A Rye, NH man and former congressional candidate will serve 20 days in jail and a year on house confinement after allegedly faking a motor vehicle crash and subsequent disappearance two years ago. Prosecutors say it was an attempt to boost his campaign.
In an attempt to boost his campaign, congressional candidate
Gary Dodds crashed his car in Dover, NH in April, 2006 and was subsequently deemed missing for 27 hours following the crash. While Dodds claimed that he struck his head and almost drowned in a river, prosecutors say he spent a up to 10 hours of the time he was declared missing soaking his feet in cold water to make it seem he had been outside the whole time.
At his March trial, Dodds testified, "I don't know how I got out of the car. All I know, the next thing I remember I was in water. I felt like I was drowning. I remember walking for a considerable distance. I don't know how long I walked. I remember climbing up a steep hill. I remember a wire. It looked like a telephone wire or some kind of utility pole wire. I was exhausted and I couldn't go any more".
After the New Hampshire State Police investigated the accident, Dodds was charged with of
faking the accident and injuries. Prosecutors say the crash was staged to boost his campaign.
Dodds was convicted in March for falsifying evidence, leaving the scene of an accident, and causing false panic. He was sentenced on March 31, and ordered to serve 20 days in jail, a year on home confinement and ordered to pay $20,500 to law enforcement agencies who dedicated their time searching for him.
When he was finally located, Dodds was found in a wooded area behind an Elementary School covered in leaves. Investigators said
'his feet were purple, but the rest of his body was not'. He was transported to the Portsmouth Regional Hospital where he was treated for a concussion, hypothermia and trench foot.
The democratic Dodds was challenging U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley in the
2006 elections and running an active campaign at the time of the crash and disappearance.
