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Purpose of this Website

What has started as a small personal complaint has now grown into a business community problem within the Columbus GA area. There have been many individuals and companies affected by the unethical and questionable actions of Cobra Collection Agency and Janice B. Ledden, the President and Owner.

Cobra Collection collects monies from debtors for their business clients but never pay them their share. Further, if they do pay, the checks are returned NSF. There have been many bad checks issued. One claim is that they will "raid" a bank account even after a debt has been paid. These are indisputable and can be corroborated by several parties.

This website has been created to assist the many "clients" (victims) of Cobra Collections. There is valuable information here so that the "clients" know who and what they are up against. There is also recourse. The wheels of justice turn slowly but they do turn if you have the right information. In the Greater Columbus GA and Phenix City AL area, there are few people that know the full story. They only know their very small piece. This informational website will attempt to paint a more fuller picture of the current situation. Telling the truth is a good offense (and defense) against those who wish to make an ongoing effort to scam others.

Disclaimer: Efforts has been made to keep the contents of this page factual and objective. This project is an entirely voluntary effort and I receive no compensation for doing this. In fact, I am paying in with my time, energy, and maintenance cost for this website. I simply cannot stand by knowing that I can do something about it.

Janice & Michael are currently living (and hiding) in Fairbanks Alaska (Updated: 1/16/08)

It has been confirmed. I cannot reveal my source but as of December 22, 2007, I received reliable information that Janice & Michael Ledden and his children are in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Internet Traffic from Fairbanks Alaska (Updated: 7/15/07)

Periodically, I get curious about what kind of Internet traffic my websites get. And seeing that I have strong reason to believe Janice & Michael are now residing in Fairbanks, Alaska, I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of Internet traffic came from Alaska. After all, why would anyone in Alaska have interest in such a local Columbus, Georgia issue? Readers in Alaska would have to have some connection to me or Columbus, GA to be reading this site.

Take a look at what I found in my Internet traffic logs searching on "alaska" shows. Notice the amount of data in megabytes (MB) and the dates. Example: "14 July 2007" = "July 14, 2007"

216-67-41-44-cdsl-rb1.fai.acsalaska.net 28 87 39.89 MB 14 Jul 2007 - 03:35

216-67-49-52-cdsl-rb1.fai.acsalaska.net 14 49 19.06 MB 09 Jul 2007 - 15:58

66-230-88-24-dial-as2.nwc.acsalaska.net 6 28 14.45 MB 15 Jul 2007 - 16:14

216-67-70-17-dsl-rb1.fai.acsalaska.net 4 14 7.25 MB 12 Jul 2007 - 14:47

66-230-85-187-cdsl-rb1.fai.acsalaska.net 3 14 7.22 MB 14 Jul 2007 - 15:14

216-67-40-12-cdsl-rb1.fai.acsalaska.net 3 14 7.22 MB 13 Jul 2007 - 12:10

ACSAlaska.net points to Alaska Communication Systems servicing the Alaska area. It appears that ACS provides all kinds of telecommunication services for Alaska which includes mobile phones and Internet access.

Even more interesting is "fai" which is probably short for "fairbanks". "dsl" & "cdsl" appear to be high-speed connections. And "dial" appear to be slow, dial-up or cell phone connections.

There is a good amount of data being downloaded into Alaska. Keep in mind this proves very little except there is someone or some people in Alaska greatly interested in the information on this website. It is not "passing through" traffic. There is actually some serious reading and downloading going on in Fairbanks, Alaska. Who could it be? Virginia or her husband? Friends or family of Virginia? Janice or Michael?

If you happen to be an interested reader from Alaska not associated with Janice or Michael, please identify yourself so we can separate your traffic from the others.

Welcome to the State of Alaska? (Updated: 7/15/07)

I now have reason to believe that Janice & Michael Ledden have recently moved to Alaska. It has been difficult to determine this as I have waited for corroborating reports and sources. I now have sufficient information/evidence to support the Alaska assertion. The exact reason why they seem to have chosen Alaska is still unclear. Various theories have been given but it has been difficult to verify with any degree of certainty. I am writing this in hopes that someone will "fill in the large gaps" of information we do not have.

One theory is that it is easy for people to "get lost" and restart in Alaska. Another theory is that Janice is trying to reconnect with daughter, Virginia, who is likely to be in Alaska. Another theory is that Michael may have spent some time in Alaska during his time in the military.

Regardless of the actual reason, I strongly believe Janice & Michael are now in Alaska. It would appear they have taken their personal belongings and driven there. There is speculation that John B. Young may have gone with them to Alaska.

The best guess we have is that Janice and Michael met up with Virginia in Fairbanks, Alaska. If Virginia's husband is in the U.S. Army, they would be staying near Ft. Wainright or Ft. Greely. If Virginia does assist Janice, Michael, and family, let us hope she is not foolish enough to do so on military base. I hear that is really a bad thing to house civilians IF you live on base. We are in process of finding out more details.

