Evan's Gambit: Man Risks it All on Faith That Justice Would Prevail

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Introduction

Three years ago, Ludington native Evan Fargo was living the good life.  He had over a decade at doing the same job and had purchased through a land contract with his grandmother a beautiful house in the country where he resided with his own growing family.  Everything seemed to be going well in his life.

Unexpectedly, his life would turn into a nightmare as one younger cousin, and shortly thereafter another, would claim that Evan had engaged in sexual improprieties with them ten years ago.  Being the target of such allegations will definitely change one's life, regardless of one's innocence or guilt.  The allegations were salacious enough to warrant an investigation by the Mason County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) which led to an arraignment by then-Mason County Prosecutor (MCP) Lauren Kreinbrink.  

The Evans Gambit mentioned in the title refers to an opening in the game of chess where the first three moves are what is called the "Quiet Game" (aka the Giuoco Piano/Italian Game), but white then pushes forth an unsupported pawn in order to attack the developed black bishop, hoping the sacrifice will be accepted.  If it is, another pawn comes forward to attack that bishop and then another if it retreats to its original post.

Evan Fargo personified that black bishop and his two cousins, Kollin and Bryce, were those pawns that proceeded a concerted attack on Evan's dominion by the pieces freed up by those pawn moves representing the power of the MCSO and MCP.  A solid defensive strategy was employed in this case by Evan hiring who many would consider the immediate area's best defense attorney, SBBL's Gary Springstead and his team, including Nicole Springstead Stolte.  

In this case, Evan's own gambit was to aggressively fight the charges he was convinced were false, and as time progressed it seemed clear to almost everyone involved that the charges were meritless, and yet the MCSO and MCP would continue to press forward despite the growing evidence that their two witnesses and even their lead investigators were needing their own lawyers so as to guard against self-incriminations.  

And before our gentle readers write off our assessment of the situation as insensitive to what are serious allegations of forced fellatio and repeated buggery of children under 13 years old, it should be noted that this reporter has reviewed four other cases where a child has come forth a few years after alleged sexual abuse has occurred and has only once before sided with the defendant.  Our readers may remember that back in 2013 the CSC case against Todd Lane Johnson was dismissed after the accuser admitted she made it all up, after this same sheriff did their best to smear his name in the media, just like they tried here.  Ironically, the sexual abuse that the cousins said to have happened at the hands of Evan took place in 2013, until they changed their mind that it happened as early as 2007.

Let this sink in.  The only evidence against Evan Fargo was the testimony of two twentysomething men.  Their interviews with law enforcement and their testimonies at two preliminary exams were self-contradictory and inconsistent, such as a certainty that the abuse happened in 2013 when the 'victim' was 15, which was later changed to 2007 when they were nine. 

Others they allegedly talked to about the sexual abuse when it happened could not verify that such conversations happened.  The investigations conducted were sickeningly incomplete and seemingly biased towards conviction.  The prosecuting efforts featured a revolving door of incompetence-- incompetence not due to their ability of being able to prosecute a case, but in their ability to determine how far they should take an unjustified case and otherwise live within the ethics of their profession.

This was the proverbial perfect sh*tstorm, with Evan finding himself in the eye of the maelstrom.  Before everything was over, three judges would disqualify themselves from the case (including all of Mason County's judges), one would retire, and two would draft orders.  Four different prosecutors, a pair from Mason County and two from the AG's office, would press forward regardless of what fatally tainted evidence they were given to prosecute.  And MCSO Detective Kyle Boyd would decline to testify at trial being that he would likely need to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights-- and the acting prosecutor would still try to polish this turd of a case. 

The Trial

It's difficult appropriately summarizing an eight-day trial in a few paragraphs but here goes.  This reporter wasn't present the first three days of trial, only the last five.  Interviews with those who did and reviews of prior transcripts were used to fill in that gap.  The jury selection process picked fourteen candidates eventually, 6 women and 8 men with a wide range in ages. 

Opening state statements were made by Aylysh Gallagher (pictured), an attorney from the Michigan Attorney General's Office who seems to have a specialty with such cases.  She would at times be hard to understand, especially to defense witnesses, due to a habit of talking quick and nasally, devolving into a California accent when her tempo slowed.  She had an annoying habit of depicting the defendant as an anal rapist with her words when examining witnesses, which the court and even the defense would just shrug off as non-prejudicial.  The effect of the constant barrage of this over the eight days when the state was failing to make their case either numbed the jurors to the act or, more likely, numbed the acceptance of the weak accusations.  She would have MCSO Detective Michael Kenney at her side to assist with managing paperwork.

