'Con Man' Won't Reveal Real Name, But Will Be Own Lawyer at Fraud Trial
May 8, 2012 — -- The man accused of setting up a fake Navy Veterans charity and siphoning away tens of millions of dollars pleaded not guilty in an Ohio courtroom Tuesday, but still has refused to identify himself.
"If he wants to go by the name 'Mr. X,' we'll prosecute him as 'Mr. X,' " said prosecutor Brad L. Tammaro, chief legal counsel for the Ohio Attorney General.
The judge addressed the defendant as Bobby Thompson, an identity that he allegedly stole from a Washington state man. "Thompson" appeared in the courtroom in an orange jump suit, shackles, handcuffs, and a pair of black Crocs. Through his court-appointed lawyer, Mark Stanton, he pleaded not guilty and revealed that he wishes to serve as his own attorney.
He uttered only three words at the very end of his arraignment, when the judge asked him to affirm that he wishes to represent himself. "Yes, your honor," was his quiet reply.
After two years as a fugitive, the stout man with slicked back dark hair and a pronounced limp, who is believed to be in his 60s, was captured by U.S. Marshals as he returned to his rented room from a Portland, Oregon bar.
As detailed in an ABC News investigation last year, the mustachioed man known as Thompson was charged in Ohio in 2010 on counts of identity theft, fraud, and money laundering in connection with his allegedly bogus charity, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. Authorities believe the charity raised more than $100 million from unsuspecting donors around the country.
