Crime | check fraud 'Dead' Fraudster Jailed After Court Appearance Resurrection is no miracle, judge decides By Rob Quinn Posted May 27, 2010 1:42 AM CDT Copied Rodney Newsome died in May last year after lingering in a coma, according to documents supposedly from Maryland's Department of Public Health produced by his lawyer. (Fairfax County Sheriff's Office) A Virginia man who had himself declared dead in a bid to dodge fraud charges might have gotten away with it if he hadn't tried to pull off more frauds from "beyond the grave." Rodney Newsome was jailed yesterday after turning up alive and well to a court appearance in connection with a check-cashing scam, the Washington Post reports. Charges against Newsome were dropped last year after his lawyer produced documents showing the 37-year-old scamster had fallen into a coma and then died. His resurrection was brought to the law's attention by a sharp-eyed court clerk who spotted his name on documents and remembered the earlier case. Newsome's new lawyer insisted that his client hadn't produced the phony death certificate. "Of course not," the judge quipped. "He was dead." Read These Next Gavin Newsom has filed a massive lawsuit against Fox News. Trumps ends trade talks with Canada. New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. White House rolls with Trump's 'daddy' nickname. Report an error