year-old Ohio man who admitted stealing his mother's credit card to pay for his girlfriend's breast enlargement may be in more legal trouble, authorities said. Michael Copp faces the possibility of house arrest for failing to pay any of the $2,512.98 restitution and $1,500 fine ordered in March 1999 after he pleaded guilty to misuse of a credit card, a Lorain County court official said.
Copp and his girlfriend, Michelle Pauley, became national celebrities after they told their story on several television programs, including the syndicated Judge Mathis court show. Copp said at a court hearing Wednesday that he received $6,400 for appearing on Judge Mathis, but he gave his mother the money to pay for other debts, said Lollie Bansek, secretary to county Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski.
Copp's court appearance Wednesday was a follow-up to his sentencing last year. At the hearing, Copp asked Betleski to withdraw the guilty plea so the case could go to trial, but the judge ruled today that he doesn't have the legal authority to allow a change of plea, Bansek said.
The judge also ordered probation officials to prepare a pre-sentencing report. The prosecutor said Copp likely would receive a sentence of house arrest, Bansek said. Bansek also said Copp and Pauley appear to enjoy the limelight.
"They kind of liked the publicity they got when he came before the judge the last time, and I just think they're looking for more, thinking they might earn some easy money," she said.
Copp pleaded guilty last year to stealing an AT&T MasterCard from his mother's file cabinet at home in 1998, according to court papers. But his mother, Gaelene, had canceled the credit card because Copp had misused it in the past. Copp posed as his mother to reactivate the card and used it to pay for part of his girlfriend's breast enlargement procedure, according to court papers.
