True Crime YouTube personality Jonathan Lee Riches, known as JLR Investigates, is facing accusations of severe physical abuse against a former girlfriend, according to her court filings.
In a sworn statement submitted in Arkansas, Jaime Tennille Phillips alleges that Riches, 49, violently attacked her on Christmas Eve 2025, culminating a long pattern of abuse that included repeated strangulations.
The documents, accessed by The Post, claim that Riches, who served a decade in federal prison for a credit card fraud scheme, began a relationship with Phillips in early 2023. She describes it as a descent into “persistent and escalating domestic abuse, coercive control, intimidation, financial exploitation, and physical violence.”
In a handwritten affidavit, Phillips details the alleged December 24 assault that left her with “extreme injuries, including a broken nose and septum, significant trauma to my head and ribs,” necessitating emergency medical treatment, including CT scans and X-rays, and future reconstructive surgery.
Phillips further alleges Riches attacked her repeatedly, including a separate incident in August 2025 where he allegedly beat her with a closed fist, strangled her approximately two dozen times, and threatened to kill her if she reported him.
Following the Christmas incident in Washington state, she claims ongoing harassment, including threats, intimidation, and financial abuse.
On January 21, 2026, the court issued a protective order, citing sufficient evidence that Phillips faced an “immediate and present danger of domestic abuse.”
Riches has not commented on the allegations, and neither he nor his lawyer responded to The Post’s requests for comment.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in Washington provided an incident report to The Post, which stated they had probable cause to arrest Riches, but he had left the state. He has not been formally charged, and no warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Phillips herself has a controversial background, having been accused in 2017 of fabricating a story about being impregnated by Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore as a teenager, which she attempted to get the Washington Post to run.
Phillips told The Post: “I was duped for so long. He portrayed himself as if he had changed and turned his life around but that’s not real. He’s the same way he’s always been. He’s a fraud.
“The only thing he cares about is money. He doesn’t care about the cases. He loves when there’s a mass shooting. He gets excited cos he knows he’ll get a lot of views and a lot of money.”
Riches rebranded himself as “JLR Investigates,” a YouTube channel that has amassed over half a million subscribers, approximately three years ago, following a history filled with deceit and manipulation.
He labels himself a “fearless investigator” who immerses himself in high-profile cases to live stream his findings.
Recently, he has been broadcasting from Tucson, Arizona, outside the residence of missing Nancy Guthrie.
“He’s basically a big celebrity in the true-crime community,” fellow True Crime streamer Alina Smith told The Post.
Riches is known for his relentless streaming, filming for up to 15 hours daily, answering viewer questions in real-time, and accepting money for tasks like zooming in on specific crime scene areas.
The more subscribers he gains, the more lucrative his YouTube content becomes, regardless of the factual accuracy of his reports.
“That’s why he was in Tucson for over a month — it’s easy money for him cos he just sets up a camera and lets it go,” Phillips commented.
Other streamers have estimated to The Post he makes up to $30,000 a week with his persistent “boots on the ground” approach.
But his audience may not be aware of Riches’ troubling past.
In 2019, he admitted to being a troll and creating false information after being exposed for pretending to be Jewish with a fabricated background at a Trump rally.
“I don’t think about the long-term consequences as far as disinformation or offending anyone,” Riches told The Huffington Post in 2019.
“The disinformation that I want, I can put out there. The next mass shooting, before they identify the shooter, I can set up 10 Twitter accounts looking like news sites and then create whoever I want as the shooter … Vulnerable, gullible people will see that, they think it’s from a news site and then they will copy it and tweet it out.”
Riches’ activities have faced criticism from authorities and journalists, as he is part of a growing cohort of YouTube crime-scene streamers who profit by broadcasting from active investigations.
However, Riches’ infamy precedes the livestream era.
Fraud ring and federal prison
Federal court records show Riches was indicted in 2003 in the Southern District of Texas along with several co-defendants for a credit card fraud scheme.
