JONATHAN LEE RICHES

'Jonathan Lee Riches' is a 30 year old individual currently incarcerated at FCI Williamsburg in Salters, South Carolina (inmate #40948-018) for his involvement in an identity theft ring. He is scheduled for release on March 23, 2012. ^[1]

Contents

Background and Conviction

Federal lawsuits issued after incarceration

References

Background and Conviction

Jonathan Lee Riches was convicted in 2004 for his role in a multi-state wire-fraud scam. His co-defendants, Jason Michael Carpenter, Stephanie Costley Doyle, Michael Scott Pesce, Bernarnd Duzinski, and others were sentenced to terms between 210 months to 12 months for their part in the conspiracy along with orders to make restitution. Timothy Riches, 49, and Donna Riches, 50, both of West Chester, Pennsylvania, were also charged with conspiracy to launder money.
In the conspiracy Carpenter received confidential identification from an unnamed juvenile who had created a "spam" computer program which generated an e-mail message alleging to be from American Online (AOL) and asking for personal information. This information was then sent by Carpenter to Riches who used the information to obtain new credit cards without the consent of the person(s) whose name appeared on the card.
Pesce and Duzinski provided Riches with fraudulent driver's licenses in the names of the credit card victims to make it easier to use the fraudulently obtained credit cards. Doyle was Riches' girlfriend and participated in purchasing items although she was aware she was committing a fraud.
When Riches' home was searched on February 25, 2003 he was found to be in possession of more than 20 counterfeit and/or unauthorized access devices.

Federal lawsuits issued after incarceration

Riches has filed at least 24 lawsuits in Federal Court since January 08, 2006. ^[2]

★ On January 27, 2006 Mr. Riches (while incarcerated at FCI Bennettsville) filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent his transfer to FCI Williamsburg. In the complaint Mr. Riches states "transfer to FCI Williamsburg poses immediate danger and risk to his safety, from named and unnamed associates of co-defendants currently at FCI Williamsburg." ^[3] By February 14, 2006 Mr. Riches had been transferred to FCI Williamsburg. ^[4] On March 20, 2006 this lawsuit was dismissed. ^[5]

★ On March 8, 2006 Mr. Riches (AKA Gino Romano) filed a lawsuit against DEF CON and 2600.com claiming the defendants had "joined alliance with Al-Qaeda, Irish Republican Army, Nigerian Janjaweeds, and Columbian FARC." The lawsuit also claims that Mr. Riches is an "underground hacker superhero" and that "DEF CON's annual computer hacker convention has my name and picture, and statue on event tickets and balloons". In the lawsuit Mr. Riches misspelled balloons. On May 7, 2007 this lawsuit was dismissed. ^[6]

★ On March 9, 2006 Mr. Riches filed his most famous and largest lawsuit. The civil rights lawsuit naming George W. Bush et al as defendants. The "et al" list continues for 56 more pages and includes 783 defendants (both living, dead, and non-entities) such as the survivors of the Holocaust, Pizza Hut, Dane Cook, Three Mile Island, Paris Hilton, Dennis Hopper, Mount Rushmore, the Ming Dynasty, Mein Kampf, "Various Buddhist Monks", Medieval Times, The Da Vinci Code, and the celestial object Pluto. ^[7] This lawsuit is the only one filed thus far that was written on a typewriter and not by hand.

★ On May 20, 2006 (8:00pm EST) Jonathan Lee Riches was featured on a CNN Presents documentary entitled "How to Rob a Bank." The transcript of the television program states that "Riches bragged he could access databases illegally and could look up anything on anybody.", "Riches bought this $6,000 four-wheeler, this $6,600 jet ski, and all this jewelry, including a $9,000 engagement ring for his girlfriend", and that "He charged computers, cameras and clothes to sell on eBay. He charged Western Union money transfers, using fake I.D.s to claim the cash. And he charged cash advances with a cock and bull story in several banks." Furthermore, the transcript alleges that "One of the stories that he used was that, you know, they were on their honeymoon and they had to divert because his grandmother was ill and they needed the money to help care for medical expenses." and "Riches scammed enough to pay cash ($107,000) for this house with $37,000 more stashed inside." The CNN Presents transcript also alleges that when arrested by the FBI "Riches got very sick, very nauseous to his stomach and threw up several times." ^[8]

★ On July 16, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against the Mossad, Central Intelligence Agency, and Larry King Live claiming the "defendants are in a vast conspiracy to hijack my torso, three toes, and my constitutional rights and ship them to a secret headquarters in Concord, NH." Mr. Riches also alleges that the "Mossad told me personally on April 20th, 2007 that they are going to hang me on a cross next to Jesus Christ.", that "Larry King Live is a voodoo witch doctor who stole my identity on February 25th, 2003 and purchased lead paint, Chips Ahoy!, Planter's Peanuts, and Ziploc bags under my identity. Distributed them to the CIA to microwave test my DNA.", and that "The CIA on January 4th, 2006 plead allegiance to Al-Qaeda.." ^[9] The court refused to docket the case because the court did not receive a filing fee from Riches.^[10]

