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Puddle of Mudd imposter convicted in Pulaski County

by andrea hahn, the southern

Friday, January 26, 2007 7:17 AM CST

MOUND CITY - Martin Minter, known in this area as the "Puddle of Mudd Imposter," was convicted of three felonies and a misdemeanor on Wednesday in Pulaski County.

A jury took about 30 minutes to convict Minter, 31, of the felony charges of kidnapping, intimidation, aggravated assault and the misdemeanor of battery.

Minter, a registered sex offender with a Florida conviction, was the subject of Fox network's "America's Most Wanted" on Sept. 16, 2006, after word of his bizarre actions in Southern Illinois became public. He was arrested two days later at the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute in Nashville.

Minter's visit to Southern Illinois has led to charges against him in Jackson County as well as in Pulaski County. He first surfaced in Williamson County and Jackson County, where local authorities said he hung out in bars and claimed to be Paul Phillips, a guitarist for alt-rock band Puddle of Mudd.

In Carbondale, a bar patron who was humoring him took his picture on a cell phone. The picture was later used to help identify Minter.

On June 7, 2006, Minter is accused of attacking a woman with a knife at Helia Health Care in Carbondale. Carbondale police said he had asked to use the telephone to get a ride, and had announced himself as a member of Puddle of Mudd.

Later that morning, he showed up in Pulaski County, where he forced a woman into her car at the Citgo gas station on Interstate 57 at the Ullin exit in Pulaski County and abducted her, telling her he had a gun. She was able to escape from him when she drove into the parking lot of a car dealership in Ullin and fled. He fled, too, running back to the interstate. He was later seen getting into a Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck.

A sentencing hearing will be set for Minter on the Pulaski County convictions.

No court date has been set yet in Jackson County, where Minter is charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and a weapons charge for carrying the knife.

 

andrea.hahn@thesouthern.com

(618) 352-5076