KALASHOS ORDERED TO APPEAR IN COURT JUNE 9 TO SERVE JAIL SENTENCE

By Miriam Raftery

File photo:  Ben and Jessica Kalasho

Updated Feb. 28 at 7:20 p.m. with additional details and clarifications.

February 28, 2025 (San Diego) – Former El Cajon Councilman Besmon “Ben” Kalasho and his wife, Jessica, appeared via video at a San Diego Superior Court hearing today, asking the court to set aside arrest bench warrants ordered back in May 2023.  Those warrants were issued after the Kalashos were found guilty of criminal contempt of court and ordered to report in September to serve eight days in jail, but failed to appear.

The judge refused to let the Kalashos off the hook, following arrguments on both side.

The Kalashos indicated at the time that they did not wish to travel to San Diego because it would be unsafe for Jessica was pregnant; she appeared in today’s court video with a toddler on her lap.

However, attorney and plaintiff Lina Charry said she had video of the Kalashos attending a wedding in San Diego County around that time.

She objected to any further delays, stating, “This is their sixth attempt to try and dismiss their warrants.”

Ben Kalasho fired back, “That’s not true.”

Judge Wendy Behan made clear that while she would  set aside the bench warrants, but this does not terminate their guilty convictions for contempt charges. The judge indicated that a new date must be set for the couple to appear and serve their jail sentence; failure to do so will result in reissuance of the arrest warrants.

Kalasho asked for a hearing in late November and December, when he said the couple planned to visit relatives over the holidays.

The judge insisted that such a long delay would not be allowed.

“I live half the year in North Carolina and half the year in Dubai,” said Kalasho, who has been working under the pseudonym Chef Benjamin Epicure at Smithmore Castle, a luxury hotel and wedding venue in North Carolina. 

According to a Facebook page for Benjamin Epicure, he is also currently employed at the Dubai Creek Gold & Yatch Club Residences in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Ultimately the judge ordered Ben and Jessica Kalasho to report in to Superior Court Department 66 on June 9 at 8:30 a;m. to serve out their eight-day sentences in jail.

The contempt of court charges came after Kalasho was found by the court to have defamed Charry by falsely claiming she had had sex in public places, in retaliation after she sued him for damages suffered when a car in a carwash he owned crashed into Charry’s business next door.The Kalasho's were found guilty of multiple counts of contempt for violating court orders, lying under oath, failing to comply with orders,intentionally failing to produce financial documents pursuant to court orders, failing to appear for mandatory court appearances, and unlawfully interfering withcourt pproceedings by  providing false, misleading, or obstructive estimony under oath.

A court ordered the Kalashos to pay damages to Charry, but the couple stonewalled during a series of 15 judgement debtor examinations, where the Kalashos were supposed to answer questions on record about their financial assets. According to Charry, the couple refused to answer some questions and failed to produce account statements that they were required to bring.

Charry then filed an order asking the court to find the Kalashos criminally guilty of contempt  in the civil case, a tool that attorney Charry says is “rarely ,if ever, used” in a civil case. But in this instance, the judge concluded that the Kalashos’ failure to fulfill the requirements of the judgment justified finding them  guilty on criminal counts and ordering them both incarcerated.

If the pair shows up on June 9 as ordered, their eight-day incarceration is slated to commence. Left unresolved is the question of how Charry may recover assets to satisfy the civil judgment against the Kalashos, or what will happen if the Kalashos fail to appear.