Image via Wikipedia. Chicago skyline.

In 1979, a Chicago man by the name of Arthur Gerald Jones disappeared without a trace. Because of the debts he owed, and his potential ties to the mafia, he was declared dead seven years later in 1986, so it was surprising when the man turned up recently in Las Vegas under the name of Joseph Richard Sandelli working for a sports book there.

He was arrested for using a social security number fraudulently, but has been charged with additional crimes since. These include some burglaries across the country: In Boca Raton, Florida, he was arrested on larceny charges in 1979 and then in Naples and Palm Beach in 1980 under the name of Robert Lage. He moved to California and changed his name again; this time to Richard Sanders. He was arrested in Santa Barbara, Las Angeles, and Westminster. He was connected to these arrests because of his fingerprints.

It was after this time that he moved to Nevada and changed his name to Joseph Richard Sandelli. Because of his most recent arrests, his previous identities were discovered. Jones has been charged with possession of personal identifying information to establish false status or identity and fraud, obtaining and using personal information of another person, and burglary.

As they always say, you can’t escape the past. Jones was able to escape his for 32 years, but eventually, at the age of 72, it finally caught up with Jones. Looks like he’ll get life in prison (because he likely won’t live to carry out his sentence).