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Amy Sancetta / AP file
Bobby Thompson, who a federal marshal says is John Donald Cody, appears at a hearing in Cuyahoga County Court in Cleveland, May 8, 2012.
When he was arrested on April 30, the suspect known as Bobby Thompson had been on the run for nearly two years from charges that he ran a bogus charity that collected millions of dollars from people who thought they were helping out Navy veterans.
On Monday, federal authorities revealed that Thompson is really John Donald Cody, 65, a 1972 Harvard Law School graduate and Army veteran the FBI had long sought on numerous fraud charges related to a 1987 espionage probe.
U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott, head of the task force that found Thompson, said on Monday that he was doing Google searches for fugitives recently when landed on an old FBI wanted poster for Cody. Elliot noticed the man's resemblance to the suspect marshals had nabbed in the Ohio fraud case.
Cody, it turned out, had been charged but never arrested, so his fingerprints were not included in a nationwide FBI print database, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on its website.
By obtaining Cody’s fingerprints from the Defense Department, Elliott was able to compare them with the prints taken after Thompson’s arrest. The suspect had served as a captain in U.S. military intelligence, Elliott said.
“Thank goodness for Google,” Elliott said in a news conference Monday announcing Thompson’s apparent unmasking, the Plain Dealer reported.
"This is definitely John Donald Cody," Elliott said. "He's a guy that thought, No. 1, he could never get caught, and No. 2, he would never be identified. And we were able to do both."
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Cody graduated from the University of Virginia in 1969 and Harvard Law School in 1972 and practiced law in several states, Elliott said. Harvard confirmed to The Associated Press that a John Cody graduated from its law school in 1972.
The suspect known as Bobby Thompson was featured on television as one of “America’s Most Wanted” fugitives. He surrendered after a tip led to a Portland bar and marshals followed him home.
Thompson is now jailed in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, charged with 22 counts of theft, money laundering, tampering with records, engaging in corrupt activity and other charges. He ran the national charity out of Tampa, Fla., with fake officers and state chapters and opened up numerous bank accounts and rented mailboxes to pull of the scheme, according to Ohio authorities.
An associate of Thompson’s, Blanca Contreras, of Tampa, Fla., was sentenced to five years in prison in August, 2011, in connection with the charity scam.
Thompson’s attorney, Joseph Patituce, told The Associated Press he is preparing for a March 11 trial. "We believe that the state has a very weak case against our client, but we look forward to our day in court," he said.
According to authorities, little of the money collected to benefit veterans through the U.S. Navy Veterans Association was used for that purpose. However, thousands of dollars was contributed to political candidates.
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A con artist and fraud who is a Harvard Law School grad. Now, I wonder who else is a Harvard Law School grad and a fraud?
Thought the article was bringing out the truth about Barry.......
Time will tell
Ahh, I get it. Fugitive Bobby Thompson was a Harvard Law graduate. Barrack Obama is also a Harvard Law graduate.
Therefore... Obama is a fraud?
There's some sound reasoning at work!
Do they call them conservatives because they often conserve mental energy by not thinking?
It's sad that I read the headline and knew that someone was going to try and snarkily connect this with the President, but the first post?!? It is pathetic how childishly partisan we have become.
Uh you all know Romney has a Harvard Law degree, too, right? No I don't think you did. Nice try, though.
Romney and Obama both went to Harvard, you freaks.
Wow a lawyer committing fraud...............who could have seen that one coming?
Since both candidates have Harvard Law degrees.............I guess that is a Freudian slip you mentioning the President as the one being accused of fraud.
no, not a slip, unless you don't read headlines that accuse "Barry" of not really attending Harvard law.
Only Mitt Romney didn't go to Harvard Law, he went to Harvard Business School JJ-1546486 and Jombo. But then again, you seem like the types don't like to concern themselves with facts, only name calling.
Acutally Cappy your the one who is wrong Romney has a duel Law/Business degree from Harvard. You really should research before posting then you wouldn't look so.................WRONG. You should apologize to JJ and Jombo since they were correct.
Nice try at psychoanalysis, gtouch. Barrack Obama's law degree and legal background is often discussed in the media. Mitt Romney's law degree is not.
It really is not much of a stretch to conclude just whom GTR5 is hitting with a cheap shot.
Google should use this in its commercials against Bing. Besides, Bing sounds like a stupid name for a search engine. I suppose the detective was Binging it when he found the photo of the fugitive? Now doesn't that sound ridiculous?
