0:01

This episode of Swindled may contain

0:03

graphic descriptions or audio recordings of

0:06

disturbing events which may not be

0:08

suitable for all audiences. Listener

0:11

discretion is advised. Federal

0:15

agents took Kevin White off to court

0:17

this morning in handcuffs. The former Hillsborough

0:19

County Commissioner is facing a list of

0:21

10 felony criminal charges.

0:23

They include bribery, conspiracy, and

0:25

lying to the FBI. According

0:28

to the 28-page indictment, White used

0:30

his power as chairman of the

0:32

Public Transportation Commission to solicit bribes.

0:35

Listen, I know a way for

0:37

us to get back on the list, George Hondrellis

0:40

told a fellow tow truck company owner in September

0:42

2009. The

0:44

list in question was the list of

0:46

city-approved towing companies used by law enforcement

0:48

in Tampa, Florida. For a

0:50

tow truck operator, being on that list

0:53

was lucrative, up to $200,000 a year. But

0:57

George Hondrellis, the owner of Tampa City

0:59

Towing and his associate, Pete Rockefeller, the

1:02

owner of Pete's Towing, hadn't

1:04

been on the list in years. Hondrellis

1:06

was removed when city officials discovered

1:08

his criminal record, and Rockefeller lost

1:10

his spot after too many customer

1:12

complaints. But

1:15

as Hondrellis explained to Rockefeller, ever

1:17

since Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White took over

1:19

as chairman of the Public Transportation Commission in

1:21

2006, a spot on

1:24

the list could be purchased. I

1:27

know several people who've done it, Hondrellis urged.

1:30

All they had to do was create a dummy corporation with

1:32

a new name, grease Kevin White's palm

1:34

a little bit before reapplying, and they were

1:36

back in business within days. A

1:39

few weeks later, in October 2009, George

1:42

Hondrellis and Pete Rockefeller set up the

1:44

first of a series of meetings with

1:46

Commissioner Kevin White at a series of

1:49

steakhouses in Tampa. It brought

1:51

along its father, Gerald White, the puppet

1:53

master apparently. Everyone's going

1:55

to do what Gerald says, Hondrellis promised

1:57

Rockefeller afterward. That's the guy who can tell.

2:00

Kevin what the fuck to do we

2:02

know George hondrellis used that exact phrasing

2:05

because every word of those meetings was

2:07

recorded Pete Rockefeller had tipped

2:09

off the authorities and agreed to wear wire

2:12

give me a loan of $2,000 Gerald White suggested

2:15

and your application should quote fly

2:18

through before

2:20

long Pete Rockefeller was introducing the

2:22

whites to another friend but expressed interest in

2:24

landing a spot on the towing list over

2:27

lunch at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse Daryl

2:30

Wilson and the importer-exporter explained

2:32

to the county commissioner and the county

2:34

commissioners father that he was looking to

2:36

expand his business in reality

2:38

Daryl Wilson was FBI agent Daryl

2:41

Williams that day he

2:44

loaned the whites $1,000 to keep

2:46

him in mind Daryl

2:48

Wilson followed up with Commissioner Kevin White on

2:50

the phone several weeks later I'm

2:53

in heavy campaign mode white explained nobody

2:56

would get on the list if he weren't reelected

2:58

he told Daryl that he needed to come up with $10,000 in the

3:01

next two weeks the

3:04

next two weeks I'm done with the street

3:06

to death I

3:09

gotta get raised to keep this shit out of

3:11

these people the

3:15

two-way street Daryl replied this

3:17

is a two-way street you know Kevin

3:20

recognized that responding I

3:22

tell you what drop off the application and make

3:24

sure my people get it I'm

3:28

gonna try to come with you I should have

3:30

my shit together at least what happened in the

3:32

front maybe another half after we finish Daryl

3:35

Wilson agreed to pay $5,000 up front and $5,000 when it was

3:39

done adding do we

3:41

need to take the sheriff out to dinner do

3:45

we need to take the sheriff out to dinner or something? I

3:49

don't know let's just

3:52

get let's

3:54

uh let me see what else we're doing let

3:56

me see the application will go from there On

4:00

June 4th, 2010, Kevin White

4:03

climbed into the passenger seat of Darrell

4:05

Wilson's car in the parking lot of

4:07

a Longhorn Steakhouse. I want

4:09

to take care of you for taking care of me,

4:11

Williams told the commissioner while handing him the $5,000 down

4:13

payment. The small

4:15

camera hidden behind the rearview mirror caught it

4:17

all on video. I want to

4:19

take care of you for taking care of me now. I said you

4:21

needed 10. I'm up to 85. Here

4:24

you go. Oh, man. Hahahaha!

4:30

Within days, Kevin White, the chairman

4:32

of the Public Transportation Committee, called

4:34

the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to personally

4:37

request that Darrell Wilson's company be included

4:39

on the towing list. However,

4:42

that November, Kevin White lost in the

4:44

primary during his bid for re-election. The

4:47

scheme fell apart, but it wasn't

4:49

forgotten. The FBI

4:51

knocked on Kevin White's door the following March 2011.

4:55

At multiple points during their interview, they asked

4:57

the former Hillsborough County commissioner if he had

5:00

ever accepted payments for spots on the county's

5:02

towing list. Kevin White

5:04

denied it every time. At

5:07

6.45 this morning, FBI agents

5:10

arrived at Mr. Kevin White's residence

5:12

in rearview, and they offended a

5:14

federal restaurant. 46-year-old

5:17

Kevin White was arrested at his home

5:19

on June 15, 2011.

5:21

He'd been charged with accepting

5:23

$8,000 in cash bribes, plus

5:26

a used 2003 Lincoln Navigator for

5:28

his father Gerald. 64-year-old

5:31

Gerald White was not charged for his

5:33

role because he died a few

5:35

months earlier awaiting a heart transplant. Such

5:38

a shame, Kevin's defense team noted, because

5:40

it was Gerald White, the client's father,

5:43

who was the true master manipulator. This

5:45

certainly wasn't George Hondrellis, the owner of

5:48

Tampa City Towing. He had been

5:50

charged with bribery as well, but his case

5:52

was dismissed after a judge ruled him mentally

5:54

incompetent. Kevin White stood

5:56

alone. The Former chairman

5:59

of Hillsborough County, Public Transportation

6:01

Commission was ultimately can begin

6:03

on seven charges including conspiracy,

6:05

bribery, and wire fraud. He.

6:07

Was acquitted of the charges for the payments received by

6:09

his father. Kevin White was sentenced

6:11

to three years in prison. For

6:17

my family lost. Your family.

6:20

That's surprising. At his

6:22

sentencing hearing, Kevin White blamed his family

6:24

for his current predicament. I

6:26

always wanted a relationship with my father. He told

6:28

the court. But. I see where that's

6:30

gotten me. President. That's

6:33

where.him. And for those who was

6:35

Kevin White political career. There. Was

6:37

an entirely predictable conclusion. Suspicion that

6:39

has swirled around Kevin White, a

6:41

former policeman since he entered politics

6:44

in two thousand and Three and

6:46

have a disappointment those who voted

6:48

for him so suspicion soften turned

6:50

out to be trusts. Kevin

6:53

White was born into one of Tampa,

6:55

Florida most famous black families. There's

6:57

a street named after his grandfather,

6:59

Moses White, who was a Civil

7:01

Rights leader and owner of a

7:03

popular barbecue restaurant and cabin smothered.

7:05

Gerald was a college football star.

7:07

Kevin's life would be rife with

7:09

opportunity. The only problem was

7:11

the Kevin was born out of Wedlock. His

7:14

father was already married to a different woman when

7:16

cabins mother became pregnant with them. The

7:18

whites never accepted Kevin White as part of

7:21

the family. In fact, according

7:23

to the Tampa Bay Times, Kevin.

