Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used photos of his own car accident to convince Manti Te’o his fictitious girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, had to fake her own death to elude drug dealers.
Now that wreck has Tuiasosopo in trouble — the real kind. Sekuini Sekuini, a member of Tuiasosopo’s band, is suing the online hoaxer for failing to “reduce speed in a construction zone.” He claims he suffered brain damage as a result of the crash, according to courthousenews.com.
Tuiasosopo also used the photos from the accident to convince former classmate Diane O’Meara to send him photos of her to cheer up his cousin, according to Deadspin. Those shots would later be used in Kekua’s online profile that was used to bait Te’o into an online relationship.
The former Notre Dame linebacker, who made his NFL debut with the Chargers last week, perpetuated the myth of the relationship in interviews after Kekua allegedly died of leukemia. When it was reported by Deadspin that Kekua never existed, the whole ugly story unraveled until Tuiasosopo was determined to be the man behind the scam.