Tim Connolly have been omnipresent.
Is he more than one person? Sheesh. He controlled the company. He was gone, however, by the time your friends from Tennessee moved.
Nonetheless, they shouldn't have bought a dirty shell. When you do that, stuff happens.
But a reminder: when restricted stock is freed up, the old cert with the restrictive legend is sent back to the TA. The TA then gets permission from the company and cuts a new, free trading cert.
So...