A fraudster who escaped a federal prison in Colorado was found five years later living in a $1.5 million mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to a local report.
Police found Allen Todd May, 58, on Tuesday at a luxurious home in South Florida after he escaped from the Federal Correctional Institute in Englewood, Colorado, in 2018, according to Local 10. Local authorities reported that while already in prison for mail fraud, May had stolen over $700,000 by making false claims in oil and gas royalties. (RELATED: Gov’t Fires Serial Con Man AGAIN After His History Of Fraud Is Exposed)
A judge sentenced May to 20 years in federal prison, but on Dec. 21, 2018, he went missing after a prisoner count, the outlet reported.
AN “UNORTHODOX FUGITIVE” was nabbed in Fort Lauderdale after nearly five years on the lam, apparently living a lavish lifestyle in South Florida after escaping from federal prison. https://t.co/dzbzBF0LrG
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) August 3, 2023
“One tipster, who chose to submit anonymously, began providing information to the U.S. Marshals in May about potential online profiles and websites which May was possibly using under the alias of ‘Cary Bailey,'” District of Colorado U.S. Marshal Kirk Taylor said in a statement, according to Local 10. “Investigators aggressively followed up on the information provided but were never able to pin down a location for May.”
In the end, the informant recognized May, working under the pseudonym of “Jacob Turner,” in a photo taken at a social function in Palm Beach. Colorado authorities began surveilling the area Monday. After following a partner of May down to his home, they arrested him Tuesday.
Taylor thanked the informant “for the information they provided that directly led to the arrest of this unorthodox fugitive,” according to Local 10.
May appeared before a court Wednesday, where a federal judge ordered him back to Colorado.
Timothy W. Foley, a Californian contractor for the Department of Defense (DOD), supplied the U.S. military with faulty parts between 2012 and 2019. A judge recently sentenced Foley to three months in prison and ordered him to pay back $1.3 million.
In a separate fraud case in California, a family allegedly made more than $7 million from recycling operations. If found guilty, each family member would serve over three years in jail.