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Charges against former WWE star and Ring of Honor Producer Adam Carlson Birch aka Joey Mercury in one of the cases against him were dropped yesterday in Orange County Court in Florida with all signs being that charges in the second case will be dropped shortly as well.
In the case that was officially dropped on 11/26, Birch had been accused Identity Theft, Conspiracy to commit credit card fraud over $300, Use or Possession of Personal Identification Information and Petit Theft. There were allegations that Birch was "observed using" the victim's credit card at Footaction (a footwear outlet) and then at Champs (a clothing outlet), directly next door to Foot Action on 5/7. Birch’s attorney filed a 26-page response to the allegations on 10/3, informing the court that Birch was out of the country in Germany and Great Britain from 5/1 through 5/8, providing copies of his passport stamps, bank transactions, fight and hotel itineraries. His attorney intends to argue that since Birch was not in the country, there is not way he could be responsible for crimes in the United States on 5/7. Birch’s attorney, to back their claim, submitted a poster for an appearance for Westside Xtreme Wrestling as well as social media response to a training camp Birch took part in.
In a filing yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Mark Daniel Wixtrom wrote that Birch's case "is not suitable for prosecution." The charges were then dropped.
The other case is still technically active, although there was also a filing on 11/26 noting the prosection was filing "Nolle Prosequi", which is a Latin term meaning "will no longer prosecute." While the case has not been officially dropped, all signs are that it will be shortly.
In the second case, Birch was accused of allegedly using a credit card belonging to the victim to acquire $300 around 4/28. This has resulted in charges being filed against Birch for Fraudulent Use or Possession of Personal Identification Information, Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card to obtain more than $100 in value, Grand Theft Third Degree and Petit theft.
Birch had been taken into custody on the morning of 8/31 by The Schaumburg Police Department. The Schaumburg Police Department told PWInsider.com that they “had contact” with Birch at 6:58 AM outside of 50 North Martindale Road, which is the address of The Marriott Schaumburg. PWInsider.com was told at the time that authorities were notified of Birch sleeping in his car outside the hotel. They approached Birch and after running his personal information, discovered he was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Orange County, Florida and was taken into custody. While Birch was not charged by The Schaumburg Police Department, he was still taken into custody at the Cook County Department of Corrections, which resulted in Birch being extradited back to Florida on 9/25.
Birch has had a long run the business, debuting in 1996 when he was just 15 years old. As Joey Matthews, he had runs in the original ECW, Ring of Honor and a slew of independent promotions up and down the Eastern seaboard before being signed by WWE in 2002.
As Joey Mercury, he and John Morrison created a great act alongside Melina as MNM in Ohio Valley Wrestling before being called up to the main roster and capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship. Birch was released from the company in 2007. He returned in 2010 as a member of CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society and after that role ran its course, began working behind the scenes as a producer for WWE. In a documentary WWE released about Punk, Birch spoke about how he was about to lose his home due to financial issues in the wake of his 2007 release, leading to Punk offering to pay to buy his house and save it. At the time, he said he considered Punk his best friend.
After his 2010 return, Birch rose in power within WWE. Long considered one of the better creative minds in the business when it came to putting together matches and finishes, Birch became one of the top lieutenants to Triple H and was instrumental in evolving WWE developmental from FCW into WWE NXT as well as the launch of the WWE Performance Center.
As Mercury, Birch returned to WWE TV as one half of J&J Security, alongside Jamie Noble, working as bodyguards for Seth Rollins, a heel at the time. He split his time with that o camera role and his behind the scenes responsibilities until he was pulled from the road during an NXT European tour. Birch was let go by WWE in March 2017. By the Fall of that year, he was back wrestling on the independent scene and working as a trainer. He made regular appearances for House of Hardcore as a heel, feuding with Tommy Dreamer, which brought him back into some prominence.
In May 2018, Birch was signed by ROH to work as a trainer at their ROH Academy in Maryland and work as a top producer for the company.
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