7:25

Why didn't see his father, Gerald again until

7:27

he was ten years old? Job

7:29

reportedly dropped off a bicycle for

7:31

the disowned boy that Christmas, which

7:33

the police confiscated following day because

7:35

it was stolen. Kevin

7:37

White vowed to make it on his own, and he

7:40

did. He. Joined the Us Navy

7:42

and then became a cop and nineteen

7:44

Ninety Four years later, he resigned from

7:46

the Tampa Police Department after violating be

7:48

car chase policy and causing an accident

7:50

which resulted in the city being sued.

7:54

kevin white moved on to an even

7:56

less respected profession by becoming a finance

7:58

director of an auto In

8:01

2002, he reached the final

8:03

form of scumbaggery and decided to become

8:05

a politician. He ran for a seat

8:07

on the tap of City Council. Kevin's

8:09

opponent in the primary was his aunt,

8:11

Bernadine White King. Gerald

8:14

White endorsed his sister over his son in

8:16

that race, a move that, quote, cut

8:19

me more deeply than anyone will ever know,

8:21

Kevin said at the time. Kevin

8:24

White defeated his aunt, won the City

8:26

Council seat, and eventually reconciled with his

8:29

father. It was like a made-for-TV

8:31

movie, but the honeymoon ended three months

8:33

into Kevin's term when he pushed for the council

8:35

to give themselves a 23% raise

8:37

during a closed meeting. But

8:40

that little bump in the road didn't slow

8:42

down his political aspirations. In November 2006, Kevin

8:45

White was elected to a seat on the Hillsborough

8:47

County Commission, again defeating his

8:49

aunt, Bernadine White King. And

8:52

again, almost immediately, controversy

8:54

arose. It was

8:56

discovered that Kevin White had spent more than $6,000 of

8:59

campaign funds on custom-tailored Italian suits

9:01

and then lied about it on

9:04

disclosure forms. The Florida Elections

9:06

Commission fined him almost $40,000 for 14 violations of state

9:10

election laws. Kevin White

9:12

caught the public's attention again soon after when

9:15

he launched a limousine service immediately

9:17

after he was named chairman of

9:19

the Public Transportation Committee, which regulates

9:22

limousine services. Additionally,

9:24

it was rumored that Kevin White had

9:26

personally interfered with a traffic stop involving

9:29

his goddaughter, and the commissioner

9:31

openly admitted to carrying guns into government

9:33

buildings 99% of

9:35

the time, Kevin said, sometimes two or

9:37

three. But

9:39

worst of all, in the eyes of many, in

9:42

2009, Kevin White was accused of

9:44

repeatedly sexually harassing his 22-year-old intern. The

9:48

intern said Kevin White was persistent,

9:50

propositioning her during every business trip,

9:53

every lunch meeting at Outback Steakhouse, and

9:55

once third-gavel memorial service where Deputy Sheriff

9:57

killed in action. Rejected

10:00

his advances, This

10:02

result of and Kevin White getting be internet

10:04

poor rating on or six month job performance

10:07

review. The in turn will

10:09

probably lose her job unless Commissioner White

10:11

could make the review. Disappear.

10:14

And he could, He promised. But

10:16

only if she was willing to give him

10:18

a chance romantically. She wasn't.

10:21

As. He sued. Because. He was

10:23

awarded seventy five thousand dollars. Say the

10:25

truth I made. I'm not even focusing

10:27

on that, I'm I'm focusing on my

10:29

to try that imposing our family and

10:31

I'm focusing on being a positive that

10:34

I've been able to bring to this

10:36

get of us. That case cost Hillsborough

10:38

County almost five hundred thousand dollars in

10:40

court fees which Kevin White would be

10:42

forced to reimburse. He. Would be

10:44

dead broke afterward which might explain why

10:47

started selling spots on the law enforcement

10:49

tone with soon after. However,

10:51

according to another criminal, Kevin White

10:53

had been opened the bride's long

10:56

before them. For

10:58

years Earlier, in November, Two Thousand

11:00

Six, a real estate mogul named

11:02

Mathew Cox was arrested for committing

11:04

a ten plus million dollar fraud

11:06

involving almost one hundred properties and

11:08

multiple states. As beard of his

11:10

plea bargain. Stood F B

11:12

I agents about payments he made

11:14

of didn't have a city council

11:16

candidate kevin White in exchange for

11:18

rezoning request. You. Help me

11:20

get elected and I'll vote in your favor

11:22

every time I did. Promise. And

11:25

Peacock said he paid thousands of dollars

11:28

to capitalize campaign disguised as donations from

11:30

other people. Have in my

11:32

discounted the accusations of quote the

11:34

jailhouse rumblings of are reputed con

11:36

man. Telling the St Petersburg

11:38

Times in two thousand and eight quote

11:40

is defined as others to it. As

11:43

a Navy veteran and a former police

11:45

officer, I've made my life and career

11:47

by serving others. Mr. Cox

11:49

have made his life out of lying,

11:51

cheating and stealing. To. The public

11:54

can determine who's lying here. kevin

11:57

why was never charged for those

11:59

questionable campaign donations. However,

12:02

a year later, a different set

12:04

of questionable donations paid to Kevin

12:06

White would open the door to

12:08

a different set of questions entirely.

12:11

In August 2009, Jeff Testerman,

12:14

a veteran investigative reporter at the

12:16

St. Petersburg Times, decided to

12:18

check some facts about Mr. White whose

12:20

re-election campaign for the Hillsborough Kennedy Commission

12:22

seat had just begun. On

12:25

the Commissioner's website and campaign flyers, Kevin

12:28

White often referenced his distinguished

12:30

Navy career. Testerman checked

12:32

the records and discovered that White had only

12:35

served for a total of 56 days.

12:38

Kevin White's military records said he

12:40

was honorably discharged because he had

12:42

quote, enlisted in the error.

12:45

This is Jeff Testerman on C-SPAN. I

12:59

found that he had received a campaign check

13:01

for $500 from a group I had never

13:03

heard of called the

13:08

United States Navy Veterans Association.

13:11

Jeff Testerman decided to warn

13:13

the United States Navy Veterans

13:15

Association about Kevin White's exaggerations.

13:18

It would be a shame for a veterans

13:20

charity to waste its strictly prohibited

13:23

campaign contributions on a fraud.

13:25

And what luck? The journalists learned

13:28

that the charity's director, Navy Reserve

13:30

Lieutenant Commander Bobby C. Thompson, lived

13:32

right there in Tampa. Testerman

13:35

could just drive over to his house and

13:37

maybe get a quote for his story. That's

13:40

how Jeff Testerman found himself in a

13:42

rough area of Ebor City, parked

13:44

in front of a dilapidated duplex across

13:47

from a cigar factory. This must

13:49

be the place, Testerman told himself after

13:51

seeing the bus chain again, security provided

13:53

by Smith and Wesson bumper stickers in

13:55

the window. Justin, an odd

13:57

looking man, appeared on the front porch. The.

14:00

Smell of booze filled the air. Lieutenant

14:04

Commander Navy Reserves retired as

14:06

our Bobby Thompson introduced himself.

14:09

And as as pleasant as the

14:11

interaction with get Jeff Testament described,

14:13

his encounter with Bobby Thompson that

14:15

day is almost combative. His. Answers

14:17

were terse on a basis he didn't seem

14:19

to care. The Kevin White was overstating a

14:22

service. Thompson also claimed his organization

14:24

never made any political contributions and that

14:26

any background check on him would be

14:28

an accurate because of credit reports have

14:30

been corrupted that would last for separate

14:32

people. Thompson warned. The. Journalist

14:34

hadn't asked. Jeff.

14:37

Testament returned to the Times office that

14:39

day with as reporters instincts tingling. Explain

14:42

the encounter to his research partner John

14:44

Martin and together they started researching the

14:47

man and his charity. That

14:49

chance encounter autumn that we set off a

14:51

chain of events that would unravel over the

14:53

next four years. The mysterious

14:55

operator of a fraudulent better and

14:58

charity as exposed as an imposter.

