1. Jonathan Keith "Jack" Idema was an American con artist, mercenary and former United States Army reserve non-commissioned officer, known for his vigilante activities during the War in Afghanistan.
72 Facts About Jonathan Idema
1. 2.
Formerly a soldier in the US Army Special Forces, Idema never saw combat and left the military in 1984 to form several companies centered around counterterrorism and internal security.
3.
Jonathan Idema made numerous unverified claims about his military service and supposed terrorist threats, and experienced several lawsuits over various feuds.
4.
At the time, Jonathan Idema had been falsely portraying himself as a US government-sponsored special forces operative on a mission to apprehend terrorists.
5.
Jonathan Idema was released early by Afghanistan's then-president Hamid Karzai in April 2007, and left Afghanistan in early June for Mexico, where he died of AIDS in late January 2012.
6.
Jonathan Idema was raised in Poughkeepsie, New York, graduating from high school there in 1974.
7.
Jonathan Idema's father, former Marine and World War II veteran Herman John Idema, believed that his son was a "dedicated American".
8.
Tod Robberson of The Dallas Morning News noted that there was a discrepancy between what Jonathan Idema claimed his military experience was and what is stated in his official military record.
9.
Jonathan Idema repeatedly stated that he acquired 12 years of Special Forces service, 22 years of combat training, and 18 years of covert operations experience.
10.
Jonathan Idema had received numerous negative remarks from superior officers, in addition to participating in three non-judicial punishment proceedings between April 29,1976 and April 28,1977.
11.
Jonathan Idema was given an honorable discharge and allowed to join the United States Army Reserve 11th Special Forces Group working to provide logistical support.
12.
Several years after he left the Army, Jonathan Idema became involved in the paintball business, opening a paintball supply and equipment company in Fayetteville, North Carolina, named Jonathan Idema Combat Systems.
13.
Jonathan Idema later segued that business into a paramilitary clothier and supply company operating under the same name.
14.
Sometime in the early 1980s Jonathan Idema founded Counterr Group, a business entity which, according to its website, specialized in expert training for counter-terrorism, assault tactics, and other security-related services.
15.
Counterr Group's legal status and ownership was questionable; according to a Soldier of Fortune article published in 2004, Jonathan Idema was mentioned as the owner.
16.
Jonathan Idema website listed an address in North Carolina, but there was no record of the company's registration in that state.
17.
The only company in North Carolina registered to Jonathan Idema is Idema Combat Systems, which, according to state records, was incorporated in January 1991 and dissolved in July 1994.
18.
Jonathan Idema owned a company called Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc.
19.
In January 1994, Jonathan Idema was arrested and charged with 58 counts of wire fraud, having allegedly defrauded 59 companies of about $260,000.
20.
Jonathan Idema was convicted of the charges, sentenced to six years in prison and was ordered to pay restitution.
21.
Jonathan Idema was involved in multiple lawsuits, including suits against journalists, an aid worker, a colonel, his father, and the US government.
22.
The claim was dismissed, and Jonathan Idema was ordered to pay $267,079 in legal fees.
23.
The award came after a jury decided that a property manager improperly sold some of his belongings while Jonathan Idema was serving his fraud sentence.
24.
Two property managers were hired by Jonathan Idema to take care of a building that housed equipment for two of his businesses, Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc.
25.
Jonathan Idema sued both property managers and their wives on April 10,2000, but everyone except for one property manager was later dropped from the suit.
26.
Jonathan Idema never collected the $1.8 million because the property manager that was found liable declared bankruptcy, and Jonathan Idema settled for $650,000 that he obtained through lawsuits filed against insurance carriers.
27.
In June 2005, an investigator sued Jonathan Idema alleging that he wasn't paid when Jonathan Idema won the $1.8 million lawsuit.
28.
In 1993 Jonathan Idema was contracted to train police forces in Lithuania.
29.
Jonathan Idema refused, claiming that the FBI was infiltrated by KGB agents and that his sources would have been killed.
30.
Jonathan Idema first traveled to Afghanistan in November 2001 to conduct what he said was "humanitarian aid" work, when he was actually working for the National Geographic Channel with Gary Scurka.
31.
Jonathan Idema then joined the Partners International Foundation at the same time Scurka received a National Geographic assignment to produce a documentary on humanitarian aid work in Afghanistan.
32.
Author Robert Young Pelton believes that Jonathan Idema then used those letters and what appeared to be a falsified or modified military ID.
33.
Jonathan Idema claimed he had a visa similar to those carried by US Army Special Forces to convince the Afghan commanders and other people of his official status.
34.
Jonathan Idema later filed suit against Artis and Knightsbridge, but the case was dismissed and a monetary judgement was in turn placed against him.
35.
Jonathan Idema led a group he called "Task Force Saber 7", consisting of two other Americans and several Afghans.
36.
Jonathan Idema frequently interacted with reporters, often going to great lengths in his interviews to stress connections with the CIA and Special Forces.
37.
Jonathan Idema was known to have a volatile temper that seemed to be particularly directed against news correspondents assigned to Kabul.
