$100M Navy charity scammer showered politicians, often Republicans, with political donations
CLEVELAND — A determined fundraiser who rubbed elbows with powerful politicians while masterminding a $100 million, cross-country Navy veterans charity fraud could face the rest of his life in prison.
Politicians who received donations from him, according to campaign finance filings, include George W. Bush and former presidential contenders Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani.
The defendant, who identifies himself as 67-year-old Bobby Thompson but who authorities say is Harvard-trained attorney John Donald Cody, was scheduled to be sentenced Monday. The Ohio attorney general's office, which handled his trial, asked the judge in a filing last week to sentence him to 41 years in prison. In addition, the prosecution recommended a $6.3 million fine.
The defense hinted at a CIA covert operation and showed jurors photos of the defendant with President George W. Bush, suggesting Thompson was acting with government sanction. Thompson was convicted Nov. 14 of racketeering, theft, money laundering and 12 counts of identity theft. The prosecutor showed jurors identification cards with the defendant's photo but different names and issued by government agencies and companies in numerous states.
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/dollar100m-navy-charity-scammer-to-be-sentenced-in-ohio