He was already fairly well known. Don't think it ruins his reputation at all, this is similar really to the kind of stuff that gets celebrated as innovative thinking around here. Sure this particular instance has stuck a chord with some people.
There's a difference between making an honest mistake and going into something that is obviously a mistake to a lot of the community while possibly lying about it[1]. Sort of like how if I intentionally drove a car off a cliff I wouldn't get any sympathy if I claimed that I didn't understand that cliffs are different from roads.
[1] Look at his comment history, especially his two comments on the original Jonthan's card post. He's admitted that, since the 7th, he's been skimming off the top of the card, yet on the 8th he said "That would imply that the card is currently being used as intended" and explained $25 vanishing from the card as him buying food for two homeless people. Even if he wasn't intentionally misdirecting people or lying, it certainly looks suspicious.
