The following was documented by a Grandezza resident who was smart enough not to be convinced by a scammer to pay $30,000 to avoid immediate arrest:
Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 3:20 PM
Someone left a message on my phone identifying themselves as Lt. John Stewart calling from 239-392-6892. I answered the call when that phone number came up on my cell phone just a couple of minutes later. Long story short, the Lieutenant claimed I had failed to answer a jury summons to appear in Federal Court this morning and the judge had issued a bench warrant for my immediate arrest. However, if I would pay an “Assurance Bond” of $30,000.00 at some kiosk whose address they were going to give me, they wouldn’t send a deputy to my house today to arrest me. When I appeared skeptical, the Lieutenant transferred the call to Capt. Tim Palmer. He suggested he would give me options to avoid arrest, but I had to act immediately because the judge wanted me immediately arrested. The scary thing is they described the signature they had on the original summons, and it sounded like my actual unique signature and stated my actual home address.
Anyway, I realized it was a scam and eventually just hung up and then called Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Before I could barely ask if they had a Lt. John Stewart on staff, the woman told me that they have been overrun with calls about this scam, and in most cases, the people had paid whatever they could muster for the so-called bond. She told me I was one of the few lucky ones.
I think this scam warrants communication to Grandezza residents to warn them. These guys were very believable.
Signed by a Grandezza resident.