Not this guy again. When will Anerica wwake-up, smell the coffee, or the lack on funds in your bank account, the peole who you probably know who have lost a job, and as a tax payer yourn helping them receive Governmnet assisitace, while others contiue to pay the bill, food, gas, basic living standards continue to decline for oridinary Americans, mt suggestion is quite simply, to all those who got really motivated by the campaign of 2008, and the "Hope, and Change" thing, WHY DON`T YOU HOPE FOR THAT NOW ? A real change is required here, and lets hope it happens soon otherwise you`ll be yelling at your buddy how another "slick" [politician lied to you, and feel really stupid in the mourning telling everyone you see...................."I REALLY BELEIVED THIS GUY AND ALL HE FED ME WAS A LOADM OF CRAP" Look at your pockets, standard of living, you`ll get the picture America.
Ah, but only one of them claimed to be from Kenya at the time.....
since it was brought up , Obama's "law degree" isn't enough to even QUALIFY for a law license in Canada , Japan , Australia , and others , ergo not much of claim to fame
Seems most of the biggest criminals are from Harvard or Yale...
GTR5 -
I was just thinking the same thing.
There is always somebody that's got to bring politics into everything and then there's always the people that have to keep it going. Are we this divided in this country? If so, we don't need the terrorist to destroy us. We are doing that to ourselves.
Go ARMY!
"If so, we don't need the terrorist to destroy us. We are doing that to ourselves."
you got that right SpcTorres
let's all give a big hand the Divider in Chief
Must have been in Obama class where the theme was how to take and use other people's money!
It was Republican candidates he supported. Just google it.
Fraud in FL , on two fronts. Congrats (R) your ability to multi-task is most impressive.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/john_cody_navy_charity_scammer_identity.php
I stand corrected on the Harvard Law school thing. I didnt know Romney got a joint degree.
This guy Cody is just another one of the long list of criminals who have a law degree. For some stupid reason, people think that lawyers are above the law, when in fact the % of attorneys who commits crimes is shockingly high. Its the same thing in education. Numerous high level educators/teachers/principals/coaches are corrupt, in many ways, whether its embezzalment, fraud, grade changing for athletes, being a pedophile, (both men and women), abusive towards children, committing TITLE IX violations, etc..... Its especially a problem in the 30-40 biggest school districts across the country, where little oversight exists,....If more educators got significant prison time for their crimes, schools would be much better places these days for all.
There is no real comparing today's decimated US economy with what barack will do after he is re-elected. Apparently it is so shocking he cannot even tell his supporters.
Except the communist and egyptian brotherhood ones, but certainly not the US citizens who would amazingly send him back to do his worst.
He played through every office he has ever been in to forward ONLY himself. His record is abysmal. What do you really know about him? One should check his record before seriously considering voting him in again.
You'd have to include MIT and Wharton and they're usually hired by (surprise, surprise) Wall Street, the banks and the uber corporations.
A tall tree and a short rope would be nice for this scumbag.
Harvard has recently been accused of large scale cheating by students, and now this Harvard grad is stealing millions.
I suspect a lot of Harvard graduates will remove that fact from their resume'.
He was collecting money that was supposed to go to Navy Vets. What a low life SCUM BAG. Time for him to do permanent hard time in one of the worse prisons we have.
Harvard, or Ivy League or State College or Community college - People who want to cheat will find a way to cheat. Funny how all these B-schools and Law Schools emphasize on "Ethics" classes.
A lot of Top Govt officials, think-tank experts etc. who are from these Ivy League schools have changed laws to suit the rich and milk the govt as much as they can. US debt is 16+ trillion and counting. We need "CHANGE" real change that I can believe in, not just "rhetoric" from politicians.
Logic of Life: keep voting for Republicans in the House and change is all you will be left with.
dirp, you are a dirpsh!t. As we post, many only have "change" in their pockets, wake up sleepy head- "O" has screwed us all and it is time to let him out to pasture.
Harvard is living up to its reputation as a world-leading educational institution. Playing by the rules is not a recipe for success in modern times. Students absolutely need to learn how to engage in skulduggery while evading the law and ignoring the call of ethics.
You`ve "got it" ! Their is another, they call him Barack, and he`s perpetrating fraud on all American`s with the stuff he`s doing now ! The problem is you have so many of these co-called electorate of theis country who`ve bought into this " con-man", that npbody can " the forrest through the trees`s" ! He`ll tell America anything, and aotumatically they beleive it ! Talk about "stupidity" this is enreal. People now are like ................well they need to get their heads out of the sand, look wahts happening to this country, its been three and a half years people, wake-up. When they re-elect this guy, and the country starts to unravel like we know it will, then all those people who would have "bought in to to stuff" this guy is shoveling, will thenselves complain, and the tradgety is "they don`t really know whats happenig' ! Morona, the President is a figure head, however allot he attempts to put into place have`nt worked. Poverty levels that have`nt been seen since the '60's, more people on Government assistance since he`s been in office, billions of dollars beinbg dent to other countries mean while ours suffers, (HELLO MIDDLE CLASS) abandonment of his words, (promises made, and broken) so much worthless retoric form this guy. He was in position in the first two years of his administration to help the middle-class, yet he did nothig? Why you ask? Because its not on his "plate". My question is why now do you even talk about it? You had an opportunity to DO SOMETHING but did`nt in your first couple of years when the majority of Congress as your party. Why Mr, "Wanna-be" ? You`ll send billions of dollars to other countries meanwhile the Amerivcan p[eople suffer! Thats right its somebody else`s fault right? Nothing is gonna cahge people so get your heads out and read ! That is is your capable of comprehending, or is it you don`t have a clue either !
