Local man lied to many, including a newspaper

By George P. Hassett

On April 7 Ron Craven walked into the Somerville News office and continued a lie he had told friends, family and anyone who would listen. The difference: this time he was trying to get his elaborate deceptions published in the local paper.

And he was successful. Two days later in the April 9 edition, The Somerville News published an admiring story crediting Craven as an “NBA bigwig” Рhe said he was the director of player development for the Seattle SuperSonics Рstill in touch with his local roots.

In an interview that lasted more than 90 minutes, Craven told elaborate lies about relationships he claimed to have with Sonics players, coaches and management. In fact, Craven admitted to the News this week that he has never met any of the SuperSonics players he claimed to be mentoring.

As a lawyer for the SuperSonics said, ‚ÄúThe Somerville News has been duped by a publicity hungry local citizen.‚Äù The News should have fact-checked Craven’s claims and  regrets the error.

However, News staffers were not the only ones suckered by Craven’s trickery. This week Craven admitted he lied to dozens of people in the city – including his wife and his brothers – about his NBA job.

When he came into the News office in April, he was wearing a SuperSonics jumpsuit. He passed out team t-shirts to friends and family. After the story was posted on TheSomervilleNews.com Craven said he went online and anonymously wrote 50 comments under the story lauding himself as “an asset to the community” and “a hunk.”

When a reporter interviewed him for this story the question that kept popping up was, “why?”

‚ÄúI don’t know why I did it. I keep coming up with question marks when I think about it,‚Äù Craven said.

The lies started in June when he flew to Seattle to meet someone he met on the Internet. He told people who asked that he was going out for a job interview and after three more trips out West claimed he had been hired. While he was in Seattle, Craven said he did catch a few SuperSonics practice sessions that were open to the public and even went to a few games.

“I got a good sense of the team and how they played together,” he said.

Craven said he tried to contact SuperSonics General Manager Sam Presti repeatedly while he was in Seattle to try and get a job with the team (in the April interview with the News Craven said he had a longtime personal relationship with Presti. In a letter from the SuperSonics the team said he had “no relationship whatsoever” with him), but never made a connection.

“I just wanted to scout and work for the team so bad I think I started to believe I did,” he said.

One person who believed Craven worked for the SuperSonics said he would often call after games, claiming to be with the team. “I started to get into basketball. I thought I had met someone who worked in the NBA. Little did I know he was just your average sociopath,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

And the lies didn’t stop there. Craven admitted to the News that he had also used other people’s names when he met strangers. He said he told people he was Jeff Turner – a 6 foot 9 inch former NBA player who even die hard basketball fans strain to remember. Craven himself is 6 foot 8 and said Turner’s obscurity was one reason he used the name.

“He talked about his career with the Nets and the Magic. He spoke at length about covering Larry Bird and playing on the same team as Shaq,” said a woman who knew Craven as Jeff Turner.

As bizarre as it was, Craven seemed to be getting away with his many ruses. He first told people in Somerville he had an interview with Seattle last June. And, in addition to telling people he was Turner, he also told strangers he was Todd Lichti – another unremarkable, tall, white, former NBA journeyman.

But it seems it was his thirst for attention – and his trip to the News office – that finally did him in. The woman who knew him only as Jeff Turner googled Turner’s name and saw a picture that didn’t match the man she knew.

The woman then called the police who, she said, contacted Craven “to tell him he was a weirdo” but could not charge him with any specific crime. When she found out his real name, the woman searched the internet for Ron Craven and found the News article and the dozens of glowing comments posted under it.

From that moment, Craven’s days pretending to be director of player development for the Seattle SuperSonics were numbered. The real Jeff Turner filed a complaint with the NBA’s security division. The Sonics released a letter unequivocally stating Craven has no relationship with the team. Reporters in Seattle are retracing his steps in that city.

As his many lies are about to come back to haunt him, Craven said he is ready to make amends with the family, friends and community he lied to. ‚ÄúI’m ready to pay the piper.‚Äù