Latest news with #GeorgeEaston
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
‘My house, farm and barn are all being double taxed – this is a wealth tax'
A 77-year-old pensioner has been left with an £11,000 council tax bill after his house, farm and barn annexe were all deemed to be his second homes. George Easton, a retired chartered surveyor, has been left in a bizarre battle between two councils with neither authority acknowledging which of his homes is his main residence. Mr Easton, who owns a terraced house in Norwich and a farm cottage complete with a barn annexe 20 miles away in Eccles-on-Sea, has been charged double council tax bills on all three properties. Both Norwich City Council and North Norfolk District Council have assumed the property in its authority is a second home and applied a 100pc premium from April 1. It meant Mr Easton, who lives alone, is paying the equivalent of six council tax bills amounting to £11,314 a year. He told The Telegraph: 'Somewhere, there is a house with six people in it, and I am paying 36 times as much as one of them. They are sharing one council tax between the six, and I am a single person paying six council taxes. 'All it is is a wealth tax. Why they don't call it that, I don't know.' Norfolk has one of the highest proportions of second home owners in the country with one in 10 properties in North Norfolk being a second home.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Milwaukee prostitution crime ring; retired judge pleads guilty, fined
MILWAUKEE - One of the men charged in connection with a Milwaukee prostitution ring pleaded no contest to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges and was fined. In court on Monday, May 12, 2025, 77-year-old George Easton, a retired municipal judge, pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduction, and was fined a total of $1,000 ($500 per count). He has until Nov. 12, 2025 to pay the fine. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News In April, one of the other people charged in connection with the prostitution ring was fined. The backstory Five additional men are charged in connection with a prostitution ring. This comes after a former Milwaukee public defender was charged for representing someone he was paying for sex. The new charges are filed against the following: 50-year-old David Ornstein, a Milwaukee firefighter 76-year-old George Easton, a retired Kenosha County municipal judge 53-year-old Leroy Stewart, a funeral director inOak Creek 55-year-old Christopher Reigg 59-year-old William Green Prosecutors say a prostitution ring was operating for years out of an apartment building near 29th and Kilbourn. In 2022, a woman reported it to Milwaukee police. That same woman was later convicted for keeping a place of prostitution – her attorney said she was a victim of sex trafficking. Prosecutors say Ornstein, a firefighter, exchanged texts with prostitutes who he met up with. Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said he is aware of the charges – and launched an internal investigation. Investigators say Stewart runs a funeral home in Oak Creek. Text messages show he exchanged money for sex every two to three weeks. Reigg told police he was being blackmailed. Prosecutors say he engaged in prostitution once a week from 2021 to 2023. Green told police he spent time at the Kilbourn apartment to take a break from his wife. Police say his phone records show text messages consistent with prostitution. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android Easton, a retired Kenosha County judge, told investigators he paid $200 per hour to engage in prostitution. All of this is part of the same investigation in which 54-year-old Travis Schwantes is charged in. The former criminal defense lawyer is facing several felonies – including misconduct in office by falsifying records. He is also accused of representing someone that he was paying money for sex. The Source FOX6 originally reported on the prostitution ring with information provided by the criminal complaint. Sentencing information is publicly available on the Wisconsin Court Access Website.
