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Tag: Jonathan Lee Riches

  • Hoax Weaves Conspiracy Theories And Taunts Rep. Gabby Giffords, Victims Of Arizona Mass Shooting

    Jared Loughner. Source: Wikipedia.
    Jared Loughner. Source: Wikipedia.

    Jan. 8, 2011, was a horrifying day in U.S. history. It’s the day Jared Lee Loughner shot then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head. Grievously wounded, Giffords, remarkably, survived. Six others died in the Tucson attack, including U.S. District Judge John Roll of Arizona.

    In this Jan. 9, 2011, story, the Washington Post remembers Christina-Taylor Green, a 9-year-old slain by Loughner, a conspiracy theorist who opened fire at an outdoor constituent event hosted by Giffords in the parking lot of a supermarket. Christina’s granddad, Dallas Green, once was the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and led the team to a World Series title in 1980.

    News circulated yesterday that Loughner had just sued Giffords for $25 million, bizarrely alleging emotional distress. The document painted incredibly wild conspiracy theories. Example: The congresswoman hadn’t really been shot. Instead, she was playing a role she learned by watching Ronald Reagan movies.

    Today, however, the filing docketed in Arizona federal court appears to be a hoax. For starters, it had a Philadelphia postmark, according to Tucson News Now. Loughner is detained in Minnesota. Beyond that, the envelope sent to the Arizona court was strikingly similar to one sent earlier this month to federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan.

    The Michigan document also had a Philadelphia postmark. It purported to be a lawsuit filed against Uber by Jason Brian Dalton, a former Uber driver accused of a mass shooting in Kalamazoo. This was a hoax carried out by Jonathan Lee Riches, posing as Dalton, according to the Smoking Gun.

    If this name seems familiar to you, perhaps it’s because you read it on the PP Blog — on Jan. 28, 2009. Riches, now listed by the Bureau of Prisons as a resident of a Philadelphia halfway house with a May 10 release date from federal custody, is a fraudster and notorious pro se litigant who once tried to enter the Bernard Madoff Ponzi fray.

    As a federal prisoner, Riches eventually tried to sue Loughner, alleging that Loughner might “try to kill me for being a moderate Democrat,” according to Above The Law. Now, it seems possible that the man who once filed against Loughner now is posing as the convicted mass murderer.

    Judge Roll is memorialized in this bust at the federal courthouse in Tucson. The courthouse in Yuma is named after him and also includes a bust. Image source: Ninth Circuit Public Information Office.
    Judge Roll is memorialized in this bust at the federal courthouse in Tucson. The courthouse in Yuma is named after him and also includes a bust. Image source: Ninth Circuit Public Information Office.

    The attack on Giffords, Judge Roll, little Christina and the others was one of the most notorious in recent U.S. history. It is sickening to contemplate that they have been subjected to a hoax in which Loughner may be a victim.

    If Riches pulled this off, he’d better lay low if he attends any Phillies games this summer. The Philadelphia fans aren’t apt to take kindly to someone who serves up even more pain for the Green family while using Giffords, an American hero, as his target-in-chief.





     

     

  • Gadfly Prison Inmate Jonathan Lee Riches Enters Madoff Fray; Files Motion To Intervene In Bankruptcy Case

    jonathanleeerichesmadoffsmallVeteran court watchers might have wagered it was only a matter of time before Jonathan Lee Riches filed a motion in the Bernard Madoff bankruptcy case.

    Had you placed a friendly wager, you’d be a winner. Riches’  brief  was recorded yesterday. He called it an “Amicus Curaie” motion to gain standing with the Court.

    Riches, also known as #40948018, is a prisoner at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Williamsburg, in Salters, S.C. His brief was filed longhand — on tablet paper. You can see it on the Madoff Trustee site, operated by Irving Picard, the court appointed trustee.

    Doing a stint for wire fraud, Riches has, among other things, sued the Williamsburg prison telephone number. He also has sued Plato and  Nostradamus, among more than 1,000 others.

    We’re publishing this post for a couple of reasons. The first is that the motion is laugh-out-loud funny. Riches, for example, claims he met Madoff on eharmony.com in 2001. A romantic relationship ensued, and Madoff picked Riches’ brain to learn how to become a better criminal.

    Riches also claims Madoff took money from Williamsburg inmates after offering them 16.8 percent interest, and then invested the money in a Swiss Ponzi scheme.

    So, have a laugh during these troubled times.

    Our second reason for publishing this post is a serious one. Readers following the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme litigation know that a strange motion also was filed in that case. Curtis Richmond, a man linked to a sham Utah “Indian” tribe purportedly founded in an Arby’s restaurant, filed a motion to have the case dismissed.

    He was denied leave to file, and has a history of filing frivolous litigation, as does Riches.

    Here we have two very serious cases — Madoff and ASD/Andy Bowdoin — and the judges and true parties to the cases have to accommodate nonsense in a search for the truth. It’s still nonsense, even if it does make you laugh.

    Riches’ brief was funny, to be sure. And there also is humor to be found in a brief filed by a member of a sham “Indian” tribe founded in Arby’s.

    Devoting airtime or column inches to things of this nature often is a tough call. On one hand, neither court brief cited above serves the interests of justice. On the other, however, it’s hard to ignore the human-interest elements of either brief. Madoff on eharmony? Arby’s Indians?

    So, we’ll keep this post brief and acknowledge both the humor and the very serious business at hand.