Life of Crime
I have a good weekend story for you.
There’s a guy named John Pierre Dupont a/k/a “John Gary Rinaldo.” The story on his name is this: John Gary Rinaldo legally changed his name to Pierre Dupont in California in 2012.
He was indicted in 2019 for stealing more than $250,000 through multiple scam political PACs.
Yesterday he entered a guilty plea. He had several political contribution scams going and here’s just one of them:
Another website operated by DUPONT purported to be raising money “to unite immigrant families,” falsely claiming that donations to the Foundation for Sanity in Politics PAC would “go to help pay our volunteer attorneys’, doctors’, nurses’ and social workers’ costs and pay for transportation to unite immigrant families.” In fact, that PAC had no volunteers or staff, and dedicated no funds to paying for any action or advocacy.
He also had a PAC “raising money” for Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, and other Democrats. He used his previous name – John Gary Rinaldo – on the scam paperwork.
And wanna talk about cheeky? He even had a plan to keep from reporting the donations at all, making his scam undetectable. On the Bernie Sander’s site, he pleaded …
“EVERY TIME WE PROCESS YOUR CREDIT CARD DONATION, THE BIG BANKS TAKE UP TO 40% OF THE DONATIONS JUST FOR PROCESSING YOUR CREDIT CARD DONATION…THAT IS WHY WE ARE GIVING YOU THE OPTION…TO MAKE YOUR DONATIONS IN CASH OR CHECK.”
Once caught, he skipped out on a $100,000 bail bond after he was indicted. He became a fugitive at the age of 80.
The U.S. Marshals found him hiding out in Oklahoma when he ran a stop sign close to his house and they ran his name. Elsewise he’d have just continued his life of crime.
This is how a life of crime ends. The 82-year-old PAC scammer wound up handcuffed to a hospital bed 24 hours a day under constant watch by 1-2 U.S. Marshals.
|
06/17/2020 |
30 |
LETTER MOTION addressed to Judge Richard M. Berman from Zawadi S. Baharanyi dated 6-17-2020 re: Conditions of Confinement in Marshals’ Custody . Document filed by John Pierre Dupont. (Baharanyi, Zawadi) (Entered: 06/17/2020) |
Scam PACs were just his last (?) con – he’s a career criminal. His career choice was so outstanding that the LA Times did a story on him in 1992. Read all the way to the end to hear about the FBI sting and the gold coins.
Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen says the life of political finance can be more interesting than you’d suspect.
He does look really shifty.
1I’ve read about several scammers during the last four years; one of the first things they all did was change their names to something vaguely familiar and a bit high-brow – hence, DuPont. I hope we can restore the justice department in this country.
2Grandma Ada … maybe we need to have a committee or leader can change a name to something “vaguely familiar and a bit high-brow:”
I’ll start with some possibilities: others can chime in.
3go to work issuing legal advice from the “Justice League Committee,”
Have a “General George Justice” take the lead in announcing policies
Or “Bill Barre” can be named to be the Lawyer General.
Put 9 people in updated attire and have Robert Johns & the Supremes performing.
Trump’s 2024 prospective 2024 running mate and cell mate.
4How did the tRump Crime Organization/Family not get ahold of this guy to make him the CFO or Marketing Director or something? Helluva missed opportunity.
5Probably because the TCO/F already has perhaps the best scammer anywhere, and he’s kind of jealous and territorial.