If you looked like Joba Chamberlain, what would you do?  Would you sign autographs?  Of course.  Would you sweet-talk the ladies?  Definitely.  Would you try to get free food and drinks at bars and restaurants?  I mean c’mon, who wouldn’t?

These were the exact things 30-year old Ryan Ward from Toms River, NJ, decided to do.  However, it didn’t come without a cost.  Ward faced one year in jail for theft-by-deception charges, but plead guilty to lesser charges of disorderly conduct after checking himself into an alcohol rehab facility for treatment.  He was fined $2,518 and was placed on two years’ probation.

PHOTO CAPTION: Joba or not Joba?

What first got him in legal trouble was an Aug. 1 encounter at a bagel shop in which Ward asked employees “Do you know who I am?” and pointed to a photo of Chamberlain in a newspaper. They gave him free bagels and a bottle of water.

Other impersonations followed. Eventually, at least a few watering holes got wise and banned Ward from the premises. Then in October, he was arrested again, this time for yelling and carrying on while sitting on a bench outside a bar while intoxicated.

The irony of this story is the end result of impersonating Joba Chamberlain lands you in the same exact place the real Joba Chamberlain most likely is, in an alcohol rehab facility for treatment of a drinking problem (and on probation).  If you remember, back in October, Joba was arrested in Lincoln, Nebraska for allegedly driving under the influence, speeding and having an open container of booze in his car.

The lesson learned here?  If you have a really fat face and love to drink booze, don’t impersonate Joba Chamberlain, it will cost you.