A San Diego businessman is being forced to take action to help confront a most unusual case of mistaken identity.
John Neuhart is the founder of Synapses, a business consulting firm. By coincidence, he has the same name as a former U.S. Navy Commander who is facing sexual assault charges.
But there’s more. Not only do the pair share the same name, including a distinctive spelling of Neuhart. They also have the same middle name, Michael. And they attended the same college, Ohio State University.
"It’s those similarities, as well as both of us, happen to be in San Diego, you’ve got to dig deep to see that there really is a difference," said businessman Neuhart.
He learned about the unfortunate coincidence from friends.
"They said, 'You’re in the news.' I’m like, 'This is great, there’s no such thing as bad PR,' right? A few hours later, I found out what the accusations were," said businessman Neuhart.
To help clear up any confusion, he’s created a web page called "The Real John Neuhart."
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He’s also produced a short video making a clear distinction between the two.
"Just to get the news out there so that people are looking at me, as prospective clients do all the time, they can actually see that there is no confusion," said businessman Neuhart.
He says he’s lost at least one prospective client, and there’s no telling how many more he’s lost. A Google search of his name will turn up a majority of links on the sexual assault case of the former Navy Commander Neuhart.
"It’s fun to talk about, but it’s not really fun underneath. It truly is a really serious matter," said businessman Neuhart.
Lawyers in the case of the former Navy Commander John Neuhart will be in court on Thursday discussing motions. Pending the outcome of those motions, his trial is scheduled to being on August 30.
