H.S. basketball star lies about age
A. Isaac 
Move over Danny Almonte, you have some serious competition. A 22-year-old “man” named Jerry Joseph posed as a 16-year-old and rose to basketball stardom at Permian high school in Texas.
Guerdwich Montimere, a 22-year-old naturalized citizen from Haiti, was arrested Tuesday for posing as a 16-year-old sophomore named Jerry Joseph and attending Permian High School.
After being confronted Tuesday, Montimere, a star basketball player this year at Permian, admitted the deception and was arrested and charged with presenting false identification to a peace officer. Montimere was arrested at Permian and taken to the Ector County Detention Center. At press time he was in a holding cell awaiting booking.
While my conning is usually limited to the three-card monte at the local blind school, I believe this is termed a “long con”. And this one was indeed a whopper. Montimere strolled into a junior high, told them he was a 15-year-old immigrant from Haiti and living with his half brother. As a sophomore he played on the varsity team and was readily accepted into the community, even moving in with his basketball coach.
This may have gone on for a few years, that is, until some coaches from Florida recognized him at a tournament a few weeks back as a player from Fort Lauderdale in 2007. After some sleuth detective work which involved, you know, asking him his age and actually getting fingerprints, the long con disintegrated before their very eyes.
The people of the town were shocked by the news. I guess I’m more shocked that they let a player into their high school that looked like a slightly aged Dikembe Mutombo. I curiously wonder, had Montimere had been “just another student”, would the school have been so receptive? Was it too much to ask to make 2-3 phone calls about the kid?
Nope.
Because he could put the ball in the hoop with ease, they “overlooked” it. And now, they are playing the victim card and sadly, I’m just not buying it.
Permian player is impostor {OA}
Sixteen-Year-Old High School Basketball Star Is Actually 22-Year-Old Liar {Deadspin}
comment on this story
blog comments powered by Disqus