The former University of South Florida art student's spree was remarkable: He stole more than $7 million. He did it in at least four states, including Georgia. He assumed nearly 50 identities. His scams included 125 properties, some of which he took out several loans against.
And he documented much of his illicit doings in an unpublished semiautobiographical novel called "The Associates," a 317-page tome where the hero escapes happily with his ill-gotten gains.
On Tuesday, the 37-year-old Cox's real-life story took a different turn: He pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud, identity theft, passport fraud and probation violation charges. He faces a maximum of 54 years in prison but is expected to get substantially less for his plea and cooperation. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 22.
"He decided to plead guilty to get this behind him," his defense attorney, Mildred Geckler Dunn said following the hearing. "He's never denied what he did. It's been, 'OK, I've been caught. How do I give back?' "
After the hearing, assistant U.S. Attorney Gale McKenzie smiled and, alluding to Cox's foray into writing, said, "The last chapter, we wrote, not him."
During the plea hearing, McKenzie recited a long litany of fraud and deceit. Cox obtained fake identities by filing for fake birth certificates for nonexistent babies and "marrying" the "clean" Social Security numbers to personal information he gleaned from homeless people and those in drug therapy.
Cox used the faked and stolen identities to obtain mortgages, then inflated the value of the properties and filed fake paperwork in county clerk's offices to clear liens from court records and then take out additional loans on the properties. He was a master at obtaining driver's licenses, credit cards and bank statements in other people's names.
In Florida and Atlanta, Cox had female accomplices who helped him conduct his fraud. Both have been convicted. And in Nashville, he had befriended another woman, who was helping him start a real estate restoration business. The last woman was a victim, not an accomplice, authorities say. He contacted the women over Internet dating services.
"He serially got single mothers ensconced in his scheme," said Hutchinson, attorney for Rebecca Hauck, one of Cox's accomplices now in federal prison. "The similarities are eerie. He flashed cash and promised to take care of them. He promised security."
Hutchinson said the book "was a grandiose version of himself, but he was a little taller, a little more brave, a little more clever, a little more of a ladies' man." She said Cox fancied himself as the Leonardo DiCaprio character in the movie "Catch Me If You Can."
Cox fled Tampa in 2003 when the St. Petersburg Times was getting set to publish a series exposing him. He was placed on the U.S. Secret Service Most Wanted Fugitives list and committed much of his fraud while on it.
"He was hiding in plain sight, doing the same thing," said Hutchinson, "He flipped 93 houses in bogus mortgages in Florida alone. Ninety-three. And he was starting it again and again."
He was captured in November when his girlfriend's baby sitter grew suspicious of him, found articles on the Internet and contacted authorities.
In January 2004, Hauck and Cox rented an Alpharetta home from Michael Shanahan. Soon, Cox had stolen the homeowner's identity and took out three loans on the property for a total of $329,000.
John Holman was one of those who loaned money to Cox, who was using the alias Michael Shanahan. Holman was at an Earth, Wind and Fire concert at Chastain Park when he overheard his friend, Peter St. Martin, complain about how he was going to have to foreclose on a bad loan.
Holman remembers Cox as "sort of a bohemian guy with longish hair and an earring." Cox told him that he had been in the United Kingdom for several years and had no credit report. But he had three forms of identification and had a house that appraised at $190,000 and wanted to borrow $105,000 against it.
"It's what you call a no-brainer," Holman said. Holman has been able to recover most of his money from title insurance. St. Martin has been caught in a dispute over his title insurance and lost half the $106,000 he loaned Cox. "The good guys don't always win," said St. Martin.
Bridget and Bruce Brown also suffered a financial and emotional hit at the hands of Cox. In December 2004, the Browns were desperate to sell their home in Columbia, S.C., so they could move to Augusta. The couple were approached by a traveling salesman named Gary L. Sullivan who drove a sports car and looked much younger than his age, Bridget Brown recalls.
"He was very pleasant and demure; he seemed like an insecure person," she said. They sold the home — owner financing — for $229,000 and "Sullivan" gave them 18 checks that were post-dated for $1,300 to $1,500 a month. He was to then get a conventional loan.
Months later, the Browns returned home to a strange call, from a Secret Service agent who said they had been duped. The real Gary L. Sullivan is a homeless man.
Cox tried to get six mortgages on the home, and the Browns are out about $40,000 so far. They still want to sell the Columbia home and to this day are untangling credit problems. On Tuesday afternoon, Bridget Brown was awaiting a call from the bank on the matter.
This is cache, read story here
