Celebrities Connected To Infamous Criminals

According to the old stereotype, con men only take advantage of greedy people, but that's not always the case. Take David Hampton, for example. A 19-year-old impostor, Hampton fooled Manhattan elites into believing he was the son of Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier. Generally, Hampton would contact a wealthy New Yorker, make the claim, say he was friends with his victim's kids and, well, he hated to impose, but he'd just been mugged so ... could he stay the night, please?

A shocking amount of people told Hampton "okay," including Emmy-winning actor Gary Sinise. Best known for Forrest Gump and CSI: NY, Sinise was starring in an Off-Broadway show during the early '80s. After each performance, he spent the night in an apartment owned by Melanie Griffith and Steven Bauer. But one evening, as Sinise was trying to catch some z's, Hampton showed up, claiming he was Poitier's son, and he was friends with Griffith and Bauer, and since he'd just missed his flight to L.A., he needed a place to sleep.

Even though Sinise had "a bad feeling about letting him stay," he allowed the teen to crash on the sofa. The next morning, Sinise took Hampton out to breakfast and gave the guy ten bucks. Luckily, all he lost was those ten bucks. When he later told Griffith about his odd encounter, the actress said she'd run into Hampton before and "that he was nuts." But while Sinise went on to have a successful career, Hampton was busted on larceny and impersonation charges, and sentenced to 21 months behind bars. After his release, the con man continued his crooked ways, until he died of AIDS complications in 2003.

As for Sidney Poitier, the actor never commented on Hampton's crimes. Probably for the best.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB%2FlG5ubmeTmrmmrtGiq6Kdo2KwsLrNnpqtnZRitq%2BywKamrqtdmL%2BqucinmKWrXw%3D%3D