A while back, Johnny Knoxville got together with the Farrelly Brothers and brought us the film The Ringer. Knoxville, in a Brando-esque display of Method Acting, feigns mental retardation in order to enter the Special Olympics as a "ringer" so that he can win a fixed bet and erase a huge debt. Of course, Knoxville learns a lesson in life and love, and develops a new found respect and affection for the mentally challenged. It's not the greatest movie ever made, definitely a 13 or 14 in one's Netflix queue, but even I - a cold-hearted bastard if ever there was one - got a bit verklempt.

So here we have life imitating art, without the feel-good ending. In an attempt to fleece the system, Rosie Costello instructed her kids, starting at ages 4 and 8, to fake retardation so that she could collect Social Security benefits. They were busted when social workers viewed a tape of son Pete contesting a traffic ticket in a Vancouver courtroom. Pete now faces six months to a year in prison, and may have to pay up to $59,000 in restitution. Daughter Marie has not yet been located. To borrow a line from Indiana Jones, "try the local sewer." At first I felt bad for the kids, but apparently they kept the ruse going until they were in their 20's. Rosie is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17.

My feel-good ending? Rosie behind bars, banging out license plates to pay back the $280,000 she stole.