For some time now, legal proceedings have been going on in regards to filing charges of Civil Theft against Cecil Hodge of Florida.  This is a result of Mr. Hodge retaining artifacts and not paying for them.  Mr. Hodge owed myself the amount of $2,395.00 for artifacts that I sent to him and he was unwilling to pay for or return, but continued to sell those artifacts.

In all reality, I do not expect to collect the final judgment from Mr. Hodge, but will be taking further action in that regards.  It cost myself over $4,300 in attorney fees to prosecute Mr. Hodge, and there will be more expenses still to come.  The principal of the matter is what is most important to me in a case like this, and I could not let it go, even it would be at further expense with little chance of actually recovering the money.

If you have bought an artifact from Mr. Cecil Hodge that was one of those involved in this case, there is no need to be concerned.  If you purchased any of the artifacts from Mr. Cecil Hodge that he did not pay for, you have full legal right to keep them and do with them as you please due to the way this matter handled from the start.  I will not be attempting to recover any of those artifacts from their current owners and the matter of the judgment is now final, but will be willing to assist them in ensuring that proper information that was given to those who obtained them from Mr. Cecil Hodge.  It has been brought to my attention that provenance and things of that nature may not have been relayed accurately in regards to some of those pieces.  That may also pertain to some which may have been authenticated as well, in which the authenticator would not have known that the information was inaccurate, and was provided by the current possessor at that time..

Below is a scanned copy of the final judgment letter just sent to me for everyone to see.  It shows that Mr. Cecil Hodge now has a judgment against him in the amount of $14,105.95 as of August 12, 2005 and will also bear interest on that amount until paid.

I for one will no longer ever have anything to do with Cecil Hodge, unless it is in regards to this case and judgment.  I only present this information to everyone to help in better informing them of what can happen when dealing with someone of this nature.  I will not go into too much detail so that I ensure everything is kept completely factual and is now a matter of public record.