Gary Springstead led the defense, starting off his opening statements with a more generalized analysis of the feeble case made against his client that he would structure more at the end of the trial with his closing statements.  Nicole would assist at times, with Evan showing a stoic countenance finishing off the defense table, while Ed Kolakowski, a private investigator employed by the law firm, sat nearby.  Around twenty onlookers partial to the defendant presented a fixture throughout the trial.  Eric Fox, normally Oceana County's probate judge, looked on from the bench.

After the formalities the trial began in earnest, with the state's witnesses coming out to testify with their own appointed attorneys nearby ready to object to defense questions.  The pace of the trial was the slowest you can imagine, with regular sidebars where the jury would leave the room and mundane legal matters would be debated in front of a judge who definitely had limited experience in jury trials, much different than your typical probate hearings. 

These types of sidebars would change shortly after this reporter showed up at the courtroom and evolve into ones where the jury would stay in the courtroom and the judge would meet the attorneys in chambers.  It was as if they didn't want this medium to know what the legal wranglings were all about, as they were assuredly quibbling over matters they didn't want publicized.

Both Kollin and Bryce Fargo were terrible witnesses, with contradicting statements between the two preliminary exams already in the record, they carved out new features of conflicting testimonies.  But even after those seismic disasters, AG Gallagher continued down her list of witnesses, possibly thinking the jury might be sympathetic to the duo who clearly had some disability in their development on display. 

The mother (Nichole Kemp) and father (Don 'Bugsy' Fargo) of the two 'boys' were caught in a tough spot with Kollin's testimony saying that the parents were told immediately about the anal rapes back in 2007 and them having to admit that they never heard anything about it until 2022.  They were aware that if they did support their son's allegation, they would be guilty of not having done a single thing about someone sexually molesting their nine-year old son.  

And what kept coming up at the trial at the behest of the state was an incident where Evan had hit Kollin with a backscratcher (over remarks Kollin made against Evan's grandmother) hard enough to leave a red mark, and was subsequently disciplined for it by Ron Fargo, Evan's father, after Kollin had made a very big deal about it.  If one were sitting on a jury, one would expect that if Kollin cried bloody murder immediately over being hit with a backscratcher that he would be even more vocal about getting cornholed by that same person.

AG Gallagher was giving a valiant effort of making the best out of what she had, but it wasn't much and other than the testimonies of two grown boys coming out 15 years afterwards there just wasn't any other evidence that what they said happened and when it happened (both regularly changing in sworn testimonies).  The case should have been dropped for multiple reasons, but it couldn't even receive a nod by the judge for a directed verdict on a couple of different grounds when Springstead asked for it after the state rested.  

The defense would call former Prosecutor Kreinbrink to the stand, where an interesting dynamic took place where Gallagher did her best to impeach what would be her peers on her inexperience with getting the ball rolling in this case.  MCSO retiree Steve Hansen would also testify that he wrote the original charge warrant based on the investigation (or lack thereof) of Detective Boyd.  

Then a parade of Evan's closest kin testified, with his father, his younger brother, and grandmother bolstering the character of Evan over the years.  Gallagher would do her best to paint these relatives with the worst colors of her palette, but she only came out looking silly because the underlying character of the family shown through the whitewash.  It would set up the defendant testifying for himself on the morning of the 18th. The gambit was in full swing.

Evan had presented himself as an unflappable character dressed in a fine suit throughout the trial, and he approached the witness stand with a purpose to contend his innocence, which he would do businesslike when asked point blank about the crimes by his attorney in the middle of his inquiries.  But though he was stolid through over 5 hours on the stand, he showed appropriate emotion throughout, with amazing restraint shown to the prosecutor who would repetitively try to trip him up if he were to be off by a month on what he did 19 years ago.  He would only lose control of his emotions when his attorney asked him at the end about how this experience has affected him, and he wasn't that concerned for himself, but he was for his kids and his family.

The defense could have probably rested there and won as handily as they eventually did, but they wanted to make sure and they put out other character witnesses that knew him throughout his life.  A CFO at Hackert's Family Farms where he's been employed since 2013 (Jessica Karboske), a fellow friend, worker and then boss (Michael Hackert), a high school basketball coach (Thad Shank) and soccer coach (Christopher Anderson), and even a hunting buddy (Luke Samuels).  Much to the chagrin of Prosecutor Gallagher, they were unanimous in their respect of the character of Evan, his peaceful nature, and believed he was innocent of the alleged crimes. 

