Morristown Man Indicted On 91 Charges

A Morristown man faces a 91 count indictment after federal prosecutors say he developed a scheme using other people’s identities to enrich himself. According to the federal indictment, beginning in January 2023 and continuing until July 10, 2025, 69 year old George Herman Ruth submitted hundreds of fraudulent claim forms to class action administrators around the country. When doing so, Ruth located pending class action suits and fraudulently used the names of hundreds of deceased or retired professional baseball players and the Social Security numbers of numerous unwitting victims. Ruth also opened post office boxes around the East Tennessee area to facilitate the scheme and used a sham business, El Mundo Marketing LLC, to obtain an account through which he laundered his proceeds.

The indictment alleges that Ruth obtained or attempted to obtain more than $550,000 through his scheme. On August 12, Ruth was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges including mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and money laundering. On Thursday, (8/21), Ruth made his first appearance in federal court in Greeneville. During that appearance a trial date was set for January 27, 2026. If convicted, Ruth faces up to 20 years in prison plus a mandatory, consecutive two-year sentence, a term of supervised release up to three years, and a fine up to $250,000.