L.I. Man Who Faked His Own Death Due In Court To Face Charges In Separate Case
MINEOLA, N.Y (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island man who admitted to faking his own death in a life insurance scheme is expected back in court Thursday on separate charges.
Raymond Roth, 49, was originally set to appear in court on Wednesday. A judge postponed the start of the trial until Thursday.
Police said Roth impersonated an officer and attempted to kidnap a woman in Freeport hours after accepting a plea deal in his 2012 fake-drowning case that included a 90-day jail sentence.
Investigators said Roth was following a woman in March of last year when she ran into PLS Check Cashing on Sunrise Highway. Surveillance video then shows Roth trying to get past security doors at the business, authorities said.
"Mr. Roth came into the location again stating to her and employees of the location that he was a police officer and he was attempting to arrest this woman," Nassau County police Lt. Robert Galgano said last year.
On Tuesday, Roth's 22-year-old son Jonathan Roth was sentenced to a year in jail for plotting with his father to collect $400,000 in insurance money.
Back in July of 2012, Jonathan Roth reported his father missing in a frantic 911 call saying his dad had disappeared in the waters off Jones Beach. The call triggered an intense air and water search that lasted several days and cost tens of thousands of dollars.
While no one actually saw Raymond Roth swim away, he was initially presumed drowned.
Prosecutors said the father-son duo hatched the scheme to fake the elder Roth's death in hopes of cashing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in life insurance policies.
The plot was discovered after Raymond Roth's wife found emails between father and son discussing the plan and alerted authorities, prosecutors said.
Authorities believe Raymond Roth first fled to Florida. He was later pulled over for speeding in South Carolina before returning to New York to surrender.
The elder Roth pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges last March and was ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. Coast Guard and the Nassau County police for the search efforts, totaling nearly $37,000.
His attorney has insisted that Raymond Roth is mentally unstable and in need of help.
"He's on about 13 different medications," attorney Brian Davis said. "Ray certainly has some serious psychiatric issues."
If convicted of the top charge, Roth faces up to 15 years in prison.
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