15:00

On this episode, Swindled. Soil

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world is old from a man's

18:37

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young when you go down to

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the see him ships. When

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you join the fraternity of

18:47

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18:50

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19:05

as we have. Will

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tell us. The. United

19:09

States Navy Veterans Association.

19:12

Or the Us in be a. Traces

19:14

it's respect immobile were under

19:16

Alabama summer sun. And Nineteen

19:19

Twenty seven. A small group

19:21

of decorated Spanish American War and

19:23

World War One Nabel veterans came

19:25

together and associated themselves into an

19:28

affiliated group of five bedroom organizations.

19:30

The. Pensacola? maybe Airman. The.

19:32

Northern Florida Association Of Navy Veterans

19:34

Of the Spanish American War. The.

19:37

Northern Florida Naval Veterans Of the

19:39

Great War, The Alabama Naval History

19:41

Association, and the Jacksonville League of

19:44

Naval Preparedness. This

19:46

is all according to be nearly three

19:48

thousand words written history on the association's

19:50

website. And. Summary: After a

19:52

few wars, those five Navy veteran

19:54

organizations melted into one. Just

19:56

in time for a few more. the

19:59

united states navy better Association like

20:01

other veteran organizations such as the

20:03

American Legion was not officially

20:05

affiliated with the government. It

20:08

was in no way shape or form

20:10

a military organization. No,

20:12

the US NVA was a

20:14

qualified tax-exempt charity with incredible

20:16

reach. There were 66,000 members across

20:20

41 state chapters, plus Puerto

20:22

Rico and Panama. The

20:24

association's purpose? To

20:26

aid, quote, needy Navy veterans and

20:29

their families by collecting millions of

20:31

dollars in donations over the phone

20:33

because the world's largest military budget

20:36

isn't enough, apparently. The

20:38

US NVA used the money for

20:40

various projects like sending care packages

20:43

to troops stationed overseas. The

20:45

charity was headquartered in Washington, DC and

20:47

overseen by an 84-member board

20:49

of directors. The CEO was

20:52

Jack Nimitz, a retired Naval

20:54

reservist turned investment banker with

20:56

an admirable admiral's last name.

20:59

Bobby Charles Thompson was the director,

21:01

a retired lieutenant commander who performed

21:03

his duties in Tampa, Florida, where

21:05

he was a lifelong resident. Bobby

21:08

Thompson, or the commander as he preferred

21:11

to be called, was an interesting fellow.

21:13

He styled his obvious hair implants into

21:16

a pompadour with a ponytail that was

21:18

unlike anything you'd ever seen before, just

21:21

an all-around general unkemptiness about his

21:23

look, but his wax-hardened

21:25

handlebar mustache somehow tied it all

21:28

together. The commander was

21:30

the kind of guy who would have multiple Bloody

21:32

Marys for breakfast, which is probably part

21:34

of the reason he didn't own a car. He'd

21:37

been renting the same Ebor City duplex for

21:39

a decade, where he lived alone on one

21:41

side and used the other for his US

21:44

NVA's office. His neighbors

21:46

would agree. Bobby Thompson was

21:48

an interesting fellow. St.

21:51

Petersburg Times reporter Jeff Testerman certainly thought

21:53

so too. He couldn't stop thinking about

21:55

the man since meeting him at his

21:57

roach-infested property. Testerman Sir that

22:00

there was more to the commander than meets the eye

22:03

and what met the eye was concerning.

22:06

That's not how a retired Navy commander is

22:08

supposed to look. That's not how he's supposed

22:10

to act and that's not supposed to be

22:12

where he lives. And

22:14

I said there's something strange about

22:17

this and John said why don't we take

22:19

a look? Jeff Testerman and

22:21

John Martin's journalistic investigation began in

22:23

August 2009. Immediately

22:26

things didn't add up. According

22:28

to the United States Navy veterans

22:30

Association website the group had a

22:32

long storied 80-year history but

22:35

according to public documents the US NVA

22:37

didn't file for tax exempt status until

22:40

2002. Quite

22:42

quizzical. As was the

22:44

fact that the address to the group's

22:46

Washington DC headquarters belonged to a mailbox

22:49

at a UPS store. No

22:51

wonder nobody ever answered the phone. This

22:53

is the Washington DC office of the

22:55

United States Navy Veterans Association. The

22:57

St. Petersburg Times also discovered that

22:59

the testimonials from active Navy members

23:01

featured on the US NVA's website

23:03

were copied and pasted from a

23:06

different organization's website with only the

23:08

names changed. The website

23:10

also showcased an award for acts of

23:12

public bravery that according to an official

23:14

at the awarding organization there was no

23:16

record of the US Navy Veterans Association

23:19

ever receiving. Nor was

23:21

the US NVA accredited and given

23:23

a prestigious honor with GuideStar a

23:25

database that serves to verify nonprofit

23:27

organizations data. In fact just the

23:30

opposite was true. GuideStar said it

23:32

rejected the US NVA's application after

23:34

it received incomplete financial information. The

23:36

CPA that signed off on US NVA's

23:39

submitted audit was determined not

23:41

to exist. And she

23:43

wasn't the only one. Jeff Testerman and

23:45

John Martin at the St. Petersburg Times

23:47

spent six months trying to talk to

23:49

anyone at the United States Navy Veterans

23:52

Association other than Commander Bobby Thompson. It

23:54

proved impossible of the 85 directors

23:57

chapter heads and executives listed on the

23:59

US NVA. The is taxing rulings,

24:01

formation documents, etc. Not one of

24:03

them to be found. There.

24:06

Were no boats rankles and Alaska.

24:08

Know Ceo Jack Nimitz. Know:

24:11

Gator Longfellow Melting the Alabama

24:13

chapter. There was no

24:15

Alabama chapter. The least not as

24:17

ugly. all of the addresses listed for the

24:19

state chapters in the lead appeal boxes or

24:22

empty plots of land. The. People

24:24

didn't even exist on paper. The

24:27

only one the did with commander Bobby Thompson,

24:29

but there were no military records for the

24:31

man. Who was he really?

24:34

More. Concerning li. Where's. All the

24:36

money, That there were no

24:38

people to pay, no facilities and

24:40

all good deeds were plagiarized. What

24:43

happened to the millions of generously

24:45

donated dollars The nonprofit had accepted

24:47

an estimated one hundred million dollars

24:49

of unaccounted for. The.

24:51

St Petersburg Times was able to answer

24:53

some of those questions. For. Starters,

24:55

the journalists discovered that up to

24:57

ninety percent of those earnings were

25:00

captivated. Tele marketing companies with whom

25:02

the Us in be A have

25:04

partnered the charity at best kneaded

25:06

only fifteen percent. Still,

25:09

That's tens of millions of dollars and the

25:11

time soon were at least one hundred and

25:13

eighty Two thousand of those dollars went. Lobbying.

25:17

Even. Though nonprofit organizations are required

25:19

to remain nonpartisan, Bobby Thompson

25:21

had created his own political

25:23

action committee called Navy Veterans

25:25

for Good Government. Map back

25:27

for short. Nap

25:29

Packs website which preferred the President

25:32

Obama as quote the Voice of

25:34

Fascism taken directly from the likes

25:36

of Mussolini and Castro donated heavily

25:38

to prominent republicans around the country.

