So whaddya do if you’re a down-on-his-luck, convicted felon from East Texas with outstanding warrants? Well you make up a story about losing family in New Orleans and use a fake name to apply for federal assistance for Katrina victims.
From AAS: “Walter Ray Stall, 43, of Palestine was arrested Tuesday after telling a Tyler television station that his wife and 3-year-old son drowned as he tried to herd them into the attic of their New Orleans home.
[...]
Stall, who claimed he swam to the Superdome and hitchhiked to Texas, said he had received money and gifts and was living with a volunteer.”
So how did this genius get busted? Turns out his entire family lives in Tyler & they all saw him on T.V. telling his fake sob story.
“[Smith County Lt. Craig] Shelton said Stall might have gotten away it if he had not agreed to a live televised interview in an area where his family lives.”
Genius, pure genius.