★ Also on July 16, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against the Federal Judicial System, all United States Federal Judges, United States Marshals, and Tiger Woods. This lawsuit claims that "Tiger Woods is touring the PGA golf courses with my identity in his pocket. He will not answer my prison phone calls - This continues today." and that "U.S. Marshals laugh at me through the prison ventilation system." In the lawsuit Mr. Riches misspelled ventilation and marshals. ^[11]

★ On July 17, 2007 Mr. Riches (AKA "Secured Party") filed a lawsuit against Identity Theft Inc, Computer Hackers L.L.C, and telephone phreakers claiming that George W. Bush and Jeb Bush "pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda on November 11th, 2007" and that "my mind is being hacked into". This particular lawsuit also claims that the defendants "put a computer virus into my body to make me sick." (Citing bowel and weight-loss problems as evidence.) In the lawsuit Mr. Riches misspelled bowel. ^[12]

★ On July 18, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against Cindy Sheehan and Nancy Pelosi. ^[13]

★ On July 23, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against Michael Vick asking for damages of "$63,000,000,000 billion" backed by gold and silver, to be delivered to the front gate of FCI Williamsburg via Sandy Springs-based UPS (which he erroneously states as the "United States Parcel Service"). Riches alleges that Vick stole two white mixed pit bull dogs from his home in Holiday, Fla., and used them for dogfighting operations in Richmond, Va. The complaint goes on to allege that Vick sold the dogs on eBay (which violates eBay terms of agreement) and “used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government.” The complaint also alleges that Vick would need those missiles because he pleaded allegiance to Al-Qaeda on February 10th, 2007. In the lawsuit Mr. Riches misspelled allegiance and missiles. He also uses the term "pleaded" as opposed to "pledged". The complaint continues to allege that Michael Vick stole Riches' identity in-order to sell "Mr. Riches" merchandise (including hats, mugs, and t-shirts) and to open accounts at PetSmart and "doggie warehouse" to purchase dog food for dogfighting operations. Further complaints alleged against Michael Vick state that "Michael Vick used drugs in school zones." and subjected Mr. Riches to microwave testing.^[14]

★ Also on July 23, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against "Guantanamo Bay, The Hague, Abu Grab Prison, Soviet Gulag Archipelago, Bellevue Hospital, Tehran Iran’s Evin Prison, Riker’s Island, United States Penitentiary Coleman Florida, Auschwitz Concentration Camp, San Quentin, Chester County Prison Pennsylvania, Geneva Convention, My Lai Massacre, Attica Correctional Facility, Cool Hand Luke, Cook County Jail, Robbins Island, Bataan Death March, Alcatraz Penitentiary, Geo Group, Navy Brig Charleston S.C., “TDCJ” Texas Department Criminal Justice, Hillsborough County Jail Tampa Florida, Shawshank Redemption, Correction Corp. Of America “CCA”". The lawsuit is for 728 trillion dollars in gold and silver.

★ Riches claims that the defendants are "in a vast conspiracy to kidnap my mind" and that their headquarters are located "where the Detroit Tigers play football." (It should be noted that the Detroit Tigers play baseball) The plaintiff also claims the defendants made him dig tunnels from February 14, 1994 until September 4, 2006, used Riches' credit and identity to purchase missiles, and was punished by being forced to eat live rats and to roll around in kitty litter. Mr. Riches claimed that he had a Jewish cell-mate, was subjected to fluoride poisoning, and microwave testing. The plaintiff also claims that the defendants bankrupted Enron. ^[15] On August 8, 2007 this lawsuit was dismissed. ^[16]

★ On August 3, 2007 Mr. Riches (AKA The Credit Card Czar, AKA The Nostradamus of Commerce) filed a second lawsuit against Michael Vick and other defendants including the Atlanta Falcons NFL team, PETA, and Jason Michael Carpenter seeking 662,000,000,000,000 trillion dollars in British gold delivered by J.B. Hunt Trucking to the front-gate of FCI Williamsburg. This lawsuit claims that "Michael Vick and my co-defendant Jason Michael Carpenter from my Houston criminal case, hacked into my court records in Pennsylvania. Carpenter under Vick's orders sent a botnet trojan into my records at Chester County Court of Common Pleas (in West Chester, PA) and put false information in my dockets to make me look evil." Mr. Riches also claims "Michael Vick was also involved with the Pan Am Flight 103 explosion in Scotland." (it should be noted that Vick was only 8 years old at the time) and that "Michael Vick had a sexual relationship with my co-defendant Jason Michael Carpenter." ^[17] This civil case was terminated on August 16, 2007. ^[18]

★ Furthermore, in a motion for recusal filed on August 6, 2007 (for his original lawsuit against Michael Vick) Mr. Riches claims that Michael Vick "threw snowballs" at his car, has "hired robotic guards" at FCI Williamsburg, and sold Riches' name to CNN producer Andy Segal. The document also states that "Michael Vick attended the Kentucky Derby wearing a Jonathan Lee Riches© skull cap." ^[19]

