Steven Parker represents the complexity of humans
- Charles I. Guarria
- May 29
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
What do you do when someone you like, someone you have written about, who becomes a friend, worked with, has been sentenced to prison?
This has been on my mind since Steven Ray Parker's arrest on October 18, 2023. Of course, until his sentencing on Tuesday, the question was, if he was sent to prison. Now he has been.
First the facts: Mr. Parker was sentenced to eight years in prison with 22 years of probation for 12 counts of non-violent felonies, which boil down to fraud. Eleven of the 12 felonies are third-degree, the least severe in Florida, while one is a first-degree felony.
First-degree felonies are not the most serious in this state. Those are reserved for capital felony and life felony. They are followed by first-degree, second-degree, and then third-degree felonies.
Mr. Parker, whose probation may be reduced if he pays the court-ordered restitution, committed fraud and would masquerade as the licensed contractor from Cape Coral, Florida, of the same namesake.
The fraud is based on work incomplete or poorly performed for homeowners after the 2022 tropical storms Ian and Nicole hit Volusia County, Florida.
It’s Personal: My first encounter with Mr. Parker was when I wrote a feature story on him in 2022. He was selling organic dog food, OrganaBone. The interview with him and his girlfriend, a co-owner of the business, was great.
I wrote, "The co-owner couple tandem have not yet left their other jobs despite the immediate success of OrganaBone. Like many entrepreneurs, they are wearing many hats…Mr. Parker is in construction and still owns a pressure washing business. They both are supplement insurance writers."
He always joked about how he wasn't above the fold —the top half of the newspaper, when it is folded, is a more prominent position —when the article came out.
We attended a Daytona Tortugas game, one time hit Flagler Tavern in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and briefly co-hosted a podcast along with a third person. I had a complete meltdown on the phone regarding the podcast, and Mr. Parker was kind, understanding and said he would have my back.
At Flagler Tavern, where Donna and I joined him, his girlfriend, and plenty of other friends of his, he was buying shots, being as nice as a person could be.
Mr. Parker tipped me to a story about his friend who died prematurely and what it meant for his family.
I featured him in an article a second time in 2023 when he seemingly helped a then-96-year-old Navy veteran whose house was hit hard by Tropical Storm Ian.
The Conclusion: However, take a look around Facebook, and you will see the other side of Mr. Parker that comports with the predicament his poor decisions have put him in—that of a con artist who deserved the sentencing.
We all know that being convicted doesn't mean you are guilty. That people pile on when they see an opportunity for a money grab. That if Mr. Parker were a millionaire or billionaire, he would very likely have gotten off because justice in the USA is often based on the type of lawyer you can afford.
The point of this blog is not to paint a pretty picture of Mr. Parker nor to condemn him. It's to show his other side. One I've yet to see in the press.
Some humans bounce back and forth between doing great things for the community and, correspondingly, screwing them over. They possess a form of moral ambiguity that allows for this type of behavior. Perhaps this is where Mr. Parker lies.
Nevertheless, society has made its decision on his actions. Mr. Parker has a price to pay to become a free man again. When Mr. Parker is free, and I see him around town, I will stop to talk with him.
I've reached out to him post-arrest, his girlfriend (maybe not anymore) and his lawyer. None, understandably, returned my calls or messages. Perhaps now they are ready to talk to the press. I'd like to tell his story.
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Photo Credit: Daytona Beach News Journal, Hometown News Volusia, Me,
See ya soon!
~30~
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