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Eric Conn Had Help Fleeing To New Mexico, FBI Says

FBI, via WFPL

Fugitive fraudster Eric Conn had help fleeing Kentucky to New Mexico, where surveillance footage captured him stopping at a gas station and a Walmart, the FBI said Friday.

  The FBI said Conn used a truck “owned and registered by a co-conspirator” to a shell company in Montana.

The unnamed co-conspirator also gave additional support to Conn, according to the FBI’s news release. Investigators did not immediately provide additional details about the alleged co-conspirator.

The truck was ultimately abandoned in New Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border. The FBI said there was no evidence that Conn entered Mexico.

 

Credit FBI, via WFPL

The whereabouts of Conn, eastern Kentucky’s famous fraudulent Social Security lawyer, have been the subject of much speculation since he cut off his ankle monitor and fled in early June. (Read “Eric Conn’s Latest Trick: Turning Flight Risk Into Reality“)

In court on Friday, a federal judge sentenced Conn to 12 years in prison, the maximum sentence for his massive Social Security scam.

Conn pleaded guilty in March and prosecutors agreed to house arrest, as well as monitoring by an ankle bracelet.

Years prior, Conn had talked about fleeing to Ecuador or Cuba, or another country without an extradition treaty, if his scheme ever caught up to him, investigators alleged.

Over the last decade, Conn colluded with a judge and a doctor to award $550 million in lifetime benefits to over 1500 clients, earning himself $23 million in fees. He is one of five people to flee from federal pretrial supervision in Kentucky in the last five years.

The FBI has offered a $20,000 reward for Conn. In the news release Friday, the agency appeared confident that Conn would be captured.

“Conn continues to become isolated from family, friends, and associates who are turning their backs on him or are rendered unable to help him,” the statement read. “His resources are continually dwindling.”

If captured, Conn faces at least 18 months in prison for absconding — on top of the 12 years he was sentenced to today.

Eleanor Klibanoff can be reached at eklibanoff@kycir.org and (502) 814.65

© 2017 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

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