A 25-year-old man’s attempt to escape the jail sentence hit a snag after a typo in a death certificate he forged exposed his plan.
Robert Berger from New York was found guilty of charges of possession of a stolen car after he was scheduled to be jailed in October 2019 when he fled according to the authorities.
The fake death certificate that had been presented at the court for filing.
Robert through his lover then decided to fake his death and the two forged a death certificate indicating he had taken his own life, CBC News reported on July 22.
The suspect’s lover successfully convinced his then-lawyer, the prosecutors and the judge but his trickery came to light during a court session via video link on Tuesday, July 21.
Robert Berger a criminal defendant in the US who tried to fake his own death to avoid a jail sentence is caught out by a spelling mistake on forged death certificate. Prosecutors say plot was foiled when they noticed counterfeit document had a misspelling of the word registry
— Paul Bakibinga (@PabloBach) July 22, 2020
The death certificate looked like an official document that originated from New Jersey Department of Health, Vital Statistics and Registry. However, the court’s attention was drawn to a glaring typo on the document, the “registry” was spelt as “regsitry” prompting the authorities to seek further clarification.
When reached out for verification, the department confirmed it did not issue the certificate. If found guilty in the latest case, Robert may face up to four years in jail. “It will never cease to amaze me the lengths some people will go to to avoid being held accountable on criminal charges,” Nassau county District Attorney Madeline Singas said.
During the arraignment, Robert pleaded not guilty to a single count of forgery and providing a false document for filing.
He was granted a cash bail but the court still ordered him back to jail because of his underlying cases. The court will resume on July 29 for hearing.
