“Babe” Ruth may be swinging for the prison fences. No, not that Babe Ruth.
Sixty-nine-year-old George Herman Ruth (coincidentally, that was also the exact first, middle and last name of the Great Bambino) has been charged with 91 counts, which include “mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, money laundering, making false statements to his supervising probation officer, and possessing firearms after having previously been convicted of felonies,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Tennessee reports.
Not only does he share a name with a baseball legend, but this Ruth’s alleged crimes were also baseball related. He’s accused of having “located pending class action suits and fraudulently used the names of hundreds of deceased or retired professional baseball players and the Social Security numbers of numerous unwitting victims.”
This was all allegedly to support an “elaborate, nationwide scheme to submit hundreds of fraudulent claim forms to class action administrators around the country,” which Ruth used to obtain or attempt to obtain over $550,000, the indictment says.
Ruth could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted.