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Fake Jennifer Aniston Movie Role Nabs Deadbeat Dad

By Andrew Lu on July 10, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Deadbeat dads are getting more creative in avoiding child support.

And those looking to capture deadbeat dads are taking extraordinary measures.

In Pennsylvania, a woman and her bounty hunter (yes, her bounty hunter) came up with a ruse involving Jennifer Aniston to catch a deadbeat dad. The bounty hunter contacted 40-year-old Joshua Garlathy to tell him that he was up for a starring role in Aniston's new rom-com. Eager to jump at his big chance, Garlathy boarded a plane from Hawaii, where he lived, to Pennsylvania. When he stepped off the plane, he was arrested.

Garlathy is the father of a 19-year-old child that he had with his ex-girlfriend, reports NBC. Garlathy played no role in the child's life and apparently did not support him either. To avoid paying child support, Garlathy came up with the ingenious idea to move to Hawaii. He figured that the costs to extradite him back to Pennsylvania were too expensive for local law enforcement. And he was right, as he was left alone.

Outsmarting authorities, Garlathy's ex-girlfriend hired a bounty hunter to help capture the deadbeat dad. The bounty hunter hatched the scheme to tell the Hollywood-wannabe Garlathy that he was wanted for Aniston's new movie, Banished from Brooklyn. The bounty hunter contacted Garlathy on Facebook and said that his talent scout discovered him playing guitar at a cafe where he worked, reports NBC. Those were the right chords to strike with Garlathy. Garlathy then boarded the Hawaii to Pennsylvania flight where he was met by cops.

Garlathy now does have a claim to fame: He's the first man arrested under Pennsylvania's child support law that makes it a crime to skip on child support payments. He's also making headlines as the deadbeat dad who fell for the Jennifer Aniston movie ruse.

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