Clinton Catlin

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Clinton Marcel "Lazyboy" Catlin (born May 31, 1988 in Demopolis, Marengo County) is a stand-up comedian and con-artist.

Catlin, the son of Clint Akins and Sonji Catling, grew up in the Mauvilla section of west Demopolis. He attended Demopolis High School. He was often disciplined for being a "class clown" and dropped out of school. He was convicted of third-degree theft in 2008 and served a year in prison for second-degree attempted burglary in 2010. He completed his GED and later earned a degree at Lawson State Community College.

Catlin raised money from friends and family to travel to New York City to audition at comedy clubs. He succeeded in earning bookings there and also toured in the South and performed in Los Angeles. He appeared in the Bounce TV comedy series "Off The Chain" in October 2012.

Catlin was a co-founder of Operation Feed Birmingham which used donations and proceeds from fundraising parties to provide free holiday meals to the homeless at Boutwell Auditorium in November and December 2013. During that same year, he pitched two programs for Birmingham City School students. One, called "Lights, Camera, Birmingham" would teach television production skills. Another, called "Class Clowns" would help kids who acted out in class to channel their creativity into professional stand-up routines. Outstanding students from the program would be invited to share the stage during a charity show with Kevin Hart.

Catlin raised $12,920 from a local attorney and $5,750 from the Birmingham City Council to fund those proposals. The programs were never implemented. The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, Hoover Police Department, and Birmingham Police Department investigated and charged him with three counts of first-degree theft, one of which involved writing bad checks to a Hoover automobile dealer. He pleaded guilty on March 27, 2015 and was sentenced to serve a 115-month split sentence with one year to serve and five years of probation. He also faced lesser charges for writing bad checks in Marengo County.

Catlin was arrested in February 2020 and charged with first-degree theft by deception. The Hoover Police Department investigated the complaint from a Hoover resident who claimed to have given him $24,000 as an investment in the purchase, renovation and sale of a house in North Birmingham which he never purchased or renovated.

References

  • Knox, Brittney (November 12, 2012) "Demopolis native appears on TV show." Demopolis Times
  • Faulk, Kent (April 8, 2015) "Comedian conned Birmingham City Council and lawyer out of $18,670 for bogus Class Clowns program." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (February 18, 2020) "Trussville man charged in Hoover house-flipping scam; woman conned out of thousands, police say." The Birmingham News