If Janice and Michael are stupid enough to start another collection agency business in Alaska, it will be a simple matter to contact the TV stations and connect them with WTVM and WRBL here in Columbus. Of course, I expect they will change their names to aliases. Any search on Janice's various names or Michael's will certainly turn up this website.

I would appreciate it if anyone who has additional information on their whereabouts in Alaska to report in.

Current State of Michael Ledden's Children? (Updated: 8/1/07)

Up to this point (with only one exception), I have avoided writing commentary about Michael Ledden's children. My one article was actually a plea to Michael Ledden to get out of the situation for his children's benefit, if not for himself. However, he has clearly ignored that plea.

Some reports are coming in that biggest victims of this Cobra Collection scam is not the ex-clients, ex-employees, ex-vendors, and debtors. I am beginning to believe that the highest price being paid are by Michael Ledden's children.

I have been somewhat uncomfortable, in fact almost avoiding, the issue of the children. It is a very uncomfortable subject for me to write for a variety of reasons. One reason is that I am trying to respect the fact they are minors and they are not responsible for their parent's/step-parent's actions. Another reason is that I have no children of my own and I do not what to sound like I am preaching to people how parents should raise their children. Another reason is that I feel like I am getting into very "personal" territory.

However, in light of recent reports, I can no longer ignore what I have learned. There is some disturbing information which has been provided to me. It is simply too hard for me to keep it to myself especially when I feel something has to be done. I have received some very disturbing information regarding the current state of the children. Because of the delicate nature of the information I am getting, I will be taking my time to trickle this information out as I think through the possible ramifications of some of this information coming out. It is not meant to be a "tease". I simply don't want to say something I cannot take back.

I am still thinking about what information to release.

Where There is Smoke, There is Fire (Updated: 6/15/07)

So much talk has been generated in the business community because of the Cobra Collection scam, the TV news coverage, and this website. Can any of you imagine how big this has gotten so quickly because of a tiny website?

Public statements to the media by Janice either shows she is in denial or she is simply lying. She has portrayed herself as a victim of embezzlement, out-of-control expenses, unethical employees, unfair portrayal by this website, gross exaggeration of "facts", personal attacks, and so forth. Let us think about this rationally.

There is a saying, "where there is smoke, there is fire". The problem with the Cobra Collection situation is that the smoke didn't point to a little cozy campfire. People can forgive and deal with small fires. Unfortunately, the smoke pointed to an absolute fire bomb and explosion waiting to go off because of the fuels of frustration, lies, denials, empty excuses, suspicions of theft, and blaming.

All this website did was provide the spark and a bit of oxygen. The fuel was all there and there were barrels of it. I did not provided the fuel, we only provided the oxygen. But remember, no matter how many sparks you light and how much oxygen you dump, there can be no fire (in this case, an explosion) without the fuel.

All these people had all this "fuel" (frustration, anger, betrayal, disappointment, guilt, payback, suspicion, etc) pent up for the last couple of years and wanted to release it somewhere. They could not release it to the BBB because all they could do is take reports. They could not release it to the police because it was "a civil matter". They could not release it to the court system because there was insufficient proof. Janice knew all of this. That is why she often used "coercive words" to keep her employees in line or threatened others (including me!) with a lawsuit if we spoke publicly about it. Or with dissatisified clients, she would boldly tell them to sue her knowing that most people either did not have the internal fortitude, the absolute evidence, or the know how to do it. And if they won, so what? She would just get a slap on the hand. Bottom line, she would not be afraid of anything short of bodily harm or incarceration.

Janice knows that most of us in respectable businesses do not engage in "thug" behavior. We are civilized people and we simply don't go around beating up people when people do wrong. I will admit to you, I have had thoughts of someone bodyslamming her, but we all can fantasize right? But at the end of the day, I, along with everyone else, basically would not resort to "thug" behavior and she knew it.

And, of course, who would come defend the debtors? After all, even the business clients were after them to pay. It has been amazing to actually see that debtors and business join forces against a collection agency! Hollywood could not have made up this stuff if they tried! Suing and collecting from a collection agency because they were bullying the debtors and stealing from the clients? What the hell. What a weird concept.

Talk about burning a candle on both ends. There are no candles that exist for the different ways she was burning it. However, one thing I will give credit to Janice for is she was an equal-opportunity burner! She didn't discriminate much and I have taken it much less personally than before the stories came in. From all the calls and emails, it came in from all directions. She burned the debtors, her clients, her vendors, the banks, her landlords, and even her employees! Heck, even her family has been burned by sheer association with her. I feel really bad for them. I would be so embarassed.

I have said before that I have done my best to report the facts. It is entirely possible I got some of it wrong. If so, I will publicly admit it. But it will take more than empty words and claims. In a court of law, you can pull all kinds of technical crap to get off the hook. In the court of public opinion, people know better. And it isn't like, we don't have anything in our hands to show either. But I don't see anyone from the Cobra side offering to show evidence that there was embezzlement, spiraling expenses, unethical employees, etc.

