Update on the Atlantic City Phony

Am I prescient or what? Not really. These frauds are just all of a type, and drearily predictable. And according to Bob Levy's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs*, the fake Vietnam hero had been in hiding in a Somerset, NJ, clinic, dealing with "mental health issues."

In New Jersey politics, lying is a mental health issue? What's normal? But the "rehab" thing seems to have surprised some locals. Why? 

What I said here was (emphasis added): 

Stop me if you've heard this next bit before. As it turns out, the Mayor's Special Forces history is as phony as a casino's intimations of easy money. After an attempt to have city employees threaten the reporters working on the story, he's done the usual criminal politician thing: lawyered-up and decamped, apparently, to "rehab."

Good luck. You can rehab addiction. You can't rehab crooked.

I followed that up (somewhat redundantly) here, saying:

For now, he's lawyered up and run off to play the rehab card.

Levy, who wangled his way into the mob rule (or is that Mob rule?) of Atlantic City, viciously attacked veterans and newsmen who suggested he was a fake. (Links in the old story). But they were right, and when he was exposed, he ran like the rabbit he really is, not the SF soldier he pretended to be. 

* I'm not sure whether Levy's lawyer Edwin Jacobs is well-known Mob lawyer Edwin J. Jacobs Jr., who aggressively defended Philadelphia Mafia overlord Joe Merlino, but it would figure, wouldn't it? (note: Update overleaf)

I still haven't seen a story that identifies his political party. You know what that means. 

The outcome for Levy is probably not very serious, although the Feds continue to investigate his VA history -- he may have been drawing Combat Related Special Compensation to which he is probably not entitled. He'll probably lose his job and have to work for a living -- maybe that's serious to him. His wife has one of those found-by-nationwide-search jobs in City Hall, so maybe they'll both be looking. 

More legal trouble may fall on the town attorney, who was Levy's instrument for threatening the local paper, the Atlantic City Press, which has been all over this like a king-size quilt on a twin bed. 

Update: Indeed Jacobs, Levy's lawyer, is a reputed Mob lawyer. Again, in Atlantic City that's hardly surprising. Excerpt: 

Jacobs, 51, has built a career on defending suspected killers, public officials accused of corruption and reputed organized crime figures in New Jersey.

...

In May 1996, Jacobs won acquittal for Salvatore Avena, lawyer for Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia boss John Stanfa, on racketeering charges from a scheme to eliminate Joseph Merlino's crime family.

Hiring Jacobs or having him on retainer indicates that Levy is mobbed-up, or thinks he's in serious trouble, or (most likely) both. 

Update II: Jacobs, Levy's Lawyer, was also the attorney for legendary plagiarist Blair Hornstine, who sued the Moorsetown, NJ public schools, demanding she be declared valedictorian. She won a $60k settlement, most of which apparently went to Jacobs (see link); but the publicity engendered by the case exposed her own misconduct and lack of character, and caused Harvard to rescind an acceptance letter. In the war racket we call that a Pyrhhic Victory.

Hey Blair, lie down with the Mob, wake up with a bad reputation. Sorry about that.