Freezone news: LRH 2.0 indicted by grand jury, new center opens in Buenos Aires

When we got an Anderson County, Tennessee law enforcement official on the phone last November to tell him we were inquiring about someone in his jail, we explained that although the inmate appeared as “Lafayette Ronald Hubbard” in his records, we also knew the prisoner as a California ex-con named Justin Craig.

At that point, we were told that in Tennessee, Craig/Hubbard was also known by yet another name.

“His street name is ‘the Beast’,” the law enforcement official told us.

Whoa. Well, ‘the Beast’ was certainly amassing an interesting record, after claiming to be the reincarnation of Scientology’s founder and, as “LRH 2.0,” the source of a new, improved version of the Bridge to Total Freedom he called “Esperianism.”

Oldtimers tell us that it’s not unusual since the death of L. Ron Hubbard in 1986 for claimants to show up saying they’re the reincarnation of the Great Thetan. But Craig/LRH 2.0 generated a surprising amount of buzz and attention when he showed up on the scene among Scientology “independents” or “Freezoners” in the Seattle area.

We had a lot of fun in 2018 messaging with “Lafayette” and revealing that as Craig he had a pretty extensive criminal background, including some attempted carjackings and a four-year prison sentence in California.

And now, in Tennessee, he was facing some pretty serious charges, but they had been forwarded to a grand jury and so we just had to wait to see how things were going to turn out.

This past week we learned that the grand jury has indicted LRH 2.0 on multiple charges, and he was arraigned again yesterday. According to the indictments, which we obtained from the county, Craig/LRH 2.0 is facing trial on these counts which originally put him in Anderson County jail in October: Assault with serious bodily injury; possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell; possession of fentanyl with intent to sell; and possession of baggies and scales used for packaging of controlled substances.

He’s also facing three counts for “recklessly causing bodily harm” on December 31 to three persons, who were presumably fellow inmates or jail guards.

The great thing about the Scientology Freezone is that there are still former Church of Scientology members who think Justin Craig was actually a new manifestation of Hubbard, and was releasing a better Bridge. Only a few months ago some of these charmingly gullible folks were talking about raising money to bail him out ahead of trial.

In other Freezone news, chalk one up for the believers in Buenos Aires, who recently opened up a new “Ron’s Org” there. Yes, a physical space for Scientology practiced outside the official church, a rarity in the world of independent Hubbardism.

And it comes at a time when David Miscavige has still not opened any of the promised new Ideal Orgs that were nearly finished when the pandemic hit, in places like Austin and Chicago.

Dave’s still holding back on opening his new cathedrals, but the indies in Buenos Aires beat him to the punch.

Tsk, tsk, Dave.

Technology Cocktail

“Some thetans are bigger than others. None are truly equal. But the degraded being is not necessarily a natively bad thetan. He is simply so PTS and has been for so long that it requires our highest level tech to finally undo it after he has scaled up all our grades. Degraded beings are about 18 to 1 over Big Beings in the human race (minimum ratio). So those who keep things going are few. And those who will make it without the steam of the few in our orgs behind them are zero. At the same time, we can’t have a world full of them and still make it. So we have no choice. And we can handle them, even when they cannot serve, at higher levels. This is really OT data but we need it at lower levels to get the job done.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1967

 
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Now available: Bonus for our supporters

Episode 10 of the Underground Bunker podcast has been sent out to paid subscribers, and Jefferson Hawkins helps us understand Scientology’s new marketing ploys. Meanwhile, we’ve made episodes 1 through 9 available to everyone, with such guests as Patty Moher, Geoff Levin, Pete Griffiths, Sunny Pereira, Bruce Hines, Jeffrey Augustine, and Claire Headley. Go here to get the episodes!

