Todd story reminds me of the flight of wing-nut lawyer Thomas Root in 1989.

[DemoTex]

What really happened to Thomas L. Root on his mysterious 1,000-mile flight may never be known. But what happened in the weeks before the lawyer-pilot took off from National Airport here on July 13 is becoming clearer.

Since Mr. Root's plane spiraled into the Atlantic off the Bahamas and hand-lettered signs sarcastically saying ''Root Lives'' began sprouting in the Federal Communications Commission courtrooms where he practiced, communications lawyers and F.C.C. officials say they now realize they had seen the 36-year-old Mr. Root's life accelerating toward an unknown abyss.

A messy tangle of professional and financial problems was piling up around him, including a move by a Georgia management company to terminate a relationship that had paid him nearly $2 million in the last three years, documents show.

The lawyers and F.C.C. officials said Mr. Root's legal practice before the agency had grown increasingly erratic in recent months as his small firm struggled to cope with a huge caseload of clients who had been referred to him to steer their applications for FM radio broadcast licenses through the regulatory maze. Clients Were Unhappy. (More ..)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD91739F937A15754C0A96F948260

The right-wing Mr. Root represented Christian broadcast stations, particularly Sonrise Management Services, Inc. In fact, Root's principal source of clients grew from his relationship with Sonrise, a corporate name with obvious derivation.

But wait! Mr. Root did not learn. No! He was in deep trouble again last year!

United States Attorney's Office News Release - March 21, 2007

United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan today announced the filing of an eight-count indictment* charging Thomas L. Root, 53, with one count of conspiracy, one count of tax evasion, and seven counts of filing false tax returns related to his execution of a scheme to evade the payment of taxes on more than $500,000 of taxable income. The indictment alleges that Root, a disbarred attorney, and Francis D. McCracken conspired to hide the payment of commissions to them while they were employed by WTVE, a television station in Reading, Pennsylvania. McCracken was employed as the president of the television station and Root was employed as the station’s “special projects director.” The indictment also alleges that Root evaded the payment of taxes on tens of thousands of dollars in taxes on income Root earned for legal research and other work he did.

If convicted, the defendant faces up to 31 years imprisonment, up to three years supervised release, and a $2.25 million fine.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/News/Pr/2007/mar/root.html

Granted, Mr. Root's scam was much weirder than Ms. Todd's .. and much more dangerous. But both involved self-inflicted wounds and literally unbelievable stories to authorities and the media.

Thomas L. Root. Another story the right-wing would prefer we forget.

[TomInTib]

1. Greed's a Mother, ain't it?

Too stupid to scam.

KnR