GILROY
–– Former Gavilan College football coach and confessed impostor
Frederick McGrew has a new lawyer and will soon have at least one
new criminal charge.
Riccardo Ippolito, a private attorney from San Jose, represented
McGrew in court Friday, ending his relationship with county public
defender Jennifer Green. McGrew had previously claimed his new
lawyer would be a household name and a representative of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
GILROY –– Former Gavilan College football coach and confessed impostor Frederick McGrew has a new lawyer and will soon have at least one new criminal charge.
Riccardo Ippolito, a private attorney from San Jose, represented McGrew in court Friday, ending his relationship with county public defender Jennifer Green. McGrew had previously claimed his new lawyer would be a household name and a representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Meanwhile, Deputy District Attorney Kevin Smith expects to bring a second impersonation charge at McGrew’s next court appearance, on Dec. 4. This new charge is for using a Social Security number that actually belongs to 75-year-old Eva Sowder, of Springboro, Ohio.
McGrew confessed to Gilroy police on Sept. 10 that he had taken Sowder’s number from the Internet, not knowing whose it was, and used it on his Gavilan College employment forms. He did this to prevent his ex-wife from claiming his income, he told police. He gave a similar confession at his Sept. 12 court arraignment, over the urging of Judge Edward Lee that he stop short of incriminating himself.
“The only thing I did was use a Social Security number that I didn’t know whose it was to keep my ex-girlfriend from taking my football check,” McGrew said in court at the time.
A Gilroy police investigation showed that a “Lawrence McGrew” and a “Frederick McGrew” used Sowder’s Social Security number in the Salt Lake City and Las Vegas areas between 1997 and 2001.
McGrew already faces a felony charge for impersonating Lawrence McGrew, a retired NFL linebacker who started for the New England Patriots. Frederick McGrew, who says his middle name is Lawrence, has admitted to police and to The Dispatch that he falsely used Lawrence’s name, birthdate and NFL experience as his own in order to get the assistant coaching job at Gavilan.
Karl Morgan, defensive coordinator for the football team at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., has said McGrew had been trying the same scam at other schools for several years – with varying degrees of success.
Smith is also investigating a possible perjury charge against Frederick McGrew, relating to Gavilan documents he allegedly falsified under penalty of perjury.
The real Lawrence McGrew later told Gilroy police he does not have a nephew or any other relative by the name of Frederick and that he has never allowed anyone to use his name, birthdate and qualifications.
Ippolito did not return a phone call as of press time. Frederick McGrew could not be reached for comment as his former phone number has been disconnected.
Frederick McGrew no longer lives in Gilroy. When he last spoke to The Dispatch in late October, he said he had become co-owner of a restaurant in San Francisco, along with members of the San Francisco 49ers football team.