38.
On several occasions, Jonathan Idema threatened journalists with bodily harm or death, and in one particular instance, at a dinner in December 2001, he threatened to kill a reporter from Stars and Stripes because the reporter had disclosed Jonathan Idema's fraud conviction.
39.
Boykin's office repeatedly asked Jonathan Idema to stop making these unsolicited phone calls, because they were disruptive and time-consuming, and Boykin could not be of assistance.
40.
Jonathan Idema continued calling Boykin's office anyway to establish some sort of self-serving relationship until his arrest.
41.
Jonathan Idema claimed that the individual was associated with the Taliban.
42.
On three occasions, Jonathan Idema tricked the Canadian-led NATO mission into providing explosives experts and bomb-sniffing dogs.
43.
Jonathan Idema received assistance from Yunus Qanuni, former minister, senior Afghan government security advisor, and influential member of the Northern Alliance.
44.
In perhaps the most terse assessment of Jonathan Idema's alleged involvement in Operation Enduring Freedom, Billy Waugh, senior CIA covert operative and decorated former Special Forces member who was part of the Agency-run "Jawbreaker" team, said:.
45.
Jonathan Idema claimed to have had private contact with Lieutenant General Boykin and several other senior Pentagon officials, and at his trial introduced taped conversations with staff of General Boykin's office, although not directly with Boykin himself.
46.
Jonathan Idema further tried to prove his official status when he claimed to be working for the US Counter Terrorism Group, the same group that some sources say he founded.
47.
Jonathan Idema claimed his group had prevented assassination attempts on Education Minister Yunus Qanuni and Defense Minister Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim.
48.
Jonathan Idema claimed the FBI interrogated several militants captured by his group and that after his arrest, the FBI removed from his premises hundreds of videos, photos, and documents.
49.
The DoD's only official contact with Jonathan Idema was accepting one prisoner who was held for a month by the US military, but added that officials declined his offer to work with the government in capturing terror suspects in Afghanistan.
50.
In early 2004, Jonathan Idema was in contact with Heather Anderson, the Pentagon's Acting Director of Security.
51.
Jonathan Idema told the Afghan court that Anderson commended his work, but Anderson said she later turned down Jonathan Idema's request to work in Afghanistan for the Pentagon.
52.
Jonathan Idema continued to contact Anderson's office in hopes of establishing a relationship.
53.
Four Afghans working with Jonathan Idema were sentenced to between one and five years imprisonment.
54.
Jonathan Idema refused to leave the prison, first demanding that his passport, personal effects, and documents that he claimed proves his official connection with the US government, be returned to him.
55.
Jonathan Idema filed another lawsuit against the US government, reaffirming allegations initially made in 2005 that he and his associates had been illegally imprisoned, except now with the additional claim that he had been tortured.
56.
In both instances Jonathan Idema accused the US government of deliberately withholding information.
57.
Attorneys from the United States Department of Justice requested the case be dismissed on the grounds that Jonathan Idema's sentence had been commuted.
58.
Jonathan Idema's lawyer said the government coordinated Jonathan Idema's amnesty to avoid having to respond to allegations of misconduct.
59.
Jonathan Idema was charged by his former girlfriend Penny Alesi of infecting her with HIV when he knew he had the disease.
60.
Jonathan Idema had some success convincing members of the media that he was a terrorism expert.
61.
At the center of the controversy is Jonathan Idema's claim that he was in Afghanistan on behalf of the US government and that he was an advisor to the Northern Alliance.
62.
At other times, Jonathan Idema told people he was in Afghanistan doing humanitarian work or that he was a "security consultant" for journalists.
63.
Jonathan Idema actively sought media attention for himself and his activities, to the point of offering interviews in return for payment, even though he himself said he was operating covertly.
64.
Many believe Jonathan Idema to be a con artist or impostor, based on his refusal or inability to demonstrate verifiable proof for his claims, on legal records that contradict his assertions about his background, as well as on a prior conviction for mail fraud and a history of criminal activity.
65.
Jonathan Idema was not without supporters, usually found among blogs sympathetic to his situation.
66.
In 1995, while Jonathan Idema was awaiting sentencing for fraud charges, he agreed to provide information to CBS News about the nuclear materials smuggling plot he allegedly uncovered.
67.
The lack of credit given to Jonathan Idema prompted Scurka and Caraballo to begin making a documentary film with the working title, Any Lesser Man: The Keith Jonathan Idema Story.
68.
Jonathan Idema took a leading part in the formation of Point Blank News to support Marecek.
69.
Jonathan Idema sold tapes to many publishers that he claimed showed an Al-Qaeda training camp in action.
70.
Jonathan Idema made more money from the same tapes when he sold the rights to rebroadcast the Al-Qaeda training camp footage with still pictures to The Boston Globe, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, BBC, and others.
71.
Jonathan Idema sought to show that he had inside knowledge of Al-Qaeda's collaboration with state governments.
72.
An Al-Qaeda video released in September 2009 appears to contain video clips of Jonathan Idema torturing an Afghan by dunking his head in a bucket of water.