We only see and hear evidence of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, plastic surgery, outrageous eBay purchases, a hot tub, a trip to Hawaii, living up near the Maple Ridge area, two new vehicles, etc. Sure, there were a lot of other business expenses. All businesses have them. Many have gone out of business but they didn't have people coming to them accusing them of criminal behavior! They simply went bankrupt with no charges of criminal behavior. Even the vendors and utility companies are indicating non-payment! Basically, it appears to be a "look out for Janice and Michael first" philosophy. Let the clients, debtors, vendors, landlords, and employees all hang.

Gee, I cannot imagine why anyone would get upset and occasionally make a personal attack. After all, who runs and operates a small company? We are not talking about GE, Ford, GM, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, or any other huge conglomerates here. We are talking about the independent entrepreneur and small business. Incorporated or not, people know the truth. "The corporation" did not make the decisions, people did. The owners and management did. It will be natural that people will want justice from the owners.

Addtionally, corporate protection only applies to those that make reasonable efforts to operate as a separate entity. The "corporate veil" can be pierced and corporate protection does not defend anyone from criminal behavior. The corporate checking account is not a personal checking account to pull anytime you want or spend recklessly. It would be interesting to see the paper trail and the detailed statements of the bank accounts.

There are several sayings that apply here. "You reap what you sow". "What goes around, comes around." I wonder if Janice and Michael are getting the life lesson at all. Life on the lam is going to be rough.

Good Luck to Everyone in Getting Satisfaction!

Television News Stories (Updated: 12/14/07)

WTVM Channel 9: July 6, 2007 - 6pm broadcast. Read the article.

WRBL Channel 3: June 14, 2007 - 6pm broadcast. Read the article.

WTVM Channel 9: June 6, 2007 - 6pm broadcast. Read the article.

WTVM Channel 9: June 1, 2007 - 5pm broadcast. Read the article.

You can find more news broadcast videos here.

BONUS: You can also view additional video interviews & commentaries that go beyond the story on the news.

Janice is an Ex-Con and Convicted Felon (Updated: 6/6/07)

Perhaps the most startling piece of information that has surfaced and reported to me is that Janice Ledden was an ex-con and convicted felon. I was careful to check the facts on this one by verifying the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) website myself. WTVM-9 has supported this fact with their own news story.

It appears that Janice Ligon (GDC ID: 0000753726) was incarcerated from 7/20/1993 to 1/10/1995. It appears she was originally sentenced to 5 years for the major offense, "Theft by Taking", Case #315714. You can run the query from the GDC Inmate Query Screen yourself and type in "Ligon" in the last name field and "Janice" in the first name field. You will need to click "All offenders, past and present". You should get a result similar to the image shown here.

My Message to All Cobra Collections Ex-Employees (Updated: 6/11/07)

Having spoken to five ex-employees, I have a much better understanding to what you are experiencing now with your conflicting emotions of self-preservation vs. the guilt and worry.

Let me say that it is not my place to judge you. The five ex-employees who I have spoken to, I have tried to be respectful and sympathetic with. Not everything had to be explicitly told to me. I read between the lines that some of you may have crossed the line yourself of doing some questionable and unethical things for Cobra Collections and Janice. You obviously have been living with the stress and guilt of it all. The good news is, there is a way out.

I want to ease your mind that I believe whatever you may have done is by far secondary to Janice's extensive "troubled" history. I am not trying to be insulting to you but the good news is no one cares about going after you. You were "only an employee". Janice and Michael are the ones captaining the ship. Janice is the captain, Michael being the loyal, but obviously misguided and not too intelligent, first officer. They are responsible for perpetuating the scam and continue to run and hide like rats in the night. But they will eventually be flushed out by someone. And just realize they are being monitored from afar. There is no illegal stalking going on but there are a lot of people with their eyes peeled wandering throughout Columbus GA that are reporting in. None of those eyes are focused on you ex-employees from my side. I promise.

I believe I have respected the anonymity of every ex-employee. From what I have been told, Janice has a reputation of threatening others "if she goes down, you will too". That is absolutely not true. She is playing to your fears. Remember, she is a master manipulator. The reason that is not true is because Janice has zero credibility and her character is questionable in light of her past criminal record and bankruptcies. No one will believe her and everyone holds her accountable. She has a pattern of hiding, deception, and telling mistruths. I am very certain that you ex-employees cannot compare. And even if it does, the focus is not on you at all.

Ex-employees, it is entirely up to you whether you should speak up or not. However, just realize that you have never had more friends and allies on your side going against Janice and Michael. You are not alone and there has never been a better time to step up and help make things right. Even if some "dirt" were to come out on you, I would not disclose that information. Do the right thing, make yourself feel better, and tell someone.

If you don't, I believe you will pay a heavy price over time. It will eat you up inside. I believe the negative karma will follow you until you get rid of it. You will feel better trying to right the wrongs committed in the past. Regardless of whether or not you ever speak to me or anyone else, I hope you learned your lesson to never become involved or participate in illegal and unethical actions that could one day haunt you. I don't mean to sound "holier than thou" because I am far from perfect and that is not my intent. It is simply good advice for everyone to follow.