Social Security Fraud: Fugitive Kentucky Lawyer Thought To Be In New Mexico

LOUISVILLE, KY — A fugitive Kentucky lawyer sentenced to prison in a massive Social Security fraud case is believed to be in New Mexico.

Federal agents released weeks-old surveillance photos Friday that they say shows Eric Conn at a gas station and Wal-Mart in New Mexico. Conn, who once was one of the country's top disability lawyers, was due in federal court to face sentencing on Friday. The hearing in Lexington, Kentucky, proceeded without him and he received the maximum possible prison term of 12 years.

The FBI, meanwhile, revealed more details about Conn's escape and the path he took to evade authorities.

Conn cut off his electronic monitor and fled on June 2 by using a truck registered by a co-conspirator to a dummy company in Montana, Amy Hess, the FBI's top agent in Kentucky, said in a statement Friday.

"The FBI traced the truck to where it was ultimately abandoned for us to find in New Mexico near the border," Hess said.

#WANTED Eric Christopher Conn. Up to a $20,000 reward. Contact your local FBI. pic.twitter.com/bvOTwK106r
— FBI El Paso (@FBIElPaso) July 14, 2017

There's no indication Conn crossed into Mexico, she said.

The FBI did not identify Conn's alleged accomplice.

Conn had been on house arrest, but was in Lexington to meet with prosecutors to plan for his testimony in a related case.

Conn pleaded guilty in March to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge in a more than $500 million Social Security fraud case. A $20,000 reward is being offered to information leading to his arrest.

In a recent email exchange with the Lexington Herald-Leader, a person claiming to be Conn said he fled the U.S. using a fake passport, escaping to a country that does not have an extradition agreement with the U.S.

The FBI on Friday released two photos that it said showed Conn buying food and water at a gas station in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and pushing a bike at a Walmart in Deming, New Mexico, in early June.

Scott White, Conn's attorney, said the photos look like his client.

"My plea remains the same: Eric, turn yourself in," White said.

Hess portrayed Conn as someone who is increasingly isolated and whose resources continue to dwindle.

"We are actively seizing bank accounts and disrupting other means of support while pursuing law enforcement action against co-conspirators in his flight," Hess said.

Conn, who started his law practice in a trailer in 1993, portrayed himself as "Mr. Social Security." He fueled that persona with outlandish TV commercials and small-scale replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial at his office in eastern Kentucky.

Conn represented thousands in successful claims for Social Security benefits. Many of his clients in the impoverished coalfields of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia have fought to keep their disability checks.

His empire crumbled when authorities discovered he had been bribing a doctor and judge to approve disability claims based on fake medical evidence.

By Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press

Photo credit: FBI via AP