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In a federal lawsuit filed Friday in the Southern District of Florida, the plaintiffs — OWN LLC, former Duke basketball player Love and OWN executive vice president Scott Garner — state that Justin Jackson “pretends to be connected to OWN, its employees and others in an effort to obtain financial benefits.” Angel Agarrat is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit.
Jackson is no stranger to legal trouble, having been convicted of felony theft for posing as Madonna‘s manager in 2007. He was also convicted of stealing jewelry worth $2.4 million in a scam against Chopard Boutique in New York after claiming he needed the gems for a photo shoot.
In this latest case, he has been criminally charged with impersonating a public officer/employee and financial identity fraud for acts committed against Love when he was a public official.
According to legal documents obtained by TheWrap, for the past two years Jackson has posed as various individuals associated with OWN, including Garner and Love, and has attempted to obtain countless items of value. He has also tried to gain employment by claiming to be Winfrey’s nephew or former assistant, the lawsuit says.
“Agarrat and Jackson have infringed and diluted OWN’s trademarks and trade name,” states the suit.
Among his numerous alleged scams, Jackson has sought free gift cards from The Cheesecake Factory by impersonating Love; asked for free Juicy Couture clothes; tried to get a job at Perry Ellis, the Atlantic Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami and Extended Stay chain; solicited gifts for OWN’s “‘Next Chapter’ Holiday Special;” attempted to get jewelry from David Yurman and Pandora; tried to fly on American Airlines for free; and claimed to be Johnny Depp‘s manager.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.