Paintball Pandemic LLC

Quoted from our facebook page.


Richard and Maggie Shepler (Paintball Pandemic LLC) were not approved to purchase the inventory and assets of JC's Paintball. According to the underwriters of Suntrust, they were not comfortable with the sale transfer. Paintball Pandemic LLC was relying on this business deal through financing to acquire inventory and retail furniture. Over the past few weeks, I (Richard Shepler) have been posting on JC's Paintball facebook page to maintain the customer's goodwill for the name of JC's Paintball and keep the communication open. The entire time we were anticipating and hoping that we would get positive feedback from the bank. Much to our (Richard and Maggie) surprise, they denied us on two separate occasions. Since the beginning of these negotiations with JC's Paintball, our (Richard and Maggie) sole goal was to find a way to continue supporting the paintball community here in Harford County. Paintball Pandemic LLC has completely exhausted all legal avenues of purchasing JC's Paintball inventory and assets. The financial hurdle needed to be jumped is too large to be leaped so to speak.

For those customers who had paintball markers and air tanks in the custody of JC's Paintball, I (Richard) still have them and you can expect me to continue trying to reach and work with you untill JC's Paintball tells us to do otherwise. These are still business transactions between you and JC's Paintball but we had verbally agreed with JC's Paintball to handle getting these back into your hands.

I have removed myself (Richard Shepler) as Admin of the JC's Paintball facebook page and made Jason Cox the sole Admin of the page. Any more updates as of Oct 8, 2011 that are posts made by JC's Paintball are from Jason (not Richard or Maggie of Paintball Pandemic LLC).

As always, paintball players can continue to find updates on Maryland Paintball businesses on abingdonpaintballnetwork.com.

I'm really sorry to hear this news, I was really looking forward to seeing you at JC's Paintball. I'm sure you'll get Paintball Pandemic up and running ASAP and I'll be there to support you.

we all will. we got your back.

Agreed with pickett and comfy, WE GOT YOUR BAG BRO.......

In response to accusations of JC's Paintball dealing with our failed business deal. This is cut directly from facebook page where I posted this early.


All I can say is wow. So I have to get this off my chest.

I have spent nearly a year trying to workout a business deal with JC's Paintball. From the beginning I was open with the owner about what I could afford and what my options were. I thought the reason we were doing this was to allow him to get out of the business and spend more time with his family and devoting his time to working for his inlaws. By following the legal process designed for these type of business deals we started to uncover a bigger and bigger iceburg so to speak. We tried several different times to write a contract that would allow the sale to take place. At no point did we receive back a signed contract back from JC's Paintball. At one point we were told we needed to settle by sept 1st, because if we didn't he would risk losing his job with his inlaws. So I turned my 2 weeks in at my contracting job with the government to prepare for the deal going through. In the deal we have agreed to pay for the "goodwill" of JC's Paintball. According anyone involved in a business , every day the store was closed goodwill was being lost. Even after finding out about the numerous customers left in the dark about what was going on with their equipment still in the store, we pursued finishing the deal still offering to pay for "goodwill" even if it was being depleted daily. In the end it came down to the bank approving our last and only option to legally purchase JC's Paintball. They were not comfortable with what Jason and I were trying to do so they denied us the loan. That left us with no options and with knowledge of restrictions that made it illegal for us to purchase the inventory and assets in other avenues. We made every attempt to help the owner with what to do next. Now he blames us for his store closing and accuses us of ignoring a moral choice even if it was not financially possible or LEGAL. I really am not sure what he thought the moral choice was... I thought following the law of the land was the moral choice. I thought trying to be supportive and helpful was the moral choice. I thought offering to help get the weight off his shoulders was the moral choice.

Jason closed his store on August 30th because of two reasons. These are the reasons he told me anyways.

1.) He had to close it or risk losing his job with his inlaws. According to him they needed him to be able to devote his full attention to his job there.

2.) Working for his inlaws and running the store was completely occupying his time so he wasn't able to be home with his kids.

At that time we were preparing to settle on Sept 1st. I had quit my job working as a Contractor for the US government. I had applied for all the licenses, accounts, etc I needed to open up as Paintball Pandemic LLC, operating as JC's paintball. I had a written contract available and ready to be signed by both parties. Jason had assured us that the bank would be approving the transfer of his debt to his name allowing us to purchase his store. It took nearly 3 weeks before they responded with a no. The whole time we waited patiently all the while me being unemployed, JC’s paintball being closed, and Jason working for his inlaws. Once they denied the transfer we found out that we could purchase the debt instead of buying directly from Jason. So we submitted the paperwork again this time buying the debt which would release the restrictions on the sale of the JC’s Paintball Inventory and assets. We waited another 3 weeks. All the while me still being unemployed, JC’s Paintball closed, and Jason working for his inlaws. This time even though we have a great credit score, pay all our bills on time, and had more collateral then the loan was worth they denied the transaction. That was our last possible option to purchase JC’s Paintball unless a large sum of money fell out of the sky into Jason or mines lap.

Upon hearing the news that we were not approved, we were very disappointed. We knew he was counting on this to get something for his business since he couldn’t devote the time to keep it open anymore without his Job with his inlaws suffering or without missing out on any more of this childrens lives. We were disappointed because we had been planning all along to purchase the store so we could open up with a nice selection of inventory and furniture and fixtures etc. At no point did I not make it known that Paintball Pandemic, LLC was going to continue as a paintball business. After all I am a certified Master Airsmith with no job and a licensed business. We pursued the sale of JC’s Paintball till the very end. We had plan for the following results:

1.) JC’s Paintball, INC were to remain open and operating store. We had planned to open up as a certified repair center for paintball equipment.

2.) JC’s Paintball, INC inventory and assets were able to be purchased.

3.) JC’s Paintball, INC were to close its store but remain a valid legal entity becoming a vendor of Paintball Pandemic LLC.

4.) JC’s Paintball, INC were to close and not be able to sell any of the assets or inventory to Paintball Pandemic LLC.

As any smart business owner does, we had made sure we had a budget and an idea of what we should do depending on which of these results were to take place. We had researched and decided on every option for each of these results.



After all of this what hurts the most is Jason solely laying the blame at my feet for things out of my control. I thought we were friends going into this process and now that we came out unsuccessful I am pretty sure he wants nothing to do with me and will make every attempt to keep my business from growing. I guess when money and a legal process are involved the quality of a relationship is proven or broken.

After this post I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. I have better things to do then spend my time defending my decisions that were based on the laws of MD and a good moral compass and the decision of a bank who doesn’t care about people and this economy. I don't blame Jason or his family for the deal not being completed. I blame the bank for not taking into consideration the situation and what the results would be if they said no.




Thanks for reading and please contact me if you have any questions please ask me.

updates from the Facebook page: these are my words in response to other peoples comments etc:

we are not assuming any of JC's customers will come to us for their paintball needs. We will be doing business the way we think it should be done and earn peoples business and trust the old fashioned way. Quality Customer Serivice.


After it was said and done I am the most upset at Suntrust bank for NOT taking into any consideration the effects of denying us the loan would have on Jason and his family and the effects on my situation and family. That is what really just baffles me. In this economy you would think they would be trying to boost this economy by supporting small businesses not smothering them


I do appreciate everyone's support to anyone involved in this. I do believe that all that needs to be said has been said. I will still continue to talk with him via private sources if will respond because I sincerely do care about him and his situation. But I have already said my peace for everyone to read. I don't regret the whole thing. I learned tons about myself, my relationship with my wife, my friends, and most importantly about my God. Every time a door is closed another is opened