NYU Law Grad Gets 6 Months in Academic 'Kooky ID-Theft Cyberwar' Over Dead Sea Scrolls
A now-disbarred real estate lawyer and literature scholar has been sentenced to six months in jail for impersonating other academics in what the New York Post describes as a “kooky identity-theft cyberwar” over the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Raphael Golb, 50, will also be forbidden to post about the scrolls under any name but his own or “anonymous” during a five-year term of probation after his sentence is served, reports the Associated Press. He was convicted of identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment earlier this year.
The New York University law graduate, who also holds a Ph.D from Harvard University, says he did nothing wrong by sending what he describes as satirical e-mails that were not intended to be understood as having come from the purported sender. The ironic parodies, he contends, were protected by the First Amendment.
“According to him, his free-speech rights allow him to harass and impersonate others. The jury found otherwise,” said John Bandler, an assistant Manhattan district attorney, He contends that Golb engaged in “thousands of hours of malicious harassment and impersonation.”
The impetus for the e-mails apparently was an academic disagreement about the scrolls between Golb’s father, Norman Golb, who is a professor at the University of Chicago, and Lawrence Schiffman, the chair of NYU’s Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies.
Raphael Golb reportedly sent e-mails in the NYU professor’s name that seemingly admitted to plagiarism on Schiffman’s part.
Golb was initially led away in handcuffs after his sentencing yesterday but was subsequently granted release on $25,000 bond while he appeals his sentence in the Manhattan Supreme Court case, according to the Post.
His defense team, which included Ron Kuby, had sought no jail time and felt that Golb should never have been prosecuted.
However Schiffman said he felt the sentence was deserved.
Golb’s lawyers say he was disbarred as a result of his conviction in the academic identity-theft case.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer Accused of Online Harassment of Father’s Dead Sea Scrolls Rival”
ABAJournal.com: “Jury Convicts Manhattan Lawyer of Online Crime for Impersonating NYU Prof in Academic Argument”
City Room (New York Times): “Dispute Over Dead Sea Scrolls Leads to a Jail Sentence”
