By Richard Luthmann
New Jersey Mom Monica Ciardi rots in Essex County Jail in Newark, New Jersey. This latest stint, not her first, began last October.
The State of New Jersey indicted her last month on several charges. However, it appears her only crime is that she wants to be a mother to her children, while her connected husband, John Uanis, and his new wife, Melanie Hemsey, will not allow it.
We just obtained a copy of the charging instrument.
The indictment confirms that Ciardi is indeed a “Family Court Hostage.” The charges levied:
Second Degree Falsely Incriminating Another (3)
Fourth Degree Harassment (1)
Fourth Degree Contempt (1)
All of these charges are FELONY CHARGES. This is a five-count indictment.
For each Second Degree charge, Ciardi faces a maximum sentence of TEN YEARS in prison, a $150,000 fine, and a felony record.
Ciardi faces a maximum of EIGHTEEN MONTHS in prison for each Fourth Degree charge, a $10,000 fine, and a felony record.
Ciardi will serve thirty-three years in jail and be fined $470,000 if convicted of all counts and sentenced concurrently.
Alleged Abuser John Uanis is the “Victim”
John Uanis, the ex-husband of Monica Ciardi, is a firearms instructor with deep ties to law enforcement, particularly within Morris County. His background and connections to local police agencies, including the Mendham Township Police Department, have raised serious concerns about institutional favoritism and the potential weaponization of law enforcement against Ciardi.
Court documents and witness statements suggest that Uanis leveraged his law enforcement relationships to intimidate and harass Ciardi, including allegedly using officers to monitor her movements and influence legal proceedings.
Multiple sources have pointed to close ties between Uanis and members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, raising questions about whether prosecutors acted independently or were unduly influenced in pursuing charges against Ciardi.
We attempted to contact Uanis and Hemsey for their side of things. All we received were threats from their scumbag Morristown Criminal Lawyer Joe Scurra. We believe Mr. Scurra was asleep the day they taught the First Amendment at law school, and he hasn’t had much use for it since, having practiced criminal law in Morris County, New Jersey.
Morris County’s top judge, Hon. Stuart Minkowitz, A.J.S.C., signed a conflict order on January 7, sending the case to adjoining Essex County (Newark, NJ). According to the indictment, Morris County’s top trial prosecutor went with it.
Margaret M. Calderwood signed the Essex County True Bill as “Acting Morris County Prosecutor.” According to the Morris County website, Prosecutor Calderwood “has prosecuted a significant number of high-profile cases and jury trials, including high-profile murder, aggravated manslaughter/vehicular homicide, and sexual assault cases.”
Why is such a distinguished prosecutor looking to put a NJ mom behind bars for decades? Is Monica Ciardi the Sean “Diddy” Combs or Luigi Mangione of Mendham, New Jersey?
Ciardi’s supporters argue that her opposition to the Mendham and Morris County establishment.
Uanis’s status as a firearms instructor should have led to greater scrutiny of domestic abuse allegations against him, as any credible accusation of violence could have resulted in the revocation of his firearms privileges.
Instead, law enforcement seemingly ignored the alarms, and Ciardi—who raised them—ended up behind bars.
The conflict of interest stemming from Uanis’s law enforcement connections has cast doubt on the legitimacy of Ciardi's prosecution and fueled suspicions that she is a political prisoner caught in a corrupt, retaliatory legal process.
The State Took Her Children Away
The State of New Jersey took Monica Ciardi’s children away on September 22, 2022. They were delivered to her ex-husband and alleged abuser, John Uanis.
Since then, Ciardi has been the target of the New Jersey political, governmental, and judicial establishment. She has been painted as “crazy” and “unfit.”
However, her supporters say she is doing what any protective mother would do.
Monica took to social media to expose her plight. She spoke directly to the judges she believes have enabled her abuser.
One of them is Judge Peter Bogaard.
Judge Bogaard called Monica “crazy” on the bench and lamented that he would have to wait a day to call Adult Protective Services to go pick her up.
Monica Ciardi is fighting for her children because that is all she knows how to do.
