VIA Email: ddeluca@rlcarriers.

com

December 8, 2016

Mr. Donald R. DeLuca

Vice President & General Counsel
Florida Bar No. 116503
Authorized House Counsel
R.L.R. Investments, L.L.C.
7340 N. U.S. HWY 27
Ocala, FL 34482
Dear Mr. DeLuca,
This concerns the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club, 8300 NW 31st Lane Rd, Ocala, FL
34482, Tel. (352) 629-6229, and a possible link to the Marion County Bar Association, Inc.,
Florida Rigged Judicial Elections and Circuit Judge Ann Melinda Craggs, et al.
My letter November 29, 2016 to Kenneth Detzner, Secretary of State, shows certain judicial
elections are rigged in Florida. I believe rigging, planning and strategy takes place off the record,
by and through entities like the Marion County Bar Association, Inc.. I was amazed to find on
Facebook photographic evidence of certain judges frolicking with lawyers at Golden Ocala on
May 6, 2016 during the Law Day Luncheon hosted by the Marion County Bar Association, Inc.
Does Golden Ocala provide free or discounted food and entertainment to judges and lawyers?
This is a request for information, specifically how judges and lawyers participate in events at
Golden Ocala hosted by the Marion County Bar Association, or other organizations.
The immediate past-president, Gregory C. Harrell, refused to comment. The current president,
Robert Batsel, has not provided information. I have attached our emails.
You may agree that fair and honest judicial elections are important to our democratic republic
style of government. Your response, if any, is purely voluntary at this time. Thank you.
Sincerely,

Neil J. Gillespie
8092 SW 115th Loop
Ocala, Florida 34481
Tel. 352-854-7807
Email: neilgillespie@mfi.net
Enclosures, Golden Ocala background information
Letter November 29, 2016 to Kenneth Detzner, Secretary of State, Rigged Judicial Elections
Facebook photos, Marion County Bar Association, Inc., and background information

OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Don DeLuca, Vice President and General Counsel
Don DeLuca graduated from the State University of New York at Oswego
in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing Arts and a
minor in Philosophy. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Ohio Northern
University College of Law in 1994. After graduation, he joined the law
firm of Brimley, Kostyo & Lather, L.P.A. as an associate attorney, focusing his practice on
commercial transactions, bankruptcy and general litigation. In 1996, Don joined R+L Carriers, Inc.
as Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department with day to day responsibilities
including real estate transactional work, corporate transactional work, claims management
and litigation. He rapidly rose to the position of Vice President of Legal and has managed the
Corporate Legal Department since 2002.
Working directly with the Roberts family, Don was instrumental in the formation and growth
of R.L.R. Investments, L.L.C., one of the familys real estate investment companies. He serves
as Vice President and General Counsel for all corporations and as the private attorney for the
Roberts family. Don is also responsible for the formation, growth and management of the
Royal Shell Companies, which comprises vacation rental, property management and real
estate brokerage companies; the Paramount Companies, which comprises truck brokerage,
logistics and owner-operator based long haul trucking; and the AFC Companies, which comprises
airfreight forwarding, all aspects of logistics and supply chain 3PL solutions. He handles all
corporate acquisitions, commercial real estate investments, and construction law, tax/finance
and other corporate matters.

GoldenOcal a.com

855.80.OC AL A

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Donald R. DeLuca
Authorized House Counsel

Limited Practice of Law in Florida

Bar Number:

116503

Mail Address:

Email:

R&L Carriers, Inc.

7290 College Pkwy Ste 400
Fort Myers, FL 33907-5650
United States
Office: 239-275-2376
Fax: 239-275-5148
ddeluca@rlcarriers.com

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www.floridabar.org/mybarprofile/116503

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County:

Lee

Circuit:

20

Admitted:

06/04/2015

10-Year Discipline

None

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RULE 17-1.2 DEFINITIONS

17 AUTHORIZED HOUSE COUNSEL RULE
17-1 GENERALLY

RULE 17-1.2 DEFINITIONS

(a) Authorized House Counsel. An "authorized house counsel" is any person who:
(1) is exclusively employed by a business organization located in the state of Florida and is residing in Florida or relocating to
the state of Florida in furtherance of such employment within 6 months of such application under this chapter and receives or
shall receive compensation for activities performed for that business organization;
(2) has complied with rule 17-1.4; and
(3) has been certified as an authorized house counsel by the Supreme Court of Florida.
(b) Business Organization. A "business organization" for the purpose of this rule is a corporation, partnership, association or other
legal entity (taken together with its respective parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates) authorized to transact business in this state that is
not itself engaged in the practice of law or the rendering of legal services outside such organization, whether for a fee or otherwise,
and does not charge or collect a fee for the representation or advice other than to entities comprising such organization by the
activities of the authorized house counsel. For purposes of this rule, a "business organization" does not include:
(1) a governmental entity, governmental subdivision, political subdivision, or school board;
(2) or any other entity that has the authority to levy a tax.
[Revised: 02/01/2010]

