A career fraudster who escaped from a federal prison in Colorado nearly five years ago has been apprehended this week while settling into a luxurious $1.5 million house on Florida’s Gold Coast. Federal officials announced on Friday that Allen Todd May, 58, was arrested by federal marshals at the house in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday while moving his belongings with the assistance of movers and a U-Haul truck. The arresting officers noted that May was wearing a Rolex watch at the time of the arrest and was driving a high-end Mercedes. The capture was made possible due to an anonymous tipster who recognized May from a published photo of him attending an upscale fundraiser, which was featured on the website of the Palm Beach Daily News. May had been living under the name “Jacob Turner” to avoid detection.
This fugitive’s attempt to evade capture was not inconspicuous. He had been leading an extravagant lifestyle, openly displaying his wealth in high society circles in South Florida, according to Katrina Crouse, chief deputy US marshal for Colorado. May, who has a long history of criminal convictions dating back to 1983, including bad checks, credit card abuse, theft, and fraud, is currently in custody in Florida and awaiting extradition to Colorado. The US Marshals Service had been actively searching for May since December 2018 when he escaped from a federal prison in Englewood, Colorado, after stealing a US Bureau of Prisons truck. At the time of his escape, May was serving a 20-year sentence for mail fraud related to a $7 million Ponzi scheme, in which he used the proceeds for extravagant personal expenses, such as luxury homes, cars, and airplane tickets.
While in federal custody, May managed to commit further fraudulent acts by filing false documents and embezzling unclaimed oil and gas royalties owed to several companies, resulting in him pocketing an additional $700,000. These actions led to an indictment in June 2022, charging May with mail and wire fraud. By the time of the indictment, May had already spent 3 ½ years on the run, eluding authorities. He is just one of many individuals who have escaped from federal prisons across the US in recent years, highlighting the ongoing security challenges faced by the federal Bureau of Prisons. In some prisons, lax security measures, such as unlocked doors and broken surveillance cameras, have allowed inmates to go missing for hours without detection. May, in particular, had a head start of 24 to 48 hours before the US Marshals Service was alerted to his escape, giving him a significant advantage, as noted by Crouse.
Following May’s indictment for the oil and gas scheme, the Marshals Service intensified their efforts to locate him, seeking assistance from the public and offering a $5,000 reward. Tips came pouring in from various states, including California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, and Florida. The breakthrough came on July 25 when a tipster recognized May in a newspaper photo taken at a local fundraiser and promptly informed the marshals. May had attended the event to support a Palm Beach area suicide hotline group and had posed for numerous photos. “This guy is very, very good at fooling people,” Crouse remarked. The suicide hotline group was contacted to gather more information about May’s attendance at the fundraiser, but no comment was received from the man pictured with him. Crouse summed up the situation by saying, “You can’t make this stuff up.”
(Read more fugitive stories.)
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