Archcriminal: n. A highly prolific or skilled criminal; a criminal of the highest order.

I guess I kinda agree, but it's an interesting story and he was just arrested last wk and that made a bunch of major news outlets so the recent resurgence in interest makes a lot of sense

No, actually, Mike is NOT as smooth a liar in airports as you may believe. He spews out way too many details and twists to be credible.

His story was "wrong" as a con on many levels when he tried to scam me. As a matter of fact, the main problems were his offering a claim that all the ATMs in the other terminal were broken .... (you know, the terminal for Southwest, where that CEO wanted to lend him $300), that I could not call the Ramada to take care of his reservation for that night, .... (you know, the one for which he needed), that he needed $300, not a penny less, (which was funny because I had about $240 in my pocket and would have given him $20).

The religion gambit was annoying, but the clincher was that after I told him I did not care about his religious appeal, or that he went to Penn State, or the other CEO, he simply started repeating them all again ..... in rotation almost.

As a matter of fact what started this 2+2 exposure and ultimately screwed his scam up was that he used his real name, wrote down personal information for me, and was a fairly high profile poker player who tried to scam a 2+2 poster who got bored a couple of days later. That was compounded when he also then turned out to be a prolific 2+2 poster himself ....

I think arch criminal needs to be reserved for Justin archULETA aka archIE.

Like others said...maybe he still hasn't hit rock bottom,
after this you would hope so though.
Maybe some court ordered help will be the only chance.

You're right of course. Borovetz is the Chainsaw of arch criminals, just a long record of mincashing.

It still surprises me that people actually fall for his story just based on the way he looks. He doesn't look like a traveling businessman. I could understand if he had on a suit and didn't look homeless but he does.

I will admit I'm surprised he actually got arrested for this as it seems like a big waste of time for our legal system. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and see if these felonies actually stick.

He does look way worse than he did when this first came up. How anyone believes him just based on looks is a shock to me. Looks like a degen, quacks like a degen, it's probably Mike.

I'm having an incredible feeling of deja vu, and Mike's arrest is only part of it.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Looks like we're again gonna have a 100 page debate between:

Group A, who believes that Mike is a POS felon degen who should rot in prison forever, and:
Group B, who believes that Mike is a degen, but what he does isn't so bad, and they don't understand what the big deal is.

By the way, I'm in group A, but I do believe he should be allowed to be eligible for parole with good behavior in 20 years!😉

Group C: Mike is a gambling addict who I feel sympathy for, but believe he is 100% responsible for his actions and rightly deserves the full legal punishment, i.e. prison.

Mike has no history of violence or drug use as I know. His behavior and lack of assimilation into society are more a sign of mental illness than anything else. I dont think he belongs in prison, there is nothing to gain from that. People like him should be under supervision in some kind of group home while he works off a sentence of 5,000 hours of community service.

I just read a large chunk of the first Borovetz thread for the first time. To me, the worst thing about him is his phrasing, saying he would go to the airport and "make money". I mean, I know his gig isn't easy, but it is definitely not "making money", it's stealing money.

I get pissed at people for using that phrasing when describing their casino pit winnings also. You didn't just "make" 500 bucks playing blackjack. You won 500 bucks playing blackjack.

While Mike has not (yet) resorted to violence, he is at the very least a public nuisance, displays the behavior of a sociopath, and legally/morally/ethically should be removed from "society" ( whatever the hell that is), and therefore, IMHO, should be locked-up.

Obviously, every airport in America has his picture in their Security/Police offices, he's going to have to ramp-up his need for gambling $$$ ... could get more destructive. Addiction is a progressive illness.

Did you see the Denzel Washington movie "Flight"? It wasn't until his character went to prison that he got recovery. And that is based on a true story.

If prison is "punitative", he should be punished. If prison has an element of rehabilitation, he needs to be locked-up and "get religion", so to speak.

I'm sure there's some smarmy poker analogy, but I'll spare you ...

Prison is the next right move.

There is plenty for society to gain from Mike going to prison. Mike is a repeat offender who has a self confessed many year history of conning and stealing from others. Prison is punitive, and his crimes need to be punished. I seriously doubt community service will stop him, since he'll be free to pull his con in between cleaning up freeway trash and cutting the grass in city parks.

He went to prison bec he chose to not continue to lie. He chose to get sober not prison.

Yes, those would be the two extreme groups. Fortunately, most of us fall into the more rational group that lies in between.

The problems of addiction and mental illness are real, but so are the realities of the crimes and their effect on society. It's not all black and white. Mike needs help, and he also deserves punishment.

If you think most people fall in a more "rational" group, go back and read the first thread about Mike. 90% of the people fell within, or pretty close to, group A or B.

This thread just won't be official until one of the morons defending Mike shouts out the two magic words to him........

And typical quality Deadspin reporting, they apparently are not aware he ever scammed anyone outside Vegas before.

You're one of the folks who posted your opinion constantly in that thread. The people at the extremes always tend to talk the loudest and the most. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just human nature. We all have our favorite causes. But for any particular issue, must folks aren't at the extremes.

Meh. Alright then, Still 25 pounds compared with an average normal bmi person though.

I'm closest to this group, although my sympathy waned as he continued to slap the hands that reached out to him (yours included). I'm just glad he only took your time and energy, and none of your money.

Haha I referenced that magic two-word phrase already but yeah, I suppose we are overdue to have someone invoke it by now.

Is there anybody that has posted in this thread that is genuinely surprised this is still happening?

I know I'm not.

Given that I think most of the tools who were defending Borovetz were, in point of fact, Borovetz, I'm not surprise we haven't seen that yet in this thread.

Exactly. I'm still waiting for 3 new posters (all gonna be Mike obviously) who joined 2+2 in December 2014 after "lurking" for years to defend Mike.

Stay Strong

Do we think he's getting prison or will he get off on probation?

If he gets time I think it will be under 2 years.

Any chance he pleads out and gets it dropped to a misdemeanor?