Yeah, sorry to be off topic, but it's not a rumor:
Dr. Dale Dubin had inserted the note into his 50th printing of his "Rapid Interpretation of EKGs," putting his classic Thunderbird up for grabs. Of the 60,000 who last year bought the book containing the offer, only five spotted the hidden message and contacted the publisher with news of their find. The five names were placed in a hat, and Jeffrey Seiden's was chosen at random. The 1965 Thunderbird convertible was delivered to him on 4 December 2001 by Dubin's daughter, who drove it to Seiden's school.
Yale officials heard of the contest only at the last minute, but they allowed the award to be made on campus and helped with some publicity. Since the textbook author's history has become known, the institution has done what it can to distance itself from the affair. When questioned about the award, Karen Peart, a university spokeswoman, said to the Hartford Courant: "This is not a Yale matter."
The school's reluctance to be associated with Dubin is understandable, given the doctor's history. Dubin is an ex-convict whose medical license was revoked after his 1986 Florida conviction on federal drug and child pornography charges, to which he pled guilty. He was sentenced to five years in a federal prison, served three-and-a-half, and was released in 1989.
From UPI:
March 7, 1987
A federal judge sentenced millionaire plastic surgeon Dale B. Dubin to five years in prison for what the judge called an obsession with pornography and cocaine that turned the doctor's life into a tragedy.
U.S. District Judge William J. Castagna told Dubin at a sentencing hearing Friday he could not see how a ''person of your talent, ability, education and interest in art,'' could have turned his life into such a ''tragedy and waste of such a rare and needed talent.''
Dubin pleaded guilty six weeks ago to 22 counts of child pornography and cocaine charges.
Eleven of the drug counts involved a 16-year-old girl who was seduced by Dubin with the help of pills and vodka and eventually agreed to participate in sexual encounters with Dubin, another 17-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman.
Dubin videotaped some of the encounters for his pleasure. The incidents took place at two of his condominiums and the Pasco County nudist resort of Paradise Lake.
He is expected to serve his time in a minimum security facility where he will be able to receive drug counseling.
U.S. Attorney Robert W. Merkle, who prosecuted the case, told Castagna that no crimes ''are more violent than the use of child pornography and the distribution of narcotics.'' He said Dubin's attempt to minimize his activities as just a ''lifestyle'' was a ''new low in euphemisms.''
Merkle said it was particularly aggravating that Dubin used his medical knowledge to satisfy his own appetite and risk the lives and mental health of his victims.
Dubin, 47, stood with his head bowed throughout the 40-minute hearing Friday. Except for a few mumbled words about a letter to the judge, he did not say anything.
In that letter, Dubin complained of the ''lurid display'' of his case by prosecutors and claimed details of his activities were ''egregiously distorted'' by the press. He also spoke of his sexual escapades as examples of ''an occasional clandestine soiree.''
Dubin was arrested Aug. 11 at the mansion in Lutz, Fla. he called Hassle Free, after being sucked into a child pornography sting by sending off a $100 bill to buy films including ''Barbarian Girls.''
The Dubin story received extensive news coverage as his doctors unsuccessfully tried to have him committed to a mental hospital for treatment of what they called potentially suicidal depression, and Merkle countered by adding details of the case into the court record.