SAN MARTIN
– Confessed impostor Frederick McGrew has pleaded no contest to
a felony charge of false personation, but he won’t serve any more
jail time.
SAN MARTIN – Confessed impostor Frederick McGrew has pleaded no contest to a felony charge of false personation, but he won’t serve any more jail time.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Edward Lee agreed to sentence McGrew to time served – five days – plus probation that would probably last three years.
McGrew was convicted for posing as ex-NFL linebacker Lawrence McGrew to get an assistant football coaching job at Gavilan College – a post he was fired from on Sept. 9, the day before he was arrested.
McGrew had pleaded not guilty.
“I gave him the options, and he decided to take care of the case today,” McGrew’s private lawyer, Riccardo Ippolito of San Jose said after the hearing.
McGrew also told Gilroy police he used a Social Security number he took from the Internet on Gavilan employment paperwork. McGrew said he didn’t know whose number he used; it actually belongs to Eva Sowder, 75, of Ohio.
Deputy District Attorney Kevin Smith had planned to file a second false-personation count against McGrew regarding Sowder, but Judge Lee agreed to dismiss that felony charge on the condition that McGrew pay restitution to Sowder if she could prove any financial loss.
“There’s no evidence that she’s out one penny,” Ippolito said.
The maximum prison term for a felony false personation conviction is three years. McGrew will still have that hanging over his head if he violates his probation.
“We were seeking more (incarceration) time, but in the end, with one count, it’s the judge’s decision,” Smith said. “(Judge Lee) likened it to, if a DUI offender gets six days, is what he did more of a danger than what McGrew did? … We thought (McGrew’s crime) deserved a more severe sentence.”
McGrew’s wrongdoing put the real Lawrence McGrew’s reputation at risk by leading people to believe the ex-pro was coaching at a junior college, Smith said.
Lee will officially sentence McGrew on Jan. 26 in San Jose.
