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A Tennessee man who shares the same name as MLB legend Babe Ruth has been federally indicted after he allegedly used the names of hundreds of dead or former pro baseball players in a wide scheme.
George Herman Ruth is facing 91 counts in an indictment that was handed down in the US district court in Greeneville, Tennessee, on August 12, announced the US Law Office. The suspect allegedly called on Ruth’s name and the identity of other former baseball players in false claims of payments in class cases, prosecutors said.
The 69-year-old Morristown man is indicted for postal fraud, worsening identity theft, fraudulent use of social security number, laundering money, making false statements to his test officer and possessing firearms after previously convicted of crimes.
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Baseball player Babe Ruth on the field in his Boston Red Sox uniform in 1919 in New York, New York. (Photo Courtesy Library of Congress/Getty Images)
According to the indictment, Ruth obtained or tried to achieve more than $ 550,000 through the scheme. He applied for payments in trials ranging from allegations of contact lens prices to allegations of racial discrimination of a staff agency, the archiving said.
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Ruth opened more than a dozen mailboxes in several Tennessee towns for themselves and for fake companies. Then he submitted hundreds of false requirements for class action administrators across the country, according to the complaint.
While playing for New York Yankees, Babe Ruth Baseball’s most prominent player and set many records. (Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
He used the names of old baseball players or variations of his own name along with the social security numbers for ignorant victims, prosecutors said.
The names of the players that Ruth took place were not listed in the indictment. A public defender who represented him refused to comment on the charges.
Babe Ruth plays with Boston Braves and signs autographs for fans at New York Giants’ home opener against Braves at Polo Grounds. New York, April 23, 1935. (Getty Images)
Ruth has been associated with identity theft in the past. He previously pleaded guilty to a federal court in Indiana for a scheme for committing social security fraud. In 2020, he was sentenced to prison before going on probation from October 2023 until July 2025, the Court Register shows.