★ On August 7, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against Jon Swartz, Ed Mierzwinski, cardcops.com, creditcards.com, phishing and the world wide web. Mr. Riches claims that "Jon Swartz provided Cho Seung-Hui the credit card to shoot Virginia Tech.", "Swartz showed Cho how to boost his credit score.", and that "Swartz also showed Cho how to commit identity theft and phishing over the WWW." ^[20] On August 13, 2007 this lawsuit was dismissed. ^[21]

★ On August 14, 2007 Mr. Riches (AKA The White Suge Knight) filed a lawsuit against "Barry Bonds, Allan H "Bud" Selig, and Hank Aaron's Bat" seeking "42,000,000.00 million dollars in Swiss Francs." Among the counts against the defendants are claims that Bonds used Hank Aaron's Bat to crack the Liberty Bell, Bonds sold steroids to nuns, and that "Bonds gave mustard gas to Saddam Hussein. Part of the Oil for Food Scandal." ^[22]

★ On August 16, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against LeBron James et al. The "et al" list names Michael Vick, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Tony Montana, Mickey Mantle and Allen Iverson as defendants. This lawsuit claims that "Joe Montana is in business with gangster Tony Montana." and that "Defendants failed to build a anti-UFO defense system at FCI Williamsburg." The lawsuit continues to allege that "I dunked over Mr. (Michael) Jordan in high-school." and that "Defendants broke into Watergate in the 1970's." In this lawsuit Mr. Riches erroneously refers to wildfires as "wire fires" and misspelled the words tried and licenses. The plaintiff even claimed that the defendants picked on him in high-school and "fought in the Battle of Hastings 1066 with the Duke of Normandy." In the lawsuit the plaintiff seeks $83 billion collectively from defendants to be donated to Greensburg Kansas tornado victims, Kent State massacre victims, Richard Jewel, 2600.com (which Mr. Riches had previously sued), coal miners and the Skid Row section of Los Angeles. ^[23]

★ On August 20, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against the I-35W Bridge. ^[24]

★ On August 28, 2007 Mr. Riches filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc ^[25] and another lawsuit was filed against Don Imus. ^[26]

★ Mr. Riches most recent lawsuit was filed on August 31, 2007 against Elvis Presley and Neverland Ranch. ^[27]
It should be noted that although the accusations against Riches' named defendants sound delusional, a certain level of sound reason must be present since he files each in different federal court jurisdictions to avoid sanctions against people filing multiple frivolous lawsuits in the same jurisdiction. This has led some to wonder if he is actually disturbed or is simply passing time during his incarceration.

References

1. http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=Riches&Middle=Lee&FirstName=Jonathan&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=335&y=297
2. http://news.justia.com/cases/jonathan-lee-riches/
3. http://casedocs.justia.com/south-carolina/scdce/6:2006cv00194/138647/1/0.pdf
4. http://casedocs.justia.com/south-carolina/scdce/6:2006cv00194/138647/5/0.pdf
5. http://casedocs.justia.com/south-carolina/scdce/6:2006cv00194/138647/7/0.pdf
6. http://casedocs.justia.com/nevada/nvdce/2:2006cv00293/47295/1/0.pdf
7. http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2006-04-13/NC_FP_Lawsuit.pdf
8. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0605/20/cp.02.html
9. http://casedocs.justia.com/new-hampshire/nhdce/1:2007fp00212/31173/1/0.pdf
10. http://casedocs.justia.com/new-hampshire/nhdce/1:2007fp00212/31173/2/0.pdf
11. http://casedocs.justia.com/maine/medce/2:2007cv00124/35051/1/0.pdf
12. http://casedocs.justia.com/kentucky/kywdce/3:2007cv00376/62096/1/0.pdf
13. http://news.justia.com/cases/427867/
14. http://casedocs.justia.com/virginia/vaedce/3:2007cv00434/219999/1/0.pdf
15. http://casedocs.justia.com/michigan/miedce/2:2007cv13041/222743/1/0.pdf
16. http://casedocs.justia.com/michigan/miedce/2:2007cv13041/222743/4/0.pdf
17. http://casedocs.justia.com/georgia/gandce/1:2007cv01858/145065/1/0.pdf
18. http://news.justia.com/cases/441190/
19. http://casedocs.justia.com/virginia/vaedce/3:2007cv00434/219999/4/0.pdf
20. http://casedocs.justia.com/virginia/vawdce/7:2007cv00379/65889/1/0.pdf
21. http://casedocs.justia.com/virginia/vawdce/7:2007cv00379/65889/3/0.pdf
22. http://casedocs.justia.com/indiana/inndce/3:2007cv00375/51741/1/0.pdf
23. http://casedocs.justia.com/ohio/ohndce/1:2007cv02486/145363/1/0.pdf
24. http://casedocs.justia.com/iowa/iasdce/4:2007cv00369/34576/1/0.pdf
25. http://casedocs.justia.com/arkansas/aredce/4:2007cv00780/69274/1/0.pdf
26. http://casedocs.justia.com/new-mexico/nmdce/6:2007cv00843/147921/1/0.pdf
27. http://casedocs.justia.com/florida/flmdce/6:2007cv01378/204584/1/0.pdf