MADISON COUNTY, Ill. — About a year after his release from prison, Dorynell Thompson found himself on Michigan Public Radio discussing his time behind bars and his newfound life as a free man.
The Kalamazoo resident had served about 17 years for a 1996 federal drug distribution charge, but he had recently become an ordained minister and was working in the community to help kids avoid the criminal justice system.
“That was my first time ever getting in trouble,” Thompson told Cynthia Canty, an anchor and morning show host during the 2015 interview. “I grew up on the rough side of the area where I was living. And I had always kind of been on the streets. I was never the type of guy that would go out and get in trouble.”
But that was far from the truth. Thompson wasn’t who he said he was.
Robert D. Mason III, 53, was taken to jail in Madison County, Illinois after being charged with identity theft, prosecutors say. (Credit: Madison County State’s Attorney)
He’s actually Robert Mason III, Madison County prosecutors say, and he has a violent criminal history in southern Illinois dating back to the 1990s.