25:42

John Mccain, Mitt Romney, Mitch

25:44

Mcconnell, Original Orange Man, John

25:46

Painter and He Solace I'd

25:48

Michele Bachmann. Remember her? They

25:50

all receive campaign contributions from

25:52

Bobby Thompson. a map pack,

25:55

One. of the only democrats thompson donated

25:57

to was fellow navy veteran hillsborough

26:00

County Commissioner Kevin White. Bobby

26:02

Thompson got around. Most

26:04

notably, he was able to successfully

26:06

lobby the state of Virginia to

26:09

pass a bill exempting veterans charities

26:11

like the USNBA from the state's

26:13

annual charity registration requirements. Thompson

26:15

had made campaign contributions to several

26:17

Virginia state lawmakers over the years,

26:19

including Governor Bob McConnell, who was

26:21

later convicted on corruption charges, which

26:24

you can hear all about in

26:26

an upcoming bonus episode of Swindled.

26:28

valuedlistener.com. Sign up

26:30

today. Thanks

26:33

to his generous donations, Commander Bobby Thompson

26:35

was eventually invited to the Oval Office

26:38

in 2008 when President

26:40

George W. Bush was on his way out.

26:43

Thompson gave Bush a playful slug in the arm

26:45

as if they'd known each other for years. Photos

26:48

of that meeting would later appear on the commander's

26:50

Christmas cards and coffee mugs he kept in his

26:52

office. Jeff Testerman at

26:54

the St. Petersburg Times asked

26:56

Bobby Thompson and the United States

26:58

Navy Veterans Association to clarify these

27:01

discoveries. The organization replied

27:03

through its lawyer, a real person. Her

27:05

name was Helen McMurray, the state

27:07

of Ohio's former charity regulator. McMurray,

27:11

that's Helen McMurray, who used to

27:13

serve under Montgomery at the Attorney

27:15

General's office as the head of

27:18

the consumer division, protecting the very

27:20

consumers her client is cheating. The

27:24

USNVA never made anyone available to

27:26

the journalist, opting rather to defend

27:28

itself by sending a printed out

27:30

copy of its 2,500 page

27:32

website to the newspaper, noting that

27:34

it would be simply impossible for one

27:37

man to maintain such a vast project

27:39

as the newspaper seemed to be alleging.

27:42

In additional correspondence, Bobby Thompson,

27:44

using various pseudonyms, attacked Jeff

27:46

Testerman, calling him a draft

27:48

dodger and a Pulitzer Prize

27:50

wannabe. Thompson criticized the

27:52

newspaper Testerman worked for and its

27:55

parent company, claiming the St. Petersburg

27:57

Times was leading a, quote, psychobabble-based

27:59

attack. He claimed nobody at

28:01

the US Navy Veterans Association wanted

28:04

to participate in a quote character

28:06

assassination and McCarthy-like witch hunts. In

28:08

each and every case, your investigation is flawed,

28:11

Thompson wrote. You haven't the

28:13

tools or the ability to come up

28:15

with the right organization, contacts, or information.

28:18

People don't want to talk to you

28:20

because of your disreputable tactics and stories

28:22

and biases. Many of the people

28:24

you do talk to don't have the resources to

28:27

give you accurate information. And regardless

28:29

of whether you are working off

28:31

accurate or inaccurate inputs, your conclusions

28:33

are always accusatory against your target

28:35

as opposed to being the result

28:37

of objective analysis. Meanwhile,

28:40

throughout the correspondence, NAPAC, Bobby

28:42

Thompson's political action committee, quietly

28:44

shut down. Eventually,

28:47

the US NBA sent a letter to

28:50

the Times saying the association had conducted

28:52

a thorough review of itself and found

28:54

no wrongdoing. The group demanded

28:56

Testerman's resignation and $36,099 to pay for the

28:58

legal bill caused by

29:02

the newspaper's investigation. The

29:04

charity also claimed that two volunteers had

29:06

suffered emotional distress and physical pain because

29:09

the message is left for them by

29:11

the Times. Quote, future attempts

29:13

to contact may be considered criminal

29:15

stalking, the association warned. On

29:19

March 21, 2010, the St. Petersburg Times

29:21

published the first of an award-winning series

29:23

of articles by Jeff Testerman and John

29:25

Martin called Under the Radar, which

29:28

exposed Bobby Thompson and his charity. Testerman

29:31

has also recently released a book about the

29:34

case titled Call Me Commander, so check that

29:36

out too. The fallout from

29:38

the articles was rather immediate. Many

29:40

of the politicians named as recipients of

29:43

donations from the association declined to comment

29:45

but quietly returned or redonated the money

29:47

they had received from the United States

29:50

Navy Veterans Association. Boehner

29:52

and the other Republicans have since given

29:54

the money away after the scam was

29:56

first reported by the St. Petersburg, Florida

29:58

Times. scenes at the

30:00

US NVA, Bobby Thompson was trying to keep

30:02

it together. In June

30:04

2010, he met with his

30:06

telemarketing partners in New York City. They

30:09

were uncomfortable with the recent attention. They

30:11

eased their worries. Thompson brought two Navy Vet

30:14

board members with him. They'd been

30:16

appointed just days earlier. The

30:18

telemarketers decided to end the partnership.

30:22

The US Navy Vets Association lawyer also

30:24

dumped the organization. Helen McMurray

30:26

had represented the charity for three years.

30:29

Throughout that term, she says she was only

30:31

allowed to communicate with Bobby Thompson. When

30:33

the Times articles were published, McMurray said

30:35

she asked Bobby about the phony mailbox

30:38

office accusations to prove to

30:40

his lawyer that actual offices existed. Thompson

30:43

sent her a photo of what was

30:45

obviously a UPS store with the US

30:47

Navy Veterans Association logo taped to the

30:50

wall. McMurray had been

30:52

misled too. It's

30:58

a scam wrapped in patriotism called the

31:00

US Navy Veterans Association. The appeals on

31:02

its website to help US Navy Vets

31:05

have brought in more than $100 million

31:08

in charitable contributions in the last

31:10

eight years. 99% of that money is

31:12

unaccounted for. New

31:17

Mexico was the first state to begin

31:19

its own investigation. New Mexico's

31:22

Attorney General, Elizabeth Corzemo, took the

31:24

allegations personally because her father was

31:26

a Navy Veteran. We

31:29

found nothing but some dirt and some

31:31

mesquite, Corzemo reported after trying to locate

31:33

the address listed for US NBA's New

31:35

Mexico headquarters. And Howard Bonifacio,

31:38

the head of the state chapter, was not

31:40

in the white pages of New Mexico, nor was

31:42

he in the white pages anywhere in the

31:44

US. Until Mr. Bonifacio comes

31:46

to talk to us, Corzemo said, I'm

31:49

going to assume he doesn't exist. to

32:00

the United States Navy Veterans Association whose

32:02

footprint in the state was again revealed

32:04

to be nothing more than bank accounts

32:06

and a rented mailbox. The

32:09

Ohio Attorney General's Office obtained a

32:11

$4.9 million default judgment against the

32:13

US NBA suspending its fundraising

32:16

activity and freezing its bank accounts

32:18

from which about $101,000 was recovered. This is Ohio

32:23

AG Richard Cordry on June 24, 2010.

32:52

The US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Internal Revenue

32:55

Service were also investigating the

33:18

association. The IRS eventually

33:20

raided the home of a US

33:22

NBA volunteer, one that actually existed.

33:25

They seized association documents and books

33:27

on charity law but found

33:29

no financial records. He

33:32

says Contreras was listed as

33:34

acting treasurer for the US

33:36

Navy Veterans Association. Prosecutors

33:38

say that charity was a

33:40

fake and that Blanca's boss

33:42

who called himself Bobby Thompson

33:44

amassed millions of dollars by

33:46

using telemarketers to solicit donations

33:48

meant for vets. Blanca

33:51

Contreras was a 39-year-old Mexican immigrant

33:53

who lived two doors down from

33:55

the commander. She was a

33:57

former strawberry picker with an eighth grade education.

34:01

She was listed as the US NBA's

34:03

acting treasurer. In other words,

34:05

Thompson used Blanca to cast checks for

34:07

him. Her principal role was in

34:09

a conduit for the money. In

34:11

October 2010, Blanca Contreras

34:13

was indicted by the state of Ohio.

