An alleged con man who reportedly duped high-profile military and political figures claiming to be a counterintelligence expert and Special Forces officer now is being investigated by the FBI, local officials said Thursday.

Joseph Cafasso, 52, has been in the Porter County Jail since Jan. 22, awaiting trial for failing to appear in court on charges of speeding and giving a false name to police investigators after he was pulled over in the Indiana Dunes State Park in October.

Conservation officers declined to comment Thursday on Cafasso, stating his case had been referred to the FBI for further investigation. FBI officials declined to say if they are investigating Cafasso.

According to an April 29, 2002, report in the New York Times, Cafasso claimed to be a well-connected spy who had a high-rank career in the Special Forces. Alleged victims included the Fox News network, Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign and "several representatives, military officials and activists to whom he had sold himself for years," the Times reported.

Cafasso also appeared as a military and counterterrorism expert during Fox's coverage of the invasion of Afghanistan, even though military records show that his total military experience was 44 days of boot camp at Fort Dix, N.J., in 1976.

Cafasso reportedly had been living for several months with a Chesterton woman whom he met on an Internet dating Web site, where he posted his identity as "Robert Stormer." That also was the name Cafasso initially gave to Conservation Officer Robert Kauffmann, as well as a false Social Security number, before admitting his real name.

The woman turned over to Chesterton police a laptop computer that belonged to Cafasso and investigators there said they might seek a warrant to search the computer's memory for evidence in an investigation of Cafasso.

All that stands between Cafasso and freedom, pending trial, is $500 bond, the Porter County Sheriff's department said.

Cafasso's alleged exploits have garnered him a Wikipedia page, and several other Web sites and blogs devoted to tracking his movements and activities.