Description
A federal prison escapee who ran a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme while he was on the run was sentenced to a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to several charges.
Allen Todd May, 60, was serving a 20-year prison sentence at a prison camp at FCI Englewood in Jefferson County after being convicted of mail fraud in 2012. The U.S. Attorney's Office said May began running a fraud scheme from the prison camp in mid-2016 through December 2018. He would claim that he was entitled to oil and gas royalties that had not been claimed by the rightful owners, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. In that time, May fraudulently obtained more than $700,000 from the scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
At the prison camp May worked as a facilities clerk which allowed him to drive vehicles on prison grounds, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. In December 2018, May drove one of the camp's trucks off grounds and eluded capture for five years.
While he was on the run, federal authorities said May continued to run the fraudulent oil and gas royalties scheme, netting him $8 million. May stole the identities of other inmates who were serving lengthy sentences, presenting himself as those inmates and continued the fraud in the inmates' names, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
In August 2023, the U.S. Marshals caught May living in an expensive neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
May pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, one count of escape and one count of aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and must serve three years of supervised release after his prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay $9,113,375 in restitution and give up the fraud proceeds and assets he gained during the scheme.