Earlier this week, numerous publications including Radar Online and the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Chris Federline, the younger brother of Britney Spears' infamous ex-husband, had filed a restraining order against the pop star. But according to new reports, the story was a hoax spread by Jonathan Lee Riches, a convicted felon who posed as Adam Lanza's uncle just days after the Newtown shooting.

According to the original story, Chris Federline filed the restraining order after claiming that Britney had stolen his credit card to go on a shopping spree and then blackmailed him. Radar Online quoted Federline as having said of Britney, "She is out-of-control and a maniac."

"Britney … laughed at me [and] told me my brother Kevin ruined her life. Britney made fun of me and told me I have a small penis," said the source, who was initially identified as Federline.She also blackmailed me and told me if I tell the police that she stole my credit card, that she will tell the world I’m the true father of Sean Preston, not Kevin."

"I do confess I slept with Britney, and I am the true father, but the public does not need to know," the alleged Federline continued.

The originally report even included a corroborating quote from a "source" who allegedly knew Chris Federline, and claimed, “Chris says the fling was a mistake. He says he always felt bad about it and kept it to himself because he didn’t want Alisha, his wife at the time, to find out.”

Just a day later several publications including the Smoking Gun have outed the story as a hoax that was reportedly spread by Riches. Since being released from federal prison earlier this year, Riches has been said to be living in central Pennsylvania. On Dec. 16, two days after the Sandy Hook massacre, he reportedly traveled to Newtown, Conn., where he identified himself to reporters at a town memorial site as "Jonathan Lanza," the uncle of gunman, Adam Lanza.

When Riches' probation officer got wind of the trip (Riches uploaded videos of his trip to Youtube), he wrote a report indicating that he had "reason to believe that the supervised releasee has violated the terms and conditions of his supervision."

Both the National Enquirer and Radar Online have since removed the stories from their websites.