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http://www.ocala.com/news/20160831/equine-development-planned-near-golden-ocala

Wednesday
Posted Aug31,2016at5:47PM
Updated Aug31,2016at6:24PM

By Fred Hiers
@Hiersnews

Larry Roberts' interest in Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club extends beyond its walls
now that the trucking company magnate has bought more than 700 nearby acres with plans
to build an equestrian residential community.
The businessman made his fortune when he built the Ohio-based R + L Carriers interstate
trucking company and later RLR Investments LLC. The locally well-known philanthropist
also owns a nearly 1,250-acre quarter horse farm in Reddick and the former Taylor, Bean &
Whitaker mortgage building in Ocala.
For this latest enterprise he paid $10.74 million for eight parcels totaling 734 acres. All the
sales were completed in August, according to land records on file with the Marion County
Clerk of the Circuit Court.
Many of the parcels are contiguous and next to or close to land that Roberts already owns,
namely through RLR Investments LLC. In this case, some of the land is near 427 acres that
RLR owns right next to Golden Ocala.
All but one of the buyers in the August land deals were newly formed limited liability
companies whose names correspond to the purchased property's parcel number. The
companies all share the same mailing address, which is the same as RLR Investments in
Ohio.
Don DeLuca, vice president and general counsel for all the Roberts' companies, responded to
the Star-Banner's questions in writing. "We are in the planning stages for adding an
equestrian element to Golden Ocala commensurate with the high quality of Golden Ocala,"

12/7/2016 3:46 PM

http://www.ocala.com/news/20160831/equine-development-planned-near-golden-ocala

he wrote.
Asked whether the new development would be an expansion of Golden Ocala or a
stand-alone community, DeLuca replied, "We are in the planning stages and that is yet to be
determined."
Asked about the density of the planned community, DeLuca replied: "We are in the planning
stages and that has yet to be determined, but we very rarely go the route of high-density
residential."
Asked whether the new community would offer amenities similar to those at Golden Ocala
including tennis, fine dining and a golf course, DeLuca said only that the community would
be an equestrian one and include residential equestrian. A start date for construction has not
been determined yet.
Asked if Roberts was looking to buy more land for the project or looking to work with area
landowners so they might be part of the planned development, DeLuca replied, "No, we are
not looking for additional land. We have what we need but would be willing to consider
additional, contiguous property."
Local developer John Brunetti's Golden Ocala LLC owns several hundred acres between
Golden Ocala, RLR Investment land and the parcels that the Roberts-connected properties
just purchased last month.

12/7/2016 3:46 PM

http://www.ocala.com/news/20160831/equine-development-planned-near-golden-ocala

Much of the recently purchased land is zoned for rural use. Marion County zoning officials
say there has not been any request to change it. However, 475 acres of the 734 acres already
is zoned for low and medium residential use.
Roberts bought Golden Ocala in 1999 after several failed starts by other developers. He
poured millions of dollars into the project and it now includes not only a world-class golf
course but also tennis, horseback riding trails, swimming, fine dining and a clubhouse.
To builders who are slowly digging their way out of the recession and a severe home
construction downturn, the announcement of a new development is reason to celebrate.
"As a business person that's good news," said John Thorman, executive officer of the Marion
County Building Industry Association. "It's a reflection of the economic recovery that's going
on in Ocala and Marion County."
And Roberts' willingness to spend money to buy land here and develop it reflects "faith in
the local economy," Thorman said.
Thorman said he hoped projects such as this one will add to the improving new home
construction industry, which is making a slow but steady improvement since the industry
was badly hurt during the recession.
"When people spend money locally it benefits local businesses and everybody benefits and
that's good for everybody," he said.
Thorman said Roberts' plan for an equine community in Marion County is a logical step
considering the county's existing horse industry which is supported by skilled equine
professionals and employs thousands of people locally.
"We have a robust, thriving horse community in Marion County already. So this is just a
natural outgrowth of that industry," he said.
And a new equine-oriented community will help attract more jobs to the area, he said.
Building the new homes will also employ many construction laborers, skilled craftsmen and
generate business for those who supply building materials, he said.
But not everyone is enthusiastic about the project - at least until all the details are in.
Guy Marwick, executive director of the Felburn Foundation and an environmentalist, said
that more should be learned about the future community's water needs and pollution
generated from such things as fertilizer and animal waste.
"We never seem to stop construction and development...;even when it's not needed,"
Marwick said.

12/7/2016 3:46 PM

http://www.ocala.com/news/20160831/equine-development-planned-near-golden-ocala

"We're running out of water. We're already over allocated. I guess we'll stop when the wells
go dry," he said.
Marwick said he didn't oppose growth, or necessarily this proposed development, but that
growth needed to be well planned and resources conserved.
"We're losing our water because we have growth without a plan," he said. "No one ever has
enough."
Reach Fred Hiers at fred.hiers@starbanner.com and 352-397-5914.

12/7/2016 3:46 PM