Fake Partner 9/11 Scam Brings Jail Term

A Fort Lauderdale man got 2 ½ years in prison for getting Red Cross money by claiming a domestic partner died in the World Trade Center attack.

Patric Ian Henn told anyone who would listen that the love of his life was killed in the World Trade Center attacks.

The Fort Lauderdale man accepted free hotel rooms, meals and offers of temporary housing. He demanded trips to collect his beloved's ashes, collected money for a memorial service and got free trips to Washington, D.C., to talk to senators about the loss of his domestic partner, Jeff John Anderson.

Anderson never existed.

Before Henn was caught, the 29-year-old had managed to squeeze close to $70,000 from 9/11 survivor benefit funds. On Wednesday, a Broward judge sentenced him to 2 ½ years in prison.

His scam -- inconsolable loss and great financial need -- is hardly unique. Scores of like-minded people have used the tragedy to make a buck.

Of the 55,000 Sept. 11 cases handled by the American Red Cross, about 330, or 0.6 percent, contained an element of fraud, said Bill Epps, executive director of the charity's Broward County chapter.

Hucksters went after a variety of charities, as well as funds set up by state and federal agencies. Some examples:

• Carlton McNish of Tobyhanna, Pa., created a fake wife and staged a funeral to collect more than $100,000 from charities. He even got three borrowed young kids to cry on cue.

• Donna Miller of Sparta, Mich., told authorities that her husband Michael died in the attacks. Miller was alive and was never even missing. She received $97,500 in restitution.

• Headhunters Alexander Koltovsky and Vincent Pizzi filed for business recovery grants, pretending their firm had been on the 21st floor of 2 World Trade Center. They collected more than $300,000 from the government and charities. Koltovsky blamed his methamphetamine addiction.

In Henn's case, his ruse fell apart after the scammer called a Wilton Manors gay-community newspaper to complain that his compensation wasn't coming fast enough.

''He was demanding, frantic,'' said Carmen Almeida-Biggart, a caseworker with the Broward County Chapter of the American Red Cross. ``No one wanted to deal with him.''

Almeida-Biggart, already mourning the loss of her brother-in-law in the attacks, as well as the recent death of her husband, said his insistence and ''screaming'' calls were hard on her. Still, given the frenetic pace of the tragedy's aftermath, Almeida-Biggart did not have time to check out or even ponder the accuracy of his claims.

Norm Kent, publisher of The Express, dispatched a reporter to interview Henn. As soon as Kent heard specifics, he grew suspicious and conducted a monthslong investigation.

''He told me he was living a Louis Vuitton lifestyle and that he and his partner were going to adopt a Vietnamese child,'' Kent testified Wednesday. ``I asked him how, since Florida doesn't allow gay adoptions.''

Eventually, Kent took his findings to the Red Cross and the New York and Fort Lauderdale police departments.

Broward Circuit Judge Marc H. Gold called Henn's actions ``incredibly stupid from day one.''

In addition to his prison time, Gold sentenced Henn to 12 ½ years probation, ordered him to serve 600 hours of community service and said he must pay $2,273 for the cost of extraditions from Texas, where he was a fugitive twice. Henn will have to pay back the $68,183 that he received from the American Red Cross.

Henn appeared ashen and fidgeted during much of the hearing. He shielded his body from photographers. He made a brief statement in open court before sentencing.

''Every day I know that I caused suffering for people in pain,'' he said. ``I am sorry for what I did.''

As he spoke, his voice choked up and his lips began to quiver.

Broward Assistant State Attorney Mardi L. Cohen asked Henn if he thought about the consequences of his fraud. She had requested Henn get a seven-year prison sentence.

''I didn't think,'' he said. ``One lie begot another lie.''

Dorothy Ferraro, Henn's public defender, said her client should not be made a scapegoat for that horrible day.

''He is not a terrorist,'' she said, describing a man filled with remorse.

Epps, of the Red Cross, said he was satisfied with the sentence but said he found Henn's apology insincere and ``meaningless.''

``It's almost unbelievable what he did.''