34:16

She ultimately pleaded guilty to theft and other

34:18

charges to spare her two daughters who had

34:21

assisted her on the job. Blanca

34:23

Contreras was sentenced to five years in

34:25

prison. I would

34:27

like to apologize for the court's

34:30

finesse. I

34:36

would like to be a good person. I

34:39

do call today and I would

34:41

like to express my deepest remarks

34:43

for each and every victim that

34:45

was involved. Commander

34:48

Bobby Thompson had also been charged

34:50

in Ohio with identity theft, fraud,

34:52

and money laundering. Ohio

34:54

Attorney General Richard Cordray announced

34:56

the charges on October 15, 2010. We

35:01

think we can prove that more than $1.9 million was stolen

35:03

from Ohio citizens, money

35:07

that they either should have kept for

35:09

themselves or would have presumably

35:12

given to legal and legitimate veterans organizations

35:14

in our state. It's very aggravating to

35:16

us to know that that much money

35:18

was diverted out of Ohio and

35:20

to find that it was going to an array

35:23

of corrupt activities, including potentially

35:25

fraudulent political contributions to political

35:27

candidates. It is trading on

35:29

the good name of our armed forces and patriotic

35:31

Americans to solicit funds that it says

35:33

will be used to assist veterans directly.

35:36

Instead, we have reason to ask whether some

35:38

of those funds are actually going to political

35:40

campaigns. This is in the

35:43

charitable sphere what Bernie Madoff did in

35:45

the investment sphere. It's shocking. Bobby

35:48

Thompson would pay for these crimes just

35:50

as soon as they could find him. The

35:53

commander abandoned his beloved duplex in

35:55

mid-June 2010, about

35:57

90 days after the St. Petersburg Times began

35:59

to publishing stories about him. He

36:02

was last seen in July that year, withdrawing

36:04

$500 from an ATM in New

36:06

York City. The state of

36:08

Ohio issued a nationwide arrest warrant.

36:11

Let the manhunt begin. Existence?

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Ohio authorities have now launched a national manhunt

38:20

for Bobby Thompson, who failed to show up

38:22

in court earlier this year and was last

38:24

seen in the lobby of a luxury hotel

38:26

here in New York City. He

38:29

is wanted on charges of identity theft,

38:31

money laundering, and engaging in a pattern

38:33

of corrupt activity that robbed needy veterans

38:35

of almost $100 million. How

38:38

much is missing? $99 million. Where

38:42

was Bobby Thompson and his charities

38:44

missing millions? The search

38:46

for the man would only deepen the mystery. Using

38:49

facial recognition software on driver's license

38:51

databases across the country, the

38:54

U.S. Marshals in Ohio uncovered a string

38:56

of stolen identities used by the commander

38:58

in nine different states. There

39:01

was Ronnie Britton, a 55-year-old disabled

39:03

veteran who lived in New Mexico.

39:06

Ronnie had a driver's license featuring Commander

39:08

Bobby Thompson's face. It was issued

39:10

by the state of Indiana in the early 2000s, a

39:13

state where the real Ronnie Britton had never

39:15

lived. Elmer Dozier

39:17

had an Indiana license with Thompson's photo

39:19

as well. Dozier was a

39:22

Vietnam veteran and former police officer who

39:24

suffered a heart attack and died in

39:26

1999 while chasing a suspect on foot

39:28

in Tennessee. Apparently, Thompson

39:30

had used the deceased man's birth date

39:33

and Social Security number to create a

39:35

new identity for himself. There

39:37

was Thomas W. Mater, a

39:39

63-year-old retired naval submarine captain

39:42

who lived in California, but

39:44

was also living and possibly

39:46

voting in Florida unwittingly. Thomas

39:49

Mater's registered address in Florida pointed

39:51

to the E-Bore City duplex where

39:53

Bobby Thompson lived and worked. The

39:56

same place another man named Morgan

39:58

Cleveland from Arizona was also registered

40:00

to vote. Then of course

40:02

there was Robert Thompson, a man

40:04

in Cincinnati whose name and address had

40:06

been attached to campaign contributions to various

40:09

Ohio Republicans. Not

40:11

a chance Mr. Thompson told news

40:13

station WCPO when asked if the

40:15

donations came from him. He can't

40:17

be my twin.

40:22

If I do give my money away, I give it

40:24

to a Democrat. But

40:27

not even that Robert Thompson in

40:29

Cincinnati was the real Bobby Thompson.

40:31

The real Bobby Thompson whose identity was stolen and

40:34

used by the commander for over a decade was

40:36

a 65 year old retiree

40:38

that lived in Washington state. He,

40:41

like everyone else affected, had no idea

40:43

that his information had been compromised. But

40:46

that's not the only thing the victims had in common. Many

40:49

of the commander's stolen identities belonged to

40:51

people who lived or worked on Native American

40:53

reservations at some point in their lives.

40:56

The real Bobby Thompson for example was

40:58

a full-blooded chalk-tall who had worked for

41:00

the Bureau of Indian Affairs for several

41:02

decades. Many of the

41:05

stolen identities had connections to New Mexico

41:07

where U.S. Marshals thought the commander might

41:09

have returned. The space was plastered on

41:11

billboards across the state and the case

41:13

was also featured on America's Most Wanted.

41:15

But so far, after a year

41:17

and a half of searching, the commander had not

41:20

turned up. However, there

41:22

were some promising leads. Back

41:24

in July 2010, shortly after

41:26

he fled Tampa, the commander was spotted

41:28

at an ATM in Boston. There

41:31

he had rented a PO box using one

41:33

of his stolen aliases. Thompson was

41:35

gone by the time authorities found it but the

41:38

mail kept coming. And eventually,

41:40

information about an apartment rental in

41:42

Providence, Rhode Island was delivered addressed

41:44

to someone named Lance Martin. Authorities

41:47

found the real Lance Martin living in

41:50

a Navajo community in New Mexico. It

41:52

was the commander's newest identity but

41:54

again he remained one step ahead.

41:58

When the Marshals arrived in Providence, in February

42:00

2012, the commander was nowhere to be

42:02

found. His landlord did confirm from a

42:04

photo that Lance Martin was the person

42:06

they were looking for, but he

42:08

had abandoned the property suddenly and after three months without

42:11

saying a word in March 2011, almost a year earlier,

42:15

and what he left behind was fascinating. The

42:17

commander had outfitted his apartment with a

42:20

chapel, a podium, and pews.

42:22

There were religious artifacts on the wall

42:24

and electrical cables hanging from the ceiling.

42:27

Investigators theorized the fugitive was broadcasting some

42:29

kind of church service over the internet

42:31

as part of his newest charity, the

42:34

Plymouth Rock Society of Christian Pilgrims.

42:38

The commander's former landlord also handed over

42:40

a bag of belongings found in the

42:43

apartment, including a pocket knife, camouflage shorts,

42:45

and beef jerky. But

42:47

most importantly, the landlord handed over the email

42:49

address the commander had used to rent the

42:52

place. Soon

42:54

after the marshals discovered that that email

42:56

address had also been used to sign

42:58

up for a customer loyalty card at

43:00

a Providence supermarket using the name Anderson

43:02

Yazzie. Like many of the

43:04

commander's stolen identities, the real Anderson Yazzie

43:07

lived on Navajo land in New Mexico.

