an actor by the name of joe maggard stated in an interview of the guardian in 2014 that he portrayed the ronald mcdonald character from 1995 to 2007. however, it was stated in a 2003 article by the baltimore sun that maggard was only a stand-in actor for one commercial shoot in the mid 90s and stated that "he is definitely not ronald mcdonald", as jack doepke and david hussey were the real current portrayers as ronald throughout the time period joe claimed he did. in 1998, he was charged of carrying a weapon in the new hanover county, n.c., mcdonalds and the next year he was convicted in making harassing telephone calls posing as ronald. the judge ordered him to take anger management classes.