Before closing, the state would put up one last witness, a brother of Collin and Bryce who only claimed that Evan was not peaceful.  Gallagher's closing remarks would remind us that reality isn't like NCIS or CSI, in that facts can't always easily be tied into a nice package.  She couldn't pick her own eyewitnesses or evidence; she can only work with what she is given.  Her language was graphic and always depicted Evan as a perpetrator of the bad acts alleged.

Springstead would tie a splendid package, offering seven well-developed reasons to find Evan not guilty based on what was presented, revealing what was a series of events by investigators and prosecutors that should have never led to charges, given the morphing stories of the two witnesses and absolutely no corroboration, only self-refutation at every turn.  His closing statement was a symposium of what common sense and justice should be applied, all presented in proper context.  

It was perhaps only surprising to Aylysh Gallagher what the verdict would be after about an hour of deliberation that Thursday night.  But it still had to be read.  Evan was not guilty on both counts of CSC, he would not face up to two life sentences, but he would have to live with the memories of the last three years forever.  The gambit had paid off, and the impassive face we had all gotten used to over the course of two weeks was wiped away with the pure raw emotion of knowing that his innocence was finally vindicated.

The Addenda

I had to visit the courthouse on Friday to see whether I could supplement my understanding of the case and was pleased to find the court's case file and transcripts available.  As I read transcripts and filtered meticulously through the file for hours, I could only wonder what I had often wondered at each day of trial: how did this less-than-weak case with verifiably false testimonies ever see the light of day in a courtroom.  I invite anyone with a similar or dissimilar view to take a look themselves and come to a different conclusion (offer not available to prosecutors and local detectives).

I found that Judge Middlebrook did the pre-lims, and was unavailable to try the case in circuit court.  Judge Susan Sniegowski also disqualified herself due to her connections with Ron Fargo, Probate Judge Jeff Nellis also was out due to his own high school coaching experience over Evan.  The case was assigned to Judge Lambrix, who retired at the end of 2024, he would be replaced by Eric Fox.  Even before the retirement, orders were being signed by yet another judge, Timothy Hicks.

On May 9, 2025, Shawn Ryan first appeared signaling that the Michigan AG Office was taking over the case, taking over from Hand, who was busy signing and filing paperwork even up to that day.  it is unknown why Beth Hand excused herself from the case, being that she usually doesn't pass up such red meat in her coastal waters.

We do find a 2025 8-8 interview with Boyd where we see for the first time why Boyd may have needed to invoke the fifth had he testified.  AG Ryan would indicate that the two boys should have their own lawyers and be able to invoke Fifth Amendment protections at Evan Fargo's trial, a 2025 Sept. 9 filing by Springstead objected to such a maneuver depriving Evan's right to a fair trial against charges amended to reflect new dates and charges.  She would also convince the court that Kyle Boyd (represented by his attorney Ms. Taucher) would not be available as he planned to invoke the 5th:

On January 23, 2026, DA Springstead would lay out an extensive case for claiming that testimony by the two boys and others were not truthful in the two preliminary exams listing these self-contradictions and inconsistencies in three pages of their brief (p.1, p.2, p.3) over material claims. We also find his inclination to call Detective Boyd's own testimony into question. 

The examination transcripts of the boys are replete with claims debunked in court by their otherwise sympathetic parents who related that (like Bryce) they never heard of any CSC claims by Kollin until he first made them in 2022.  Kollin was insistent that he informed them shortly after it started happening in transcripts.  Only a couple of weeks before trial we see the AG office trying to absolve AAG Ryan from being called to testify, perhaps fearful of what she might reveal about why she got away from the mess.

The state was cognizant of the fact that their two prime witnesses on the stand would not make their case any easier to prove, so they had hoped to avoid them having to talk directly to the jury and hinder the ability of the defense to confront and cross-examine them in real time.  

For a similarly unknown reason, AAG Shawn Ryan had to withdraw just before the trial, but they did replace her with Ms. Gallagher 2-10-25 withdrawal of AG lawyer Ryan.  She was by reputation a strong defender of CSC victims, but given the time she had to prepare and all the holes littered throughout the case file, she did a commendable job in her losing effort-- though one would have much more respect for her and her advocacy if she had just saved the court, the defense, and the prosecutor's office a whole lot of goodwill and resources by admitting the mistakes of her fellow officials in the investigation and prosecution of this mismatched game of chess.