 
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Source Code

“I was in a hospital one time and my stomach wall wouldn’t heal. Been messed up. And so they kept feeding me custard. And after about the 465th custard, I just had some kind of an inkling I was coming around a little bit. Actually, what was wrong with me was I was utterly exhausted. I’d just been in combat theater after combat theater, you see, with no rest, no nothing between. And it sort of came to me that this was not the sort of a diet that I myself would select of my own free choice. So I used to slide out with a good-looking nurse, and — beg your pardon, she was a WAVE. And she knew where there was a wonderful Chinese noodle parlor. And so after I’d eat my custard, she would come in and we would go out the back gate and we’d go down and I’d have several egg foo yungs. And you know, soothing things like sweet and sour pork, you know, and so forth. I started to feel better, started to get back on my feet again. And it was those custards — I kept telling the doctors, you see — those custards were absolutely marvelous, particularly when served in Chinese restaurants under some other name. you weren’t supposed to eat anything else, you see. So then finally, finally, through the connivance of a couple of hospital corpsmen and several pals in the Marine, why, I got the wrong meal ticket issued to me, and there was a special diet table where they fed people nothing but steak! So I do know where all the steaks went that the civilians didn’t get, because they were all served at that table. Huge piles of steaks would come in, you see, and I’d demolish four or five of these steaks and feel much better. The medicos never found out about this. And I finally got restored to duty, ‘Certified for continental limits of the United States only. To stay where a proper diet and ration and adequate rest are assured.’ And of course, the next piece of paper back of that says, ‘Ordered to the Fifth Amphibious Force,’ you see.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 30, 1961

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“HATS: Lack of hattedness is what makes an activity look inefficient. It’s what makes lines rough. HASs and HCO are responsible for hatting. Full and competent Hatting makes an org efficient and easy to work in.” — The Commodore, August 30, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“It’s NOT ENOUGH to just be Scientologists or going up the Bridge. The World has gone crazy and it will only get worse. The Church of Scientology is nowhere on sight. Scientology has gotten a bad name. Not enough auditing is occurring not to say anything about making auditors. You want more? There is ONE more thing that is even worse: AI is coming, artificial intelligence and that will put even more Automaticity in life. People believe they are soulless bodies or even animals. That’s rather grim. Only a strong group of people who can work together can do something about it and be heard. I don’t see any other way.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1995: Pacific Bell provided Grady Ward with details of the scam run by Scientology investigators to get Grady’s phone records. “Dear Mr. Ward, I am providing this document as a confirmation of our verbal contact. At that time I indicated to you that a caller had contacted Pacific Bell and presented himself as you. The caller had sufficient identification and information about your account to convince us that he was in fact, Grady Ward. Despite the fact that we had attempted to secure your account via a password, the caller was so thoroughly convincing as he described ‘his recent stroke and the subsequent vision problems and memory loss that he had suffered’ that he effectively manipulated us into discussing your account. His act was very well rehearsed including labored breathing and slurred speech which resulted from the ‘stroke.’ He seemed most interested in changing his long distance company and confirming the amounts and dates of his most recent payments on both your accounts. Of course he wanted the password removed as well since he was no longer able to remember such things. It was not until after the close of the contact that my suspicions were aroused as I realized that the slurred speech had disappeared. At that point I contacted you by telephone and the ‘scam’ became apparent. Sincerely, Douglas E. Waterman, Manager”

 
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Random Howdy

“Mooser, I wish you would stop telling people to set their activity to private. It’s important to be able to read the previous comments to figure out if they’re some nutjob troll or a real Scientologist, for example.”

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial scheduled for October 11.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Arraigned on August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for October 24 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place, next status hearing October 25. Scientology petitioning US Supreme Court over appellate ruling.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology wants your toddler on the cans, and here’s evidence of it
[TWO years ago] Danny Masterson presses for Jane Does suing him to identify themselves as hearing nears
[THREE years ago] Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has some ideas about your ‘eternity’
[FOUR years ago] Kiosk-Gate: LAPD told Masterson accuser its Hollywood site was compromised by Scientology
[FIVE years ago] DOX: L. Ron Hubbard’s son called him a junkie and sex pervert in FBI’s Scientology files
[SIX years ago] Scientology petitions California Supreme Court over disqualified judge in forced-abortion case
[SEVEN years ago] ‘Miss Lovely’ in London: Paulette Cooper writes another chapter in her amazing story
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology training includes how to physically pull cash away from a reluctant patsy
[NINE years ago] BBC Tracks Down Audio of 7-Year-Old Scientologist Neil Gaiman
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Attacks The New Yorker. Hilarity Ensues.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 30, 2022 at 07:00

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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast