After a decades-long run from the law, and a six-week trial, in which he was found guilty, 67-year-old John Donald Cody was sentenced in Court on Monday to 28-years in prison,

Harvard-trained Cody began eluding the law in 1987, when he was charged in a four-count indictment in Virginia for looting the estates of two women. It was not that crime that he was most recently sought however. His true identity wasn’t uncovered until September of 2012, after he was captured in April of 2012 in Portland, Oregon after an indictment and a two-year hunt that was sparked by an investigative story published by the St Petersburg Times in March of 2010.

Because he was only indicted and not arrested, he had not ever been fingerprinted under his assumed identity, Bobby Thompson, and so, his past was never found out. But, once his fingerprints were matched with those taken during military service, the truth about the past of the Captain of U.S. Military Intelligence would be uncovered.

According to U.S. Marshal Pete Elliot, the FBI also sought Cody for questioning regarding an espionage case. In fact it was a wanted poster put out by the FBI in connection with a decades-old charge of espionage that prompted the Marshals to look at Cody’s military past.

That Times story investigated the Florida-based United States Navy Veterans Association, a non-profit, 501(c) started under the stewardship of Cody under the name of Commander Bobby Thompson. The non-profit organization collected approximately $100 million in donations that were to go to assist veterans. Little or none of that money ever went to helping veterans however.

Where that money went is still an unanswered question. Some of those monies went to largely Republican candidates that included former President George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, John McCain, John Boehner, and Rudolph Giuliana. Very little of those fraudulantly attained funds went to Democratic candidates. Through the years, Thompson rubbed shoulders with those very same candidates and even went so far as to have his photograph taken with them on separate occasions. Cody was even able to gain access to the White House during an event hosted by then-President Bush.

When captured in Oregon, Cody had several fake IDs from different government organizations as well as $980,000 in cash in a suitcase.

In early may of 2012, Cody entered a plea of not guilty on charges that included money laundering, theft, corrupt activity, tampering with records and identity fraud.

During a 6 week trial that ended in mid-November, Cody early on hinted to the jury that the charity was part of a CIA-blessed operation to curry political favor with candidates. Cody had initially sought to have prominant politicians, including George W. Bush and John Boehner, appear in his defense, over donations made, those requests were turned down.

In the end, after the prosecution rested it case, the defense, who had earlier said that it did not want to reveal its defense strategy, rested its case with no defense. It had, at the beginning of the trial stated that its defense would revolve around a CIA operation in Arizona decades ago.

As the trial progressed, Cody, who had begun the trial appearing no better and no worse than the typical defendent in a case, started to dress poorly, looking disheveled. By the closing days, he would appear totally unkempt with his shirt unbuttoned to his waistband looking as is he were a homeless person with serious drug dependence problems. Cody’s lawyer told the court after the prosecution rested it case, that Cody had been transferred to the Cleveland Jail’s psychiatric unit after being found slamming his head into a concrete wall and so would not be testifying on his own behalf. Defense attorney Joseph Patituce waived his closing arguement without mounting a defense.

At sentencing, the prosecution asked for a sentence of 41 years and a fine of over $6 million, the judge decided on a sentence of 28 years and a fine of $6 million.

The defense attorney, said that they would appeal the case pointing to lack of time to put together a defense as well as lack of access to records. The defense also said that his client’s erratic cooperation would be his grounds for appeal.