Impostor's Sentencing Postponed

The Extension School student who tricked several campus organizations into believing he was an undergraduate will be sentenced next Tuesday for his role in a check fraud scheme in Washington, D.C., a court official said.

Edward F. Meinert, who pled guilty in October to one count of theft and one count of fraud, had been scheduled for sentencing yesterday, but his lawyer, Joseph Jorgens, asked a federal judge to postpone the hearing.

"[Meinert] needed to provide a list of the names of the victims of the fraud scheme and to pay restitution," said Patricia Heffernan, an assistant U.S. attorney. "He didn't do that."

Meinert's sentencing comes a month after his true identity was revealed to his Harvard friends.

In the fall, he had registered as an Extension School student.

But Meinert joined an off-campus fraternity, Sigma Chi, posing as a College sophomore.

His jovial nature gained him friends, and Sigma Chi members said he was a model pledge.

He also joined the Harvard International Relations Council, winning an award for his administrative expertise.

When the Hatchet, the student newspaper of George Washington University (GWU), printed an article about the fraud charges against him on Nov. 8, Meinert resigned from the fraternity and withdrew from the Extension School.

Sigma Chi members said they hadn't seen him since.

According to the Harvard University Police Department, no one at Harvard has filed a criminal complaint against Meinert.

But Meinert's alleged crimes did affect students at GWU, where Meinert was a popular student before his arrest.

Prosecutors said Meinert illegally financed a spring break trip to Europe by using a friend's social security number to obtain a loan.

According to a finding of fact issued by D.C. judge Susan Weber Wright in October, Meinert also wrote dozens of bad checks over a two-year period beginning in 1997.

Meinert also established false accounts at D.C.-area credit unions, paying for them with checks which later bounced.

Prosecutors said yesterday that Meinert's Oct. 7 plea agreement requires him to disclose the names of his victims and provide a time schedule to pay them back.

"To the extent he doesn't reveal the names of victims, then he becomes exposed in the future to prosecution on any victim he doesn't tell us about," Heffernan said.

Jorgens was not available for comment yesterday, and Meinert did not return calls to his Somerville apartment.

Keith O'Neill, a former close friend of Meinert's at GWU, said prosecutors sought his assistance prior to yesterday's scheduled sentencing hearing.

"They said I could write a letter explaining my relationship with Mr. Meinert, and what he did to me, and what emotional and financial effects it had," O'Neill said.

Sigma Chi president Hector G. Bove '00, who is also a Crimson executive, said he was also contacted by the U.S. Attorney's office.