It's THEY"RE goofball. Not their. My god, you folks are ignorant as sin sometimes. And who really cares, he beats Mitt Romney by a mile in every way possible.
Ah, another maroon that suffers from cranial rectumitis
Did you mean moron?
How many white collar frauds come out of Ivy League schools? I wish there was a study on the likelihood of becoming a degree holding criminal, broken down by school type. I'd put money down Ivy Leaguers are more likely to become criminals than non-Ivy grads. We've got this clown, Bush, Obama, and Romney. That's four easy ones right there.
How about a Harvard professor in the Law School that has a problem with the truth, Princess Pinocchio-hontas?
The guy made a few bucks of people who did not do their homework, big deal. Besides, it's the government's job to give money, not ours, I say it's their own fault for donating money in the first place. I know I never give anything to anyone. If they want free money, they can apply for welfare, or VA benefits if they were in the military, or a number of other ways. I say, give the guy a slap on the wrist, and tell people to stop giving money if they don't want to be ripped off.
Gee, thanks for listening. This is rather frustrationg to listen to people whine about this.
Don't the poor have poor houses? If they're going to die let them do it quickly.
Thanks Scrooge.
Such scumbags...I am talking about the ones who jumped all over the Harvard-Fraud aspect, including the "b-genius" that came up with this headline.
The thing that stuck out to me is that this was a former ARMY officer. I know a few that would crack a few jokes that Naval Intelligence would never have gotten caught. Rather I am reminded of an old army joke about "getting an ugly wife and a screwed up life...in the...ArrrrrMy". Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, for starters...I wouldn't be surprised to find quite a bit of that back when he was active duty, probably fancying it a joke that he was able to screw over so many enlisted. Levenworth is where this clown should have been sent to. Once a scumbag, always a scumbag.
So while the rest of you crack jokes about Obama, I see you as no different than this a$$hole Cody. How much do you want to bet...which political party benefited from his criminality? Why do you think Cody is so smug...thinking that as long as this remains a GOP state level issue and not a federal issue...he will join Zimmerman down in Costa Rica, laughing at all of you, sipping on pina coladas?
You seriously think Cody cared about disabled veterans> I think you care about as much. If the shoe fits, GOP. 47%.
Go Army!
Google: Harvard Criminals
This guy is quite tame and in some very good/bad company. They are the top of their class.
I was expecting to see a picture of the AG...
I guess he didn't have the Soros' get-out-of-jail free card!
Um, OK, so he's an educated criminal. Is that supposed to be meaningful? Does it just mean he has the ability to prolonged his freedom unlike uneducated criminals who get caught quicker? Doesn't University of Virginia deserve a headliner stating he received his undergraduate degree there before being accepted to Harvard Law? University of Virginia did a good job prepping him for law school.
Just another bottom feeder who holds a license to steal. He'll probably get 40 hours of community service and the Bar will dismiss the charges for lack of evidence.
Education is expensive.
At first I thought they were talking about Oblunder then I remembered this is MSN
You could also tell this story was not about B.O. because the amount was millions not billions or trillions.
Harvard should be proud. I hope they post his pic on the wall of fame.
Go Army!
You're right, if he had been Navy he wouldn't have gotten caught.
Clearly, no one proofreads these articles. I find it so annoying that I can't concentrate on the subject matter.
For a moment I thought this was a story about Obama and then I saw that the figure was only millions and not trillions so I knew it was not about him.
Well at least he did not make a movie about moHAMed and post it on the internet. He woulda really been in trouble with the feds then.
His fraudulent funds went to REPUBLICAN candidates. Google it, or live in your own little reality.
LOL... too easy. There are pictures!
Well... they won't let me insert a link it seems. Try googling "the-many-faces-of-bobby-thompson-with-friends"
If G. Bush went to Harvard instead of Yale they would be blaming him for this-They blame him for everything else?
Actually, If you google it. You'll find W received some of the money. Not his fault. Not blaming him.
The article really should have not left the recipients identities up in the air. It's like they feed on the division caused by incomplete reporting.