Jonathan Roth ordered jailed in faked-death case

A Massapequa man who left the state and skipped court after admitting he conspired to fake his father's death in the waters off Jones Beach was ordered held without bail Friday.

Jonathan Roth, 23, appeared before Nassau County Court Judge Tammy S. Robbins the day after he was arrested in Groveport, Ohio.

An arrest warrant had been issued after Roth missed a routine court appearance on Sept. 20.

Roth's attorney, Joey Jackson of Manhattan, did not dispute the prosecutor's request to hold Roth until Oct. 18, when he could be sentenced.

"There's no perfect family," Jackson said. "Things like this happen."

Roth pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in May and had expected to avoid jail because he was cooperating with prosecutors against his father, Raymond Roth, 48, also of Massapequa.

Bail bondsmen tracked Jonathan Roth using his cellphone GPS and other technology, said Michelle Esquenazi, president of Empire Bail Bonds.

Roth was "shocked and still" during the arrest, Esquenazi said.

She said he told the bondsmen that he skipped court because he couldn't afford a bus ticket back to New York.

Prosecutors say Roth conspired to fake his father's disappearance last year in an insurance scam.

Raymond Roth had faced a 90-day jail sentence after admitting he faked his own disappearance but now faces a state prison term on unrelated charges of attempted kidnapping.

Jonathan Roth also missed a court date in Suffolk County on Sept. 23, a spokesman for the district attorney's office said. He faces a warrant to be charged with one count of felony criminal contempt for violating two protective orders that bar him from contacting an ex-girlfriend, the spokesman said.

Roth has also been charged with four misdemeanors for violating the orders of protection, the spokesman said.