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Game Show Winner Gets 5 Years for Insurance Scam
A former deputy sheriff who became the biggest winner in the history of NBC’s “Super Password” game show was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for staging an elaborate hoax in which he faked his wife’s death to collect on a $100,000 insurance policy.
Kerry Dee Ketchum, labeled by prosecutors as a con artist who unleashed “a virtual tornado of deception” before his arrest in Los Angeles, was also ordered to pay restitution to the insurance company.
“A lot of times, because I’m friendly and easy to get along with, people think I’m conning them,” said Ketchum, who also faces bank fraud charges in Indiana and another criminal investigation in Alaska. “That’s one of the reasons I went on the game show--to use my own intellect for something other than bad.
Ketchum, 36, who had used the name of a former college professor to collect $56,000 in winnings on “Super Password” in December, was arrested a month later when he arrived at the show’s Hollywood offices to pick up his winnings, a one-day record for the show. Authorities had been tipped by an Alaska viewer, who recognized him.
Full Article:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-03-me-1999-story.html
Game Show Winner Gets 5 Years for Insurance Scam
A former deputy sheriff who became the biggest winner in the history of NBC’s “Super Password” game show was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for staging an elaborate hoax in which he faked his wife’s death to collect on a $100,000 insurance policy.
Kerry Dee Ketchum, labeled by prosecutors as a con artist who unleashed “a virtual tornado of deception” before his arrest in Los Angeles, was also ordered to pay restitution to the insurance company.
“A lot of times, because I’m friendly and easy to get along with, people think I’m conning them,” said Ketchum, who also faces bank fraud charges in Indiana and another criminal investigation in Alaska. “That’s one of the reasons I went on the game show--to use my own intellect for something other than bad.
Ketchum, 36, who had used the name of a former college professor to collect $56,000 in winnings on “Super Password” in December, was arrested a month later when he arrived at the show’s Hollywood offices to pick up his winnings, a one-day record for the show. Authorities had been tipped by an Alaska viewer, who recognized him.
Full Article:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-03-me-1999-story.html