43:10

But unlike many of the commander's

43:12

stolen identities, the fake Anderson

43:15

Yazzie had made a mistake. Signing

43:20

up for a membership rewards program to

43:22

save a few bucks fit the commander's

43:24

character profile to a tee. Despite

43:26

presumably having access to millions of

43:29

dollars, the frugal fugitive often shopped

43:31

at Walmart, ate at homeless shelters,

43:33

and always paid in cash. Well,

43:37

almost always. The supermarket

43:39

customer loyalty card stored the commander's

43:41

purchase history. The marshals found

43:43

that as Anderson Yazzie had used the car

43:46

to buy multiple prepaid debit cards and they

43:48

were able to access those purchase histories as

43:50

well. The most recent transactions

43:52

had occurred at a convenience store

43:54

a few weeks earlier in Portland,

43:56

Oregon. The US Marshals were

43:58

closing the gap. They immediately got

44:01

on a plane. When

44:03

Deputy U.S. Marshals Bill Bolden and Tony

44:05

Gardner and Special Deputy Marshal Mike Caruso

44:07

arrived in Portland on Monday, April 30,

44:10

2012, they met with local authorities

44:13

and they headed towards the Northeast

44:15

neighborhood where the commander's recent purchases

44:17

were concentrated. A clerk at

44:19

the supermarket that the commander frequented confirmed seeing

44:21

the fugitive less than 24 hours earlier and

44:23

was able to share what he was wearing.

44:26

Within hours of landing, the marshals had closed

44:28

the gap even further. Their

44:31

next stop was the commander's favorite watering

44:33

hole, Fiddy McGraw's Irish Pub.

44:36

When Deputy Marshal Bill Bolden entered alone,

44:38

the place was basically empty except for

44:40

two people sitting at the bar. One,

44:44

the lady who the Tampa Bay Times reports

44:46

was double-fisting a tequila shot in coffee, and

44:48

the other, an older man nursing a beer, wearing

44:51

the exact outfit the store clerk

44:53

had described. Lo

44:56

and behold, it was the commander, clean-shaven,

44:59

walking with the cane, but

45:01

unmistakably, the commander. Bill

45:04

Bolden casually sat down next to him, gave a

45:06

head nod, and texted the other

45:08

members of the task force who waited outside. It's

45:11

him, Bolden wrote. He's sitting right next

45:13

to me. The

45:16

marshals chose not to take the commander into custody

45:18

immediately because they wanted to find out where he

45:20

was staying and he would lead

45:22

them there eventually but not before a few pit

45:24

stops. When the commander left

45:26

Fiddy McGraw's, he hobbled to a nearby

45:28

grocery store and sat down on one

45:30

of those motorized carts, creating

45:33

the potential for one of the slowest

45:35

pursuits in law enforcement history. Instead,

45:37

the marshals held back and waited in the

45:39

parking lot. The commander exited the store with

45:41

a bag of groceries and a money order

45:43

for his rent, boarded a

45:45

bus, and stopped at another bar. The

45:49

commander re-emerged around 10.30 pm

45:51

and started walking again. One

45:54

plainclothes officer tracked him at a safe distance.

45:57

When the commander reached the steps of his house, the

45:59

cops rushed in. Did you ever

46:01

think you'd get caught? Deputy Marshal Tony

46:03

Gardner asked him. Hope,

46:06

springs eternal, the commander replied.

46:09

We were shocked and surprised when we ran

46:11

up on him, but he

46:13

was living a

46:15

lifestyle of always on the move

46:18

and having all different identifications. When

46:21

asked his name, the commander invoked his

46:23

constitutional right to remain silent. Celia

46:26

Moore, the landlady of the room where

46:28

he had been living for $600 a

46:30

month, divulged everything she knew about her

46:33

Craigslist source, Tennant. He told

46:35

her his name was Kenneth Morrset. He was

46:37

a retired Mountie, part Cree Indian,

46:39

recently divorced after 35 years of marriage.

46:43

He told her he was hiding himself and

46:45

his money from his ex-wife. Kenneth

46:48

Morrset also shared with Celia Moore that he

46:50

walked with a cane because he had injured

46:52

his knee kickboxing in the 80s. He

46:54

worked a day job as a security consultant for

46:56

Boeing, even though he always smelled like he was

46:58

at the bar drinking all day. He'd

47:01

also been spotted eating three meals at the

47:03

homeless shelter within walking distance. And

47:05

he didn't, on the car. Kenneth

47:08

Morrset was a very conservative man,

47:10

Celia Moore discovered. He was

47:13

a creationist, anti-government, libertarian.

47:16

A pleasure to talk to though, she

47:18

noted, if you avoided those topics. Otherwise

47:21

a perfect roommate, except for

47:23

the smell of bingay that overwhelmed the

47:25

house every morning. I

47:27

did see a wad of cash one time.

47:29

He said he didn't like to use checks

47:31

and paper because of the

47:33

ex-wife. What I learned, I now understand

47:36

we're all lies. In

47:38

Kenneth Morrset's room, the marshals found packages

47:40

of ramen and a recently purchased paper

47:42

shredder. There were eight pairs

47:44

of non-prescription glasses and a DVD

47:47

copy of Catch Me If You

47:49

Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. And

47:52

his pockets were two bottles of eye

47:54

drops and three separate wallets. Each

47:56

one housed the resident alien card from Canada,

47:59

one for now. Kenneth Morcette, one

48:01

for Anderson Yazzie, and one

48:03

for Alan Reis Lacy. The

48:05

Alan Lacy wallet also contained a business card

48:08

for a local storage facility. There

48:10

was a unit number and an access code scrawled

48:12

on the back. At

48:14

Rose City Storage the following morning, the

48:17

authorities entered Unit Number 646.

48:19

Its only contents were two

48:21

briefcases. The first briefcase contained

48:24

everything one could possibly need to

48:26

steal the identities of dozens of

48:28

people, birth certificates, credit

48:30

reports, identification cards, etc.

48:33

The second briefcase was full of

48:35

cash, mostly hundreds, bundled with

48:37

hair ties and wrapped in newspaper from 2008. The total

48:39

was $981,650. The

48:58

commander was extradited to Ohio three

49:00

days after his arrest in Portland. According to

49:08

the Tampa Bay Times, Deputy Marshal

49:10

Tony Gardner and Special Deputy Marshal

49:12

Mike Caruso sandwiched the commander on

49:14

the flight. The marshals were

49:16

working on a crossword puzzle in the in-flight

49:18

magazine when Caruso turned to the commander for

49:20

help. Hey Bobby, what's

49:23

another name for you? Swindlers. One

49:25

of the nation's most elusive fugitives

49:27

has been tracked down by federal

49:30

marshals. He's accused of running a

49:32

phony veterans charity, bilking donors out

49:34

of millions of dollars. This is

49:36

the man federal agents say has

49:38

been using the name Bobby Thompson

49:40

while operating the US Navy Veterans

49:42

Association. They're still trying to figure

49:44

out his real name. Thompson was

49:46

arrested in Portland, Oregon last night

49:48

following a nationwide search. Pete

49:52

Elliott, US Marshal from Northern

49:54

Ohio and Mike DeWine, Ohio's

49:56

recently elected Attorney General, jointly

49:58

announced the decision. discovery to the public

50:01

that after nearly two years on the run, the

50:04

man known as Bobby Thompson had been taken

50:06

into custody. We still

50:08

don't know the true identity of the man known

50:10

as Bobby Thompson who has used the identity of

50:12

several other people throughout the years, but

50:15

we commend the teamwork with our federal partners in

50:17

this case. This case sends a

50:19

strong message that we will not tolerate

50:21

scam artists in Ohio, Elliot said.

50:25

Back in Ohio, the commander refused to

50:27

identify himself and a state and

50:29

federal fingerprint search yielded no results. Authorities

50:32

started referring to him as Mr. X, which

50:35

is what he signed on court documents. Mr.

50:38

X, initially representing himself, refused even

50:40

to share what level of education

50:42

he had completed so as not

50:44

to help reveal his true identity.

50:46

The honor message is that with what we

50:48

expect from court, that's an identification

50:50

question. The state's alleged identity

50:53

theft is part of the complaint.

