Other injury causes of
Our Phoenix lawyers represent dog bite and other personal injury victims, including plane crash, construction site, airbag accident, lead paint ingestion, head phillipslaw.com/html/other.html

Phillips and Associates Arizona Personal injury, bankruptcy, criminal
Phillips and Associates in Arizona is one of the largest consumer law firms in the state. Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common
phillipslaw.com/html/recent_news.html

Trasylol® Litigation Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona–Phillips&Associates
Get Trasylol information from our lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona. Your Rights If Stopped Or Arrested " DUI Process & Common Defenses " Your Driver's License " phillipslaw.com/html/trasylol.html

Phoenix bankruptcy lawyers Fee and Payment Terms Phillips and
At Phillips and Associates, our Phoenix bankruptcy lawyers will calculate your fees and costs and create an affordable payment plans that fits your budget.
phillipslaw.com/html/bankruptcy_fees.html

Why you need the Phoenix personal injury attorneys with Phillips and
Discover why our Phoenix personal injury attorneys are the best choice to represent your legal interests after a motor vehicle accident, wrongful death, or other phillipslaw.com/html/personal_injury_lawyer.html

Tucson DUI defense attorneys legal and defense process Phillips and
The Tucson DUI defense attorneys with Phillips and Associates discuss the DUI process, including arrest, trial, and sentencing, and DUI defenses including challenges phillipslaw.com/html/dui_process.html

ReNu with MoistureLoc Eye Solution Recall Due to Infections Facts
Lawsuits involving the ReNu with MoistureLoc recall can be handled by the To view this, you need to install the Flash Player 7. Please go to here and
phillipslaw.com/html/renu-eye-solution.html

UnitedStatesCentralCommand.com