LOUISVILLE, Ky. — He wasn’t there, but an eastern Kentucky attorney has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a $500 million Social Security disability fraud scheme, what has been called the largest such scam in U.S. history.
Eric Conn, who represented thousands of clients in Kentucky and southern West Virginia, was sentenced in absentia on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
In addition to the prison sentence, Conn has been ordered to pay nearly $170 million in restitution, a $50,000 fine and a forfeiture judgment of $5,750,404.
Conn was on home confinement when he cut off his electronic monitor and fled on June 2 allegedly with help from an unidentified co-conspirator.
Since then, people claiming to be Conn have contacted news outlets in both West Virginia and Kentucky.
The vehicle Conn used to flee was located in New Mexico near the border with Mexico, though the FBI has said there are no signs Conn crossed the border. New surveillance photos of Conn, captured in New Mexico, were released Friday.
The FBI is offering a reward of $20,000 for information leading to Conn’s location and arrest. FBI Louisville can be reached at 502-263-6000.
“The negative impact of Conn’s presence in our community will be felt for generations,” said Amy Hess, Kentucky FBI special agent in charge, in a statement.
“His flight from prosecution has diminished any legitimacy and integrity he once held as an attorney and officer of the court.”
She continued, “Conn continues to become isolated from family, friends, and associates who are turning their backs on him or are rendered unable to help him. His resources are continually dwindling.”
In March, Conn entered guilty pleas to stealing from the U.S. government and bribing a judge for fraudulent filings of disability applications on a large scale.
He paid off doctors to write bogus medical evaluations and a Huntington Social Security administrative law judge to approve the applications, according to federal prosecutors.
In legitimate cases, hundreds of Conn’s clients have struggled to have their benefits restored since his arrest.