50:56

I believe, your honor, that the state

50:58

has the burden of proof as to that,

51:00

Mr. X told the judge. We'll

51:03

prosecute him by whatever name he's known as. If

51:05

he wants to go by the name Mr. X, we'll prosecute him

51:07

by the name of Mr. X. He is the individual that did

51:10

the crime. A

51:13

prosecutor says a former fugitive accused of operating

51:15

a $100 million cross-country scam

51:18

sold millions through ATM withdrawals

51:20

and by writing checks to

51:22

himself. The man calls

51:24

himself Bobby Thompson, but prosecutors

51:26

say he is Harvard-trained lawyer

51:28

and former military intelligence officer

51:31

John Donald Cody. Thank

51:34

goodness for Google, U.S. Marshal Peter Elliot

51:36

said at a press conference on October

51:39

1, 2012. After four months

51:41

in custody, a series of Google searches

51:43

had finally helped positively identify the man,

51:46

formerly known as the commander, Bobby

51:48

Thompson. Peter Elliot

51:50

said he just started searching terms that might point

51:53

him in the right direction. Missing

51:55

vets, major fraud fugitives,

51:57

military fugitives, those searches

51:59

ultimately led to an insider

52:01

listicle article headlined the 10

52:03

most intriguing white-collar fugitives. The

52:06

number two on that list was a man

52:08

named John Donald Cody, who

52:11

says clickbait is worthless. I

52:14

began conducting Google searches, simple

52:16

Google searches, on

52:18

things I knew were similar to Thompson

52:21

on the internet. We

52:23

always knew that there was a reason that

52:25

Thompson signed his name as Mr.

52:27

X and did not want to be identified.

52:30

And we know now why.

52:32

I Google such things as

52:34

missing vets, fugitives from the

52:37

military who were on the run, major

52:39

fraud fugitives, etc. and a list of

52:42

the 10 most wanted fraud

52:44

fugitives came back. It

52:47

was then that I found an FBI wanted poster

52:51

in the name of John Donald Cody

52:55

from 1987. According to that FBI

52:58

wanted poster from 1987, John

53:01

Donald Cody was wanted for various

53:04

fraud charges and wanted for questioning

53:06

related to a federal espionage investigation.

53:09

The photos featured a man with

53:11

an unusual pompadour style haircut who

53:13

looked strikingly similar to the commander.

53:16

Of course, was pre hair implants, plastic

53:18

surgery and dental work. But still the

53:21

common features were uncanny, including

53:23

but not limited to the fact that

53:25

the FBI poster noted that John Donald

53:27

Cody was an avid user of

53:29

eye drops, an unusual quirk

53:31

shared by the commander, Bobby Thompson.

53:34

US Marshal Peter Elliott was convinced

53:37

that Bobby Thompson and John Donald

53:39

Cody were one and the same.

53:43

But they needed more substantial evidence.

53:45

Luckily, they found it. John Donald

53:47

Cody was a former military intelligence officer.

53:50

And his fingerprints were still on record

53:52

with the military more than 40 years

53:54

later. The marshals requested

53:56

a comparison. It was a match. Bobby

53:59

Thompson and John Donald Cody

54:01

were indeed one and the

54:04

same. And within the last 72 hours,

54:07

we received from our friends at the

54:09

FBI the evidence that we needed. I

54:12

spoke to the case agent in Washington who

54:15

had the military fingerprints of

54:18

Cody from the Department of State in 1969,

54:21

and he sent those over to us. The

54:24

Kyle County Sheriff's Office, who Sheriff Bob

54:26

Reed and Captain Bova had

54:29

a fingerprint examiner at

54:31

our office waiting those fingerprints.

54:33

They matched Cody and Thompson

54:35

to being the same person.

54:39

John Donald Cody was the brilliant son

54:41

of a bookkeeper and a bank teller

54:43

in Hoboken, New Jersey. He

54:45

was president of his high school's honor society

54:47

and debate team. In the

54:49

yearbook, he listed pizza and apple pie as

54:52

some of his favorite things, but quote, not

54:54

together. John Donald Cody

54:57

was an interesting fellow. After

55:00

high school, he joined the army, but Cody's

55:02

active service was deferred until he graduated from

55:04

Harvard Law School in 1972. He

55:07

began practicing law in places like

55:09

New York, Hawaii and Louisiana, while

55:12

reportedly serving as a military spy

55:14

in places like Angola, the Congo

55:16

and the Philippines. John

55:19

Donald Cody ended the service when the U.S. Army refused

55:21

to promote him to the rank of major. People

55:24

who knew him theorized that this moment

55:26

of disappointment triggered a change in the

55:28

man, a change that revealed

55:30

itself in Arizona. John

55:32

Donald Cody started his own law

55:34

practice in Sierra Vista, Arizona. He

55:37

was the only Harvard educated, multilingual,

55:39

fiercely liberal Democrat lawyer to be

55:42

found in the small town. And

55:44

that's not the only reason he stood out. John

55:47

Donald Cody wore bell bottoms a decade

55:49

after they'd gone out of style. He

55:52

had this Elvis Presley pop-a-dore that most

55:54

assumed was a toupee. His

55:56

face was always greased with petroleum jelly,

55:59

and he was constantly... instantly pouring eye drops

56:01

into his eyes because his tear ducts

56:03

had reportedly been destroyed by radiation exposure

56:06

in the Philippines. None

56:08

of these eccentricities affected Cody's performance in

56:11

court though. Most memorably, the

56:13

lawyer got a man who had stabbed someone

56:15

20 plus times off death row by reason

56:17

of insanity and got another woman

56:19

acquitted for self-defense after she had shot her

56:22

boyfriend in the face while he was eating

56:24

cereal. But as the years

56:26

passed, John Donald Cody became

56:28

increasingly manic and difficult to deal with.

56:30

He had accused prosecutors of wanting

56:32

to kill him. One time

56:34

he smuggled hair dye into a client's jail

56:36

cell so a witness couldn't identify him. According

56:39

to the St. Petersburg Times, Cody

56:41

started sleeping less and missing court dates.

56:44

He'd locked himself in his office and

56:46

emerged with quote, white powder on his

56:49

nose. Eventually, John Donald Cody found himself in

56:52

trouble with the law. In May 1984, he

56:54

was scheduled to appear

56:56

before a judge on contempt charges, but

56:58

instead he skipped town. Before he

57:00

left, Cody withdrew a little less than $100,000 from the estate trust of

57:02

two women he

57:05

was representing. He sent flowers to his

57:07

mother for Mother's Day and no one, including

57:09

his mother, never saw him again. John

57:12

Donald Cody's blue court event was found later

57:14

at the Phoenix airport. The keys were in

57:17

the ignition. Authorities tracked him

57:19

to Mexico immediately after where the fugitive tried

57:21

and failed to withdraw $48,000 from a bank

57:24

in Juarez. Cody resurfaced

57:26

again in 1987, this time

57:29

in Alexandria, Virginia. He tried to

57:31

obtain a $25,000 loan using

57:33

the identities of former clients, but was

57:35

denied. And for those attempts,

57:37

John Donald Cody was charged with fraud, but

57:39

disappeared again before he was arrested. And

57:42

then the trail went cold. A

57:44

decade later, in 1997, he was presumed dead by

57:47

his own mother who believed the government wanted

57:50

to quote, make him disappear. We now

57:54

know that in 1998, John

57:56

Donald Cody reappeared with a new name, Bob

57:59

Red Bear. launched a new

58:01

company, Totem Security in Portland, Oregon.

58:04

He advertised job openings near Native American

58:06

reservations in New Mexico. Some

58:09

of the men who applied included Kenneth

58:11

Morcette, Anderson Yazzie, and

58:13

Alan Rees-Lacy. Bob

58:15

Redbear, aka John Donald

58:18

Cody, would save those men's information

58:20

to use at a later date. In

58:23

August 1998, Bobby

58:25

Charles Thompson registered to vote in Tampa,

58:28

Florida. In July 2002,

58:30

he was listed as the founding

58:32

director of the United States Navy

58:34

Veterans Association on its tax-exempt application.

58:38

And in September 2013, the commander

58:40

would stand trial for some of

58:43

his crimes. Though he

58:45

still would not admit that John Donald Cody was

58:47

his real name, this is

58:49

his defense attorney, Joseph Patetus. During

58:57

opening statements, the prosecution told the

58:59

jury that John Donald Cody, or

59:01

Bobby Thompson was, quote, simply

59:03

a thief who could not tell the truth. The

59:06

patriotism, deception, and greed

59:09

paved the way for a massive charitable

59:11

fraud. Cody's

59:13

defense disagreed with that assessment. There

59:16

was no deception, Patetus claimed. Because

59:18

the commander was upfront about the

59:20

organization's lobbying efforts, and he

59:23

hadn't fled or run from anything. He was

59:25

just job hopping. I

59:27

don't believe he was actually on the run at all. I think

59:29

he was going from one job to the next. And when I

59:32

say job, I don't mean that in a criminal sense. In

59:35

fact, this client's charity was far from

59:37

a criminal operation, and they would prove

59:40

it, Patetus promised. The

59:42

United States Navy Veterans Association was

59:44

actually part of a secret CIA

59:46

operation to promote America's military interest

59:49

and curry political favor. The

59:51

commander was merely a government agent,

59:53

or quite possibly the victim of

59:55

some kind of MK ultra brainwashing

59:58

experiment. This is according to the court. to

1:00:00

the commander himself who filed more than

1:00:02

100 handwritten documents to the court detailing

1:00:04

the conspiracy. John

1:00:07

Donald Cody's trial lasted six weeks and

1:00:09

featured 17 days of testimony from

1:00:12

42 witnesses including the real Bobby

1:00:14

Thompson and other people whose identities

1:00:16

he had stolen. Not

1:00:18

appearing on the stand were any of the

1:00:21

politicians who accepted the commander's money. People

1:00:23

like George W. Bush and John Boehner

1:00:25

were subpoenaed but Ohio Attorney

1:00:28

General Mike DeWine would also

1:00:30

receive campaign contributions from NAVPAC,

1:00:32

made those subpoenas disappear, deciding

1:00:35

that the commander's political generosity was quote,

1:00:37

kind of a sidebar to the scam

1:00:39

that wasn't really an essential part of proving

1:00:42

the elements of the crime of him taking the

1:00:44

money. Right, because

1:00:46

the motive of a crime was

1:00:48

never important. George

1:00:51

W. Bush may have not testified at

1:00:53

John Donald Cody's trial but he did

1:00:55

make an appearance. The coffee mugs

1:00:57

that the commander had printed featuring the photo

1:00:59

of himself chumming it up with the former

1:01:01

president were entered into evidence. The

1:01:03

prosecution then fashioned those coffee mugs into

1:01:05

pencil holders for the remainder of the

1:01:08

trial. Another

1:01:10

person who did not testify was John

1:01:12

Donald Cody himself. The day

1:01:14

before he was scheduled to take the stand, a

1:01:16

loud thumping could be heard coming from a room

1:01:18

adjacent to the courtroom. The next day

1:01:20

it was revealed that the thumping was

1:01:22

John Donald Cody slamming his head against

1:01:24

a concrete wall of his holding cell

1:01:26

in an apparent suicide attempt. Absolutely

1:01:29

his mental health deteriorated. If you look

1:01:31

at his forehead he has actually an

1:01:34

indentation in his forehead from when he

1:01:36

was banging his head off the wall.

1:01:38

So I mean there's some mental health

1:01:40

issues there certainly. The

1:01:42

next time the commander appeared in court those

1:01:45

mental health issues were on full display or

1:01:47

was it a calculated performance? Either

1:01:50

way disheveled is an understatement as

1:01:52

tie was missing as white shirt

1:01:54

was almost completely unbuttoned revealing his

1:01:56

chest and stomach. His hair was

1:01:58

a greasy mess. Judge Stephen

1:02:01

Goss scolded him like a child. Mr.

1:02:03

Thompson, you are going to button up your shirt

1:02:06

and clean up your hair right now. You're

1:02:08

not going to appear before a jury like that. The

1:02:11

prosecution rested this case. On

1:02:15

November 14, 2013,

1:02:17

after only three hours of deliberation, the

1:02:19

jury found John Donald Cody, aka

1:02:22

Bobby Thompson, guilty of 23 charges,

1:02:24

including identity theft and money

1:02:27

laundering. On December 16,

1:02:29

2013, the 66-year-old was sentenced to 28 years

1:02:31

in prison and fined $6

1:02:35

million. The judge

1:02:37

also ordered John Donald Cody to spend

1:02:39

every veteran's day during his prison stint

1:02:41

in solitary confinement. To

1:02:44

date, according to Ohio Attorney General

1:02:46

Mike DeWine, nearly $1

1:02:48

million seized from John Donald

1:02:50

Cody has been redistributed to

1:02:52

legitimate veterans organizations, including

1:02:55

$10,000 cash that his former Portland landlady later

1:02:57

found stashed in the wheel wells of a

1:02:59

suitcase he left behind. It

1:03:02

is difficult to try to measure the amount

1:03:04

of harm your greed has caused, Judge Goss

1:03:06

told the commander. All the

1:03:09

worthy organizations that count on small donations

1:03:11

from good citizens to help further their

1:03:13

cause, they are now struggling for

1:03:15

money because people are afraid to give. Before

1:03:18

his sentence was handed down, John Donald Cody

1:03:20

addressed the court. I

1:03:22

understand what the court is doing by referring

1:03:25

to me as Mr. Cody, he said. But

1:03:28

Bobby Charles Thompson is my

1:03:30

name. A judge in Cleveland

1:03:33

hands down a prison sentence to a Harvard

1:03:35

law grad who used a bogus charity to

1:03:37

cheat veterans out of millions. The

1:03:39

man who calls himself Bobby Thompson received

1:03:42

a 28-year sentence this morning. He

1:03:44

must also spend each veteran's day in

1:03:46

solitary confinement. Prosecutors

1:03:48

say he's actually John Donald Cody. They

1:03:50

say Cody took money from the fake

1:03:53

charity he ran called the United States

1:03:55

Navy Veterans Association and he cheated $100

1:03:57

million out of donors in... In

1:04:04

June 2015, John Donald

1:04:06

Cody's sentence was reduced by a year

1:04:08

related to 11 counts of identity fraud

1:04:10

which an appeals court ruled the Cuyahoga

1:04:12

Common Pleas Court had no jurisdiction to

1:04:15

consider. The judge also overturned

1:04:17

the punishment of having to serve every Veterans

1:04:19

Day in solitary confinement. All further

1:04:21

appeals from John Donald Cody have been denied.

1:04:24

If he lives to serve his full penalty,

1:04:26

the commander will be released from prison at

1:04:28

age 91. The

1:04:31

last we heard from John Donald Cody came

1:04:33

courtesy of Jody Andes who worked at the

1:04:36

Columbus Dispatch. She interviewed the commander

1:04:38

in prison at least a dozen times for a book

1:04:40

she wrote about the case called Master of Deceit. Apparently

1:04:43

the former head of the US Navy's

1:04:45

Veterans Association still has money on his

1:04:48

mind. Someone had told him about the book that it was

1:04:50

available for $17. He

1:04:53

was angry. He said his story is worth more than $17. Swindled

1:05:13

is written, researched, produced and hosted

1:05:15

by me, a concerned citizen. With

1:05:18

original music by Trevor Howard aka

1:05:20

the former aka Thoth Strankles. For

1:05:23

more information about Swindled you can

1:05:25

visit swindledpodcast.com and follow us at

1:05:28

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1:05:38

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1:05:40

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