The indictment accused the group of using stolen financial data to make fraudulent transactions for money and property. Riches was arrested in Florida in February 2003 and transferred to Texas to face charges, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire-fraud counts in September that year.
He was sentenced by a federal judge to 125 months in prison for wire fraud and 60 months for conspiracy — sentences to run concurrently — along with $92,680 in restitution to victims, according to court documents.
‘Most litigious inmate’
While in prison, Riches inundated federal courts with thousands of bizarre, frivolous lawsuits against politicians, companies, public figures, and celebrities — including one against the Kardashian family for allegedly being involved in al-Qaida training.
The lawsuits were promptly dismissed.
The sheer volume of Riches’ legal actions — estimated at over 4,000 — led federal prosecutors to seek an unprecedented nationwide injunction against him to prevent him from filing suits. He was also prohibited from having paper in his cell.
This prompted Riches to undertake a 22-day hunger strike, after which a warden ordered him to be force-fed through a tube.
Sandy Hook hoax
Released in 2012, Riches returned to Pennsylvania under supervised release but soon found himself in legal trouble again.
He traveled to Newtown, Connecticut, three days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six staff members. There, he falsely claimed to be the uncle of gunman Adam Lanza, according to local authorities and court records.
Claiming to be “Jonathan Lanza,” he made baseless claims about the shooter’s mental health that were quickly debunked.
Three days later, Riches posted a YouTube video of the trip, attempting to approach Lanza’s home before being stopped by a police blockade.
“We are truth seekers, and we are going to find out why Adam was mind-controlled and manipulated to go in and allegedly shoot little kids in Sandy Hook Elementary School, and why this happened,” Riches said in the clip, as reported by the New Haven Register.
Weeks later, Riches was jailed again for violating probation terms by crossing state lines. His spurious lawsuits continued thereafter.
In March 2016, he filed a civil action against representative Gabrielle Giffords, posing as the man who shot her and killed six others years earlier.
According to a criminal complaint, he impersonated Jared Loughner, the gunman who attempted to assassinate Giffords. The complaint sought $25 million. Riches pleaded guilty to making false statements, according to court records, and received a five-year probation sentence.
He later admitted to the Arizona Republic that the fake lawsuit was a joke to pass time in prison.
Riches was released from federal prison in May 2016, according to the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.
However, his attention-grabbing antics and dubious activities persisted.
During Bill Cosby’s trial in September 2016, he repeatedly appeared in court, offering Jell-O to the disgraced entertainer each time he entered. Weeks later, he emerged in Florida with then–gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Gillum, posing as a Black Lives Matter protester.
Some of his most audacious acts involved posing as both a Muslim and Jewish attendee at political events — including rallies for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. He told the Huffington Post he was “an atheist from a Christian family” and did not “practice any religion.”
Live stream ‘Investigator’
In recent years, Riches has sought to redefine himself online under the brand “JLR Investigates.”
He presents himself as a crime-scene investigator seeking the truth in high-profile cases, though critics argue his appearances are more about exploitation, interference, and spreading disinformation.
In one case, a business card was found on Nancy Guthrie’s front door. Riches informed his viewers she might have been involved in an active elder abuse case before her disappearance.
The card was from a case manager for Arizona’s Adult Protective Services division, who later confirmed it was left after Guthrie was reported missing, so she could reach out if she returned safely.
“A lack of information leads to speculation,” Riches told The Republic while livestreaming outside Guthrie’s home in February.
The practice highlights a growing trend discussed in recent reports by The Post about YouTubers earning significant income from livestreams outside active investigations, sharing theories and commentary with viewers.
Law enforcement and victims’ advocates warn that such practices can complicate investigations and implicate innocent people and victims, causing significant harm to their lives.
Yet, for top-earning live streamers like Riches, notoriety and infamy can be beneficial.
Crime Seen Collective co-founder Alina Smith told The Post she witnessed fans of Riches travel from out of state to meet him at crime scenes. Many brought gifts, she noted, while others donated cash online. “They’re obsessed with him,” she said.
