How to Weaponize the Legal System Against a Whistleblower: A Family’s Betrayal and the Airport Sting That Failed
By Michael Kelman Portney
Imagine stepping off a plane, completely unaware that your own mother, brother, grandmother, uncle and cousin had orchestrated a plan to have you arrested on fabricated charges. Imagine them using the court system, law enforcement, and a bogus restraining order as weapons—not because you were a threat, but because you were getting too close to the truth.
This isn’t a Hollywood conspiracy thriller—it’s exactly what happened to me.
The Setup: A TRO as a Weapon
It started with a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)—a legal tool supposedly meant to protect someone from an imminent threat. But this one wasn’t about protection; it was a legal ambush designed to set me up for an arrest under false pretenses.
The petition for the TRO contained two key words: “guns” and “drugs.” That was no accident. It was a carefully crafted pretext for what was to come.
The plan was simple:
Get a judge to sign a TRO full of misleading claims.
Set up a trap at the airport where I was supposedly arriving.
Attempt to serve me there, knowing I’d be detained instantly.
Search my bag for anything illegal—particularly marijuana.
Slap me with drug charges, throw me in jail, and force me into drug court or treatment.
If it worked, I’d be locked up for at least a week, legally compromised, and forced to fight bogus charges—all while my real case against them, exposing financial misconduct, was put on hold.
The Perpetrators
Scott Portney, my brother
Abby Kelman Portney, my mother
Mark Portney, my father
Evelyn Kelman, my grandmother
David Kelman, my uncle
Cortney Kelman, my cousin
Steven T. Potts, attorney
Curtis Thompson, attorney
How This Likely Went Down
First, my brother shared my travel plans with my mother. He made her aware I was going to meet with a witness to gather specific evidence. Then, my mother told her mother and they immediately began coordinating an attempt to fabricate evidence for a TRO before I could make it into town. My mom's brother intercepted the witness and confiscated the majority of the evidence, leaving behind only pieces that implicated specific other people. Mostly my mom. My grandmother then took the fabricated claims up to my cousin at the bank who notarized the paperwork. It was then taken to a judge who signed off on it.
At this very same time my mother texted my housekeeper and asked her to go over to my house and look for any evidence that I might have a gun. She acknowledged that I used to have a gun but that she went and sold it with me, but that any evidence would be sufficient seemed to be her implication. Nobody mentioned my autism during this process, but they sure said the words mental illness a lot. My dad helped spread the narrative, especially to me, that my legitimate evidence was non existent, and that I was a deranged drug addict requiring immediate intervention in order to stop believing conspiracy theories.
There was just one problem: I was never on that plane.
The Failed Airport Sting
They had coordinated everything. I can only imagine how eager they were, waiting at the airport for me to land, ready to watch me get handcuffed and processed like a criminal.
But I wasn’t on that flight.
Their entire setup collapsed the moment I didn’t step off that plane. They had no backup plan—no contingency if I simply didn’t walk into their trap.
It wasn’t just an attempt to arrest me—it was an attempt to destroy my credibility. If they could pin any charges on me, no matter how weak, they could paint me as unstable, dangerous, or an addict.
And worst of all? They used the system like a hitman.
How Corrupt People Manipulate the Courts
This is how wealthy and connected people abuse the legal system:
✅ They don’t need real charges—they just need a process.
✅ They don’t need evidence—they just need an excuse.
✅ They don’t need to be right—they just need to get you in handcuffs.
By controlling the narrative, they can force you into a legal battle you never should have been in.
By using the right buzzwords (guns, drugs, TROs), they can turn nothing into a serious criminal matter overnight.
By teaming up with corrupt lawyers and law enforcement, they can make the entire system work for them and against you.
Except this time, they failed.
The Bigger Picture: What They Were Really Afraid Of
This wasn’t just about trying to get me arrested.
This was about shutting me up.
At the time, I was actively investigating and exposing my mother, brother, grandmother, and cousin’s role in estate fraud, financial misconduct, and legal corruption, which I have since proven by every measure except the one that matters most: beyond reasonable doubt by judge and jury. But me personally? I have no doubts. Because I’ve seen the evidence.
If they could get me jailed, sent to treatment, or tied up in court, they could derail my case against them and frame me as someone who couldn’t be taken seriously.
But they didn’t count on one thing:
I have the ability to see through bullshit. I smelled their trap, and I zigged when they expected me to zag.
I have spent much more time in a hotel then I would care to since this happened. What can I say, those Doubletree cookies are worth the room price alone.
Now, their failed setup is just more evidence of their bad-faith tactics, legal abuse, and desperation.
What Happens Next
🔹 I will be filing a motion to dismiss the fraudulent TRO for improper service and legal manipulation.
🔹 I will be exposing their attempt to weaponize law enforcement in my ongoing legal filings.
🔹 I will be making sure that every corrupt actor who took part in this setup is held accountable.
They wanted to trap me in the legal system?
Now they’re trapped in their own failed conspiracy.
For me, this was only ever about Justice. For them, it was only ever about Control.
