Mr. Social Security to Get 27 Years Behind Bars

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Summary: Eric Conn’s flee from the country to avoid prison will cost him an additional 15 years in federal prison.

Eric C. Conn, the disbarred Eastern Kentucky disability attorney, will plead guilty to fleeing the country under a plea deal that gives him an additional 15-years behind bars. Conn, 58, is already sentenced to 12 years in prison for separate charges involving his attempt to defraud the Social Security Administration.

  

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The federal court system does not offer parole but inmates are able to get 15 percent removed from their sentences for good behavior. This means that of the 27 years Conn will be sentenced to serve, he will be able to be released after 23 years if he keeps in line.

The deal is waiting for approval from U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

Conn, once one of the top federal disability lawyers in the country, found himself in this position when a former Social Security employee blew the whistle on a bribery scheme that involved a judge for the agency. The investigation led to Conn. He admitted last year to using fake evidence of mental or physical disabilities in order for clients to claim benefits. He paid medical professionals to validate the claims and bribed Social Security judge David L. Daugherty over $600,000 to approve the cases.

Conn was put on home detention while he waited to be sentenced last June. With the aid of a former employee, Conn removed his monitoring device and fled to Mexico. The disbarred attorney made his way to Honduras where he was arrested on December 2 as he walked out of a Pizza Hut.

Had Conn not fled, 18-counts from the original indictment were going to be dismissed and his prison time would have been significantly less. However, since he did run, prosecutors kept the 18 charges and