You remember the story of Guerdwich Montimer, the 22-year-old graduate of Dillard High School who allegedly posed as a 16-year-old junior high basketball player -- and had sex with a teenaged girl -- in Odessa, Texas, the setting for the book, movie, and television show Friday Night Lights.
No court date has been set in the felony case against Montimer, but a local filmmaker is interested in making a documentary about the Haitian immigrant's saga.
Andrew Hevia, a Miami-based director and producer, says that despite the heavy media attention when the story broke in May, many of the most interesting aspects of the case have yet to come to light. "So much of this story hasn't been told yet," he tells the Juice.
"This was a situation where the national media swooped in, the headlines all said 'Impostor at the Friday Night Lights school,' and then a lot of people left it at that."
Hevia has spoken to several people close to the story in Texas and is hoping to make contact with more people who knew Montimer in Florida. (If you have info, email him here.) He says he isn't interested in piling on more negative coverage but rather getting deeper into the story.
In many ways, Montimer's story is an attempt at a second chance, at redemption. He was a standout player on a good Dillard team, but his only college scholarship offer came from a division III school in Illinois. After several years, it appears he wanted what so many young men and women crave: a second chance.
In Texas, he was a star, taken in by the local head coach. The residents of Odessa thought Montimer -- his name there was Jerry Joseph -- was an orphan, and some people thought they had a story just as sweet as The Blind Side.
"There are a lot of people who still really care for this guy," says Hevia. "A lot of people who say he was a good, solid, churchgoing member of the community down there."
