Court May Not Try Pavlovich On Forgery, Fraud Charges

Spiro Pavlovich is alive and in bed in New Orleans.

The man who managed to boondoggle Harvard Law School into accepting him twice with false credentials and who allegedly falsified a federally-guaranteed loan application will probably never stand trial, his attorney said yesterday.

William P. Homans Jr. '41 said a doctor appointed by the New Orleans court handling the Pavlovich case reported the defendant to be mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Homans said preliminary hearings on the case have been suspended indefinitely in light of the doctor's report. "It's rather tragic," Homans said.

Pavlovich, who has been hospitalized several times for mental stress, apparently spends his time at home these days. "He just doesn't get out of bed. He doesn't want to do anything. It's very sad," Homans said.

Double Trouble

Pavlovich attended the University of New Orleans and Tulane in the mid-60s, but graduated from neither one. In 1968 he enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he remained for two and a half years until a Louisiana law firm became skeptical of the stories he told them during an interview.

Pavlovich left Harvard, but returned in 1973 to the joint business-law program under the alias Jason Scott Cord. Again, his bragging during an interview with a law firm led to his discovery. On December 10, 1975 he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Pavlovich cut a mysterious figure at Harvard, claiming at various times to have been a former Nixon Administration employee, a millionaire, a relative of Spain's King Juan Carlos, and a college place-kicker, acquaintances have reported during the past year.

All in the Family

His wife, Monette Pavlovich, had at the same time falsified an application and a federal guaranteed loan form to gain entry to Harvard Business School. She was arrested about a month after her husband.

Monette Pavlovich was convicted of the charges against her several months ago but received a suspended sentence and is currently on probation, Homans said.

The only Spiro Pavlovich listed in the New Orleans telephone directory said yesterday the Spiro Pavlovich in question was a distant relative who hadn't been sighted in "about ten years."