Initially, she asked for help. She begged and pleaded.
No one called. No one came. No one in the New Jersey government cared.
That first Christmas without them was especially difficult.
Come 2023, Monica took to social media to publicize her plight. She was caught in a situation where no one took her allegations of abuse seriously, in part because the consequences would mean firearm privilege revocation for Uanis.
In New Jersey, there is no exception to the prohibition of firearms while there is a restraining order. Presiding Morris County Family Court Judge James M. DeMarzo admitted as much from the bench, and Monica let the world know.
“Why is he the exception Morris County Prosecutor's Office? My children and I (not to mention the public) are entitled to live fear from him and his disregard for gun laws. He is violent, threatening and has lost control of himself at a hearing and physically stood up in his inability to control himself. Imagine that happening over and over again to me and our daughters. You had bailiffs rush in to surround him and stand in the aisle. Who do we have?”
Monica Ciardi has not seen her children in three and a half years.
Institutional Silver Bullets and DARVO
Michael Volpe is a journalist and expert in the family courts, particularly in the “Silver Bullet” technique.
The "Silver Bullet" strategy—a term for false domestic violence claims often used in divorce proceedings to gain an unfair advantage in custody and asset battles.
Monica Ciardi’s case is more than a private party’s misuse of the legal system for private gain. It may have begun as a ploy by Uanis and Hemsey to get Monica “out of the picture.” However, it appears the Morris County establishment is turbocharging Uanis’ claims, using its own courts and government machinery to protect against meritorious claims of impropriety and to silence a critic in favor of one of its own.
And it doesn’t stop with an “Institutional Silver Bullet.”
Dr. Jill Jones Soderman, Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for the Child Victims of the Family Courts (fcvfc.org), described the revelations as “judicially-turbocharged DARVO.”
DARVO is a psychological abuse tactic in which the abuser denies wrongdoing, attacks the victim, and reverses roles. According to Soderman, the transcript and recording indicate the New Jersey judiciary’s behavior aided and abetted the DARVO abuse.
“The appearance of impropriety is that a connected individual has turned the tables, accusing his ex-wife of being ‘crazy’ because she dared express her free speech rights to hold bad actors accountable. His legal contacts allowed him to exploit the system, frustrating efforts to hold him accountable while Monica Ciardi is locked up in chains.”
Soderman says the Ciardi case isn’t just judicial misconduct. “It’s systemic abuse.”
TO BE CONTINUED … MUCH MORE TO COME
CALL TO ACTION
TOMORROW - MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY - FAMILY COURT FRAUD WARRIOR RALLY
The Family Court Fraud Warrior Project, led by David Weigel, is taking the fight for justice and transparency to the streets with a massive protest this Friday, February 14, 2025, at the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown, New Jersey.
This rally is a call to action for all those outraged by the corruption, secrecy, and abuse of power in New Jersey’s weaponized family court system, which has turned innocent parents—especially mothers like Monica Ciardi—into political prisoners.
Ciardi, a mother jailed over Facebook posts and false allegations, is just one of many Family Court Hostages suffering under a broken system that silences whistleblowers, rewards abusers, and destroys families.
Weigel, a Wall Street fiduciary asset manager-turned-activist, has made it clear: “We will not stand by while our government engages in modern-day slavery. The people must rise up.”
Protesters will gather at 11:00 AM outside the Morris County Courthouse (Washington Street, Morristown, NJ 07960) to demand Ciardi’s immediate release, an investigation into prosecutorial misconduct, and full transparency in all family court and criminal proceedings.
This event is open to survivors of family court corruption, concerned citizens, legal experts, activists, concerned citizens, and all who want to expose the deep-seated fraud and judicial abuse destroying lives across the country.
“This is bigger than Monica,” Weigel said. “This is about every parent who has been silenced, every child who has been ripped from their family, and every judge and prosecutor who has put power over justice. It’s time to hold them accountable.”
Join the movement, stand up for the First Amendment, due process, and parental rights, and make your voice heard—because if they can do this to Monica Ciardi, they can do it to anyone.
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