Judge gives stiffer jail time to man and elderly father

By Gerry May

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    BLANCHARD, La (KTBS) — It’s back to jail for the so-called Pallet Man and his elderly father — this time for 30 days. Caddo First Judicial District Judge Ramon Lafitte again found Marty and Charles Julian in contempt of his order to bring their junkyard property into compliance with the town’s ordinances.

“Shame on you for subjecting your father to jail, because you’re hard-headed and just bring excuses,” Judge Lafitte scolded Marty Julian.

“Why don’t you just put a bullet in his head?” Julian mumbled toward the town’s mayor, and calling him a vulgar name, as he was being handcuffed after the ruling.

Charles Julian, who owns the property, appears frail as he approaches age 82.

“I feel bad for the father. But he’s the one who lets this happen,” Mayor Jim Galambos said. “His son did it to him. Like the judge told him, ‘The town didn’t put you in jail. Your son did.'”

The Julians served ten days in jail in April when Judge Lafitte found them in contempt. Then on July 20, Lafitte gave the Julians a month to either sell the home or clean up the property. Neither happened. So the judge sent them to jail for 30 days.

Linda Estes, who lives across the street, isn’t sure 30 days is enough to get the Julians to comply.

“I think it’s going to have to be stiffer than that. I think it’ll still keep dragging on,” she said.

Wooden pallets and and lots of other junk are still piled up on the Julians property at the corner of Sand Valley and Jo Lacey. Marty Julian says he sells that junk to try to make a living. But the town says the Julians have no license to do that.

“The citizens have a right to maintain their property values. And the way it looks today, there’s just no way,” Galambos said. “It’s just a drag on this area. It’s an embarrassment for the town of Blanchard and for the neighbors.”

Estes became emotional as she talked about the eyesore that first developed in early 2017.

“This has been our home for 30-something years. I don’t even like to call it my home anymore because I have to look at this,” Estes said through tears.

“This has been devastating for me. I’ve always been proud of what I have, and what my husband has worked hard for years to get. And we have to live across from this,” she added, pointing to the Julian property.

Galambos says the town’s previous free offer to haul in a dumpster, let the Julians fill it up, and haul the junk away as many times as needed is still good. He hopes 30 days in jail will convince the Julians to take the offer.

If not, and the Julians still refuse to clean up the property, Galambos says they’ll be hauled back to court. Judge Lafitte has warned them of stiffer jail sentences, all the way to six months.

The mayor says the town paid $15,000 to clean the property up two years ago, only to see the Julians turn it back into a junkyard.

“We won’t do that again,” Galambos says.

That was the point when the court process began, which is now seeing the town and the judge clamp down harder.

Galambos says the Julians have $85,000 in debt on the house, which turned a potential buyer away.

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