Belichick Scandal Widens

OCTOBER 3--The federal prison system's most prolific litigator has just weighed in with a complaint accusing New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick of illegal surveillance far beyond the football field.

Jonathan Lee Riches, a convicted felon whose richly layered (and insane) lawsuits have recently gained national exposure, claims that Belichick, aided by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Randy Moss, has spearheaded an illegal wiretapping and surveillance program that would make the National Security Agency blush.

A copy of Riches's handwritten lawsuit, filed September 20 in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, can be found here.

The lawsuit, one of 36 federal complaints Riches (pictured in the mug shot at leftt) filed in September, alleges, among many other things, that Belichick has bugged the home of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and that, before the 2005 Super Bowl, Brady placed a listening device "in Donovan McNabb's Chunky Soup. He ate it."

Oh, and Belichick also allegedly surveilled the home of New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington. And Brady and Moss planted a Radio Shack recording device on San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawn Merriman's sleeve so that Belichick could hear the opponent's defensive play calls during a September 16 game.

Riches, 30, is seeking $5 million in damages from the Patriots trio. (4 pages)