The curious case of a real-life Sherlocke Holmes

VIRGINIA BEACH

He fancies himself an investigator and a business consultant. And though he says his credentials include a bachelor's degree and decades of experience in financial affairs, it's his name that often draws clients.

Sherlocke Holmes, 55, is founder and owner of El Advantage Marketing Consultants, which is billed as a company that advises entrepreneurs, performs research and connects low-income clients with attorneys.

Holmes hasn't poured money into traditional advertising for his start up. Instead, the affable parolee - he's been convicted of more than 25 white collar criminal charges - said his name and reputation have brought in most of his business.

He's also attracted attention from state officials. The attorney general's office alleged Holmes has improperly held himself out as a paralegal, written legal motions, negotiated an attorney fee for a client and tried to persuade a clerk to recall an arrest warrant.

This month, a Circuit Court judge in Virginia Beach ordered Holmes to refrain from "any unauthorized practice of law activity," or risk a charge of contempt. That could violate his parole and send him back to prison for the rest of his life.

Holmes has convictions for credit card fraud, forgery and uttering dating back more than 30 years, although he wasn't always known as Sherlocke. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he was Evan F. Holmes.

The name Sherlocke Evan Francis Holmes - as opposed to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes - first appeared in local court records in 1986. The charge: forgery. The sentence: five years in prison, all suspended.

In the next 10 years, Sherlocke Holmes was found guilty of embezzlement and other financial crimes. He has spent more than 20 years in Virginia jails and prisons, and he has more than 60 years of suspended time hanging over his head.

Holmes acknowledged recently that in the past he used different birth dates, names and Social Security numbers. He said Sherlocke is his given name and that he earned a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Kansas in the 1970s before losing his way, although a university spokeswoman said there is no record of Sherlocke Holmes having enrolled at that time.

During his years in prison, he said, he learned lessons - "the right and wrong way to do things" - that prepared him to help people.

Holmes was last released from prison Oct. 29, 2007. Three weeks later, he obtained a license for his business, which aims to "create profit responses to Virginia's most devastating socioeconomic problems."

He works in his apartment off Norview Avenue in Norfolk. A travel coffee cup and packs of Maverick cigarettes rest among documents on his desk, where he said he draws up business plans and advises entrepreneurs on ventures. He said he charges clients $475 down, $75 per week, and that all of them - he said he's had a handful - know his history and recognize his skills in business.

One client, he recently told a visitor, is named Donna McIvor. He pulled out a cell phone, dialed a number and told the woman on the other end to describe him to a reporter.

"I think he's pretty knowledgeable," she said, adding Holmes is helping her determine which of her business ideas - maybe a restaurant, maybe a day care for the elderly - could make the most money.

"He gave me a lot of insight... I respect his honesty."

Holmes said he's focused on helping his clients and staying out of trouble, and that although he signed the Virginia Beach judge's order, he thought his actions weren't clear violations.

"I was like straddling the fence and could have fallen either way," he said.

Still, he said he planned to stay away from negotiations, contracts and other law-related tasks, and build his business through honesty and results. He reckons his name will help, too, even though he doesn't plan to play the character.

"People that know me, know my past. There's no reason for me to try to become a new person... I like being me."

Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com