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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 

Plaintiff,

v.

Long Leaf Trading Group, Inc., James A. 

Donelson, Timothy M. Evans, Jeremy S. 

Ruth, and Andrew D. Nelson, 

Defendants.

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Case No. 20-3758

Hon. Thomas A. Durkin

DECLARATION OF JOSEPH C. PLATT IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S RULE 55(a)

MOTION FOR ENTRY OF DEFENDANT ANDREW NELSON’S DEFAULT

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I, Joseph C. Platt, state that

1. I have personal knowledge of all facts in this declaration.

2. I am a member of the bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of 

Illinois and have appeared as counsel on behalf of Plaintiff U.S. Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (“CFTC”) in the above-captioned case. 

3. I am familiar with the pleadings, other docket entries, and discovery in this 

litigation.

4. Defendant Andrew Nelson is not an infant and, based on a search I conducted on 

December 15, 2020, of the Department of Defense’s Manpower Data Center’s web-based 

database, has not served on active duty in the United States military at any point during the 

previous calendar year.

5. On July 17, 2020, the CFTC filed a motion for alternative service of process with 

respect to Defendant Andrew Nelson. (ECF No. 12.) In that motion, the CFTC detailed the 

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steps it had taken to attempt to serve Defendant Nelson personally at various residential 

addresses with which he has been associated, explained its basis to believe that Nelson has actual 

knowledge of the CFTC’s claims against him, and also described its relatively recent 

communications with Defendant Nelson via the email address “adnelson0503@gmail.com.” (Id.

at 3–5.) The CFTC requested the Court grant it leave to serve Defendant Nelson via email at the 

adnelson0503@gmail.com address. (Id. at 7.)

6. The Court granted the CFTC’s motion for alternative service in a July 30, 2020 

minute entry. (ECF No. 13.)

7. The CFTC served Defendant Nelson with process on July 31, 2020, by email and 

by mailing a copy of the complaint and summons to his parents’ house via UPS. (See ECF No. 

15.)

8. The case’s docket reflects that Defendant Nelson has not appeared in this case, 

filed an answer to the CFTC’s complaint, or otherwise attempted to defend himself. (See Dkt.)

9. Defendant Nelson has not participated in discovery. The CFTC has copied 

Defendant Nelson on all required communications, including emails among the parties

exchanging drafts of scheduling orders and joint status reports. The CFTC also served a set of 

document requests on Defendant Nelson by email on October 5, 2020. (See Ex. A.) 

10. Defendant Nelson has not replied to any email sent to him by the CFTC in this 

litigation, produced Rule 26(a) initial disclosures, produced any responsive documents, or 

propounded any discovery requests of his own.

I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my 

knowledge. 

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Dated: December 15, 2020.

/s/ Joseph C. Platt

Counsel to Plaintiff Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission

Ashley J. Burden

aburden@cftc.gov

Elizabeth M. Streit

estreit@cftc.gov

Joseph C. Platt

jplatt@cftc.gov

Scott R. Williamson

swilliamson@cftc.gov

Robert T. Howell

rhowell@cftc.gov

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Division of Enforcement

525 W. Monroe St., Ste. 1100

Chicago, IL 60661

Phone: (312) 596-0700

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that on December 15, 2020, I provided service to all parties via CM/ECF or by 

the alternative means described below:

Jim Falvey

Falvey Law Office

200 S. Wacker Dr., Ste. 3100

Chicago, IL 60606

312-404-5839

jimfalvey@yahoo.com

Counsel to Long Leaf Trading Group, Inc. 

and James A. Donelson

Andrew May

Hinshaw & Culberston LLP

151 N. Franklin St.

Chicago, IL 60606

312-704-3400

amay@hinshawlaw.com

Counsel to Jeremy Ruth

By email and UPS:

Andrew D. Nelson

267 May St. E. 

Elmhurst, IL 60126

adnelson0503@gmail.com

Pro se

Joseph C. Platt

Joseph C. Platt

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EXHIBIT A

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From: Platt, Joseph

To: adnelson0503@gmail.com

Cc: Streit, Elizabeth M.; Burden, Ashley; niavarone@iavaronefirm.com; larry@landsmanfirm.com;

jeremysruth@hotmail.com

Subject: CFTC v. Long Leaf Trading Group, Inc. et al., No. 20-375 (N.D. Ill.)

Date: Monday, October 5, 2020 11:05:00 AM

Attachments: 2020.10.05 first RFPs to Nelson.pdf

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Mr. Nelson –

Please see the attached discovery request in the above-referenced action.

Regards,

Jody Platt

Joseph C. Platt

Trial Attorney, Division of Enforcement

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

312-596-0562

jplatt@cftc.gov

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