Man Declared Dead After Vanishing in the 70s Found Alive…Working as a Vegas Bookie!
- Posted on July 24, 2011 at 1:02am by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Arthur Gerald Jones, 72, was declared dead after disappearing in 1979.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Court records paint a picture of Arthur Gerald Jones as a powerful Chicago financier who was tormented by snowballing gambling debts and a troubled marriage when he left home to run an errand in spring 1979 and never returned.
FBI agents investigated his disappearance, focusing on possible mafia connections, but never solved the case. An Illinois court declared the husband and father of three dead in 1986.
Now, more than three decades later, authorities say Jones has been living under an alias, spending the past 10 years working as a bookie at a Las Vegas casino under the name Joseph Richard Sandelli.
Jones, 72, was arrested Tuesday on four felony counts related to identity theft and fraud after a report that he fraudulently used a Social Security number led to an investigation.
A criminal complaint filed Monday in Las Vegas Justice Court says Jones told investigators this week that he left Highland Park, Ill., all those years ago to get a “fresh start” and hasn’t talked to his family or friends there since.
Before disappearing, Jones paid a friend in Chicago $800 for fake documents and a Social Security number belonging to another man, authorities said.
The affidavit says Jones was a former Chicago commodities broker who lived in Highland Park with his wife, Joanne Esplin, and three young children.
He told investigators he held a seat with the Chicago Board of Trade but was forced to sell it to pay debts.
Attempts by The Associated Press to contact Esplin were unsuccessful Friday.
She and Jones had been married 17 years when he disappeared. She told investigators her husband forged her name to get a second mortgage on their home and pay personal gambling debts, the affidavit said. She also said she suspected he was delivering money or running errands for the Chicago mob.
Esplin said the last time she saw her husband — whose gambling once led him to bet $30,000 on a basketball game — was May 11, 1979, when he left to run an errand. She said he looked very nervous at the time, the affidavit said.
Presuming Jones had died, Social Security paid his family $47,000 in survivor benefits.
Earlier this month, investigators from the Social Security Administration contacted Nevada DMV officials. They were investigating Jones for using the Social Security number of a man named Clifton Goodenough, the affidavit said.
Investigators say Jones used his Joseph Sandelli alias to get a Nevada driver’s license when he moved to Nevada in 1988, and renewed it in 2008. Authorities say he also lived in Florida and California after leaving Chicago.
Jones’ lawyer, Stephen Stein, says the Nevada attorney general is offering his client a plea deal that would allow him to plead guilty to just one of the charges and face probation. Jones posted bail $20,000 bail Thursday and has not discussed the plea deal with Stein.
Stein said his client has friends in Las Vegas who “consider him family” and who sprang to his defense after the arrest.
He is set for an Aug. 23 court hearing.
DMV spokesman Kevin Malone said cases like Jones’ are turning up more frequently as computer databases improve and law enforcement agencies are better able to communicate among themselves.
“Technology is catching up,” he said.
The Social Security Administration is continuing its investigation.
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Lotus503
Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:53pmHe probably used the same guy that Obama used for his fake SSN and docs…
Report Post »roadhog
Posted on July 25, 2011 at 5:41pmA crime done by 20 million Mexicans. Is the crime that he paid into SSI
Report Post »Parnell3rd
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 11:39pmIf he was an illegal alien using a false ssn number, he would have been let go.
Report Post »1Kansas
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 10:18pmThis man is a creep! The hell he must of put his family through doesn’t mean a thing to him. The crying and sleepless nights wondering what happened to your husband or your daddy. This man has no conscience, but he will pay when he stands before God and gives an account for his actions.
Report Post »cranberry
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 8:21pmI am so glad he is caught. This guy isn’t a man! A man wouldn’t abandon his family without so much as a “see ya’. I hope his ex gets to give him a piece of her mind, and i hope he has to pay back child support….and certainly the judge can give the family extra bucks for pain and suffering – not to mention a giant jail sentence for him. Disgusting person. I guess she is well rid of him.
Report Post »firemanfrank
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 6:57pmAwesome job I mean really they caught one (1) guy for using someone elses SS #.I worked for a construction company a few years ago and ten of the ten latinos had fake id’s ss #’s and had names like Stephen Jones, Walter Simms, etc. There are MILIONS of people in this country and hundreds of thousands yearly that are pulling this same stunt and NOTHING is done to prevent it. But they caught this guy a“ gambler from Chicago”, Why would this even be printed! It proves even more of the clowns that are running this country.
Report Post »imreddog
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 6:33pmOkay… this guy was arrested by the FBI for fraudently using someone elses SS number. So, when can we expect the FBI to show up at the White House to arrest Obama for the same crime?
Report Post »oldchevyguy
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 1:53pmDon’t think the mob has a statute of limitations in their bylaws.I wouldn’t rush to change his status.
Report Post »conservativeme
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 8:33amFast as fast can be, you’ll never catch . . . uh oh . . .
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 8:20amA Chicago Mobster is arrested for using a fake SS #, Millions of Illegal Aliens are stealing American Taxpayers money while using forged SS #’s and are hailed as just trying to get along. Whats wrong with this picture.`
Report Post »USAMama
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 11:11amExactly, if he was an illegal alien they’d just let him go.
Report Post »Obama Bin Lying
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 1:39pmHe must be a conservitive, that is why they are after him. If he was a Libretard, he would be hailed as a hero
Report Post »flagbearer
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:55amOh, they can find someone who disappeared thirty years ago, but they can‘t bother to check out Obama’s social security fraud—and Congress let’s him get by with it all, as does the media.
Report Post »Nucular Bush
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:40amI guess when you want to change your identity you have to go to Chicago. They can get you anything. Hawaiin birth certificates attached to Connecticut social security numbers….
Report Post »lmy6545
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:26ami’m sorry, but clifton goodenough just may pop in and out of my head all day for my own amusment. that’s a good one..
Report Post »lmy6545
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:18am” using the Social Security number of a man named Clifton Goodenough, the affidavit said” yeah i can just see it, the mob getting him his social security number for a clifton goodenough, “wha…. goodenough, get it boss?, it good enough, righ????? “
Report Post »BehindBlueEyes
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:09amAnother Chitown crook. Chicago is the armpit of America.
Report Post »Multiple Arms
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 6:54pmWhy are you talking bad about Chicago?
You are right though….
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 4:12am“Presuming Jones had died, Social Security paid his family $47,000 in survivor benefits.”
I sincerely hope that the Federal Government doesn’t try to get the money back from his duped wife.
Report Post »PASSIONFORCHRIST
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:03amHe’s being charged for FRAUD, USING SOMEONE ELSE’S SS#. I BELIEVE THAT THERE’S A CASE IN L.A. WHERE A JUDGE DISMISSED 6 OR MORE ILLEGAL ALIEN’S LAST YEAR OR SO ON THE GROUNDS “THEY DIDN’T KNOW THE SS#‘s WERE SOMEONE ELSE’S”. BUT THEY KNEW THEY WEREN’T THEIRS! WHAT A JOKE THIS IS!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »USAMama
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 11:10amI was thinking the same thing, she probably had to pay off the mortgage he took out on their house plus other debts he racked up before he ran. Now she’ll have to pay this back, he better stay in jail or she just may kill him for real!!
Report Post »Ravings of a lunatic planet
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 3:50amGamaliel………………….great point! And so darn true
Report Post »Gypsy123
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 3:31amI think he and all the other SS thieves owe tax payers money back
Report Post »Gamaliel
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 2:56amSuddenly stealing a SS# is a serious crime. Oh yeah, I forgot, this was done by an American citizen.
Report Post »crazyrightwingmom
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 7:28amAnd how many ss nos. does our dear president have? And how did he get one in Connecticut?
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 8:33amI got a good one for ya….I legally have 2 social security numbers. I had my wallet stolen in high school, went to get a new card. luckily I had the number memorized, so I told them what it was. When the card came back, one number off, I told them it was the wrong number. They said don’t worry, you didn’t have any jobs under the other number. I spent my working career with someone else’s number, until I got married, filed my taxes and they said ss # and name don’t match. I went to change my name on the ss card, and they gave me a 3rd number. When I explained all that I just wrote, they said the first number was mine, the second one never was mine (even though my work history was all with that number, including 3 years in the Navy) and the 3rd number was mine but they would prefer me not to use it. The social security department is and always has been inept.
Report Post »Fina Biscotti
Posted on July 24, 2011 at 2:19amRight as Obama began blocking out the media – for his public addresses – under the guise of Raising the Debt Ceiling, a court ruling was rendered against the Social Security Administration for failing to provide information on a FOIA request – relating to what action was taken by SSA upon Obama’s use of a stolen SS#.
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