Surprise, Arizona, resident Steve Cable believes the San Luis Obispo Superior Court should quash the defamation case against him since he’s never lived nor conducted business in the area, placing him beyond its jurisdiction.
Cable, a retired emergency nurse and member of Arizona’s Grand Pickleball Club, is one of the targets of twin defamation lawsuits filed by Jody Bernat—the ex-wife of real estate and land use attorney John Belsher. Bernat’s lawsuit is also aimed at CalCoastNews‘s Karen Velie.
Bernat’s complaint filed in February examined Velie’s article, “Is San Luis Obispo attorney John Belsher using an alias?” Calling the legally separated Bernat and Belsher “the Belshers,” Velie’s story stated that Cable said the pair introduced themselves as married couple Jody Bernat and Jon Bailey. The article said that Bernat and Belsher signed up for pickleball events using those names.
Cable said in his April 10 declaration that he learned about Belsher’s and former PB Companies executive Ryan Wright’s (formerly Ryan Petetit) fraud dealings when an acquaintance texted him a CalCoastNews story about the court ruling against them.
“I assumed that the reason the acquaintance sent me this article is that the individual in the photograph, John Belsher, is living in a home in our neighborhood, the Grand, in Surprise, Arizona, and goes by another name (Jon Bailey) at the Pickleball Club,” his declaration said. “He also used the name Jon Bailey on the court reserving app for The Pickleball Club and when registering for the in-house tournament.”
He added that he found more CalCoastNews articles about Belsher and reached out to Velie after reading that a SLO judge issued an arrest warrant for the lawyer.
“I told Ms. Velie that I don’t know whether his name is John Belsher or if he is Jon Bailey,” he wrote. “Karen Velie called me back a day or so later and informed me that the investors John Belsher had defrauded wanted to talk with me. I said that would be fine.”
In May 2024, a tentative ruling in favor of the investors, Jeffrey and Debora Chase, declared that Belsher and Wright must pay $3.6 million for allegedly breaching fiduciary duty and committing fraud. At the Chases’ request, Cable agreed to make a statement detailing what he told Velie on how he knew Belsher and Bernat, according to his declaration.
When Bernat confronted him after Velie published the story about her alias, Cable told her he wasn’t interested in engaging with her and Belsher based on the articles about them. Bernat followed with a 12-page email sent to different pickleball club members.
“Even the Grand Pickleball board of directors has inappropriately shun[ned] John and Jody as a result. Unconscionable,” Bernat’s email said. “Once you realize what Karen Velie/CalCoastNews has done to others, you will quickly see how she can skew the truth, outright lie, and cause great harm. A simple verification by Steve Cable could have resolved this early on.”
Bernat clarified that she legally changed her name in 2024 to avoid a “stalker” who harassed her on social media and physically confronted her. She alleged that Cable’s actions put her safety in Arizona at risk.
“This stalker is known to have done physical violence on his ex-girlfriend, an acquaintance of ours,” she wrote. “He is also known to have unregistered weapons and to be a member of the Proud Boys. [I] was also hoping to start fresh without the CCN lies following [me].”
Velie hasn’t filed a response to Bernat’s complaint yet. Cable’s case management conference is set for June 16. Δ
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2025.
Here’s all you need to know about Karen Velie and Cal Coast News:
http://www.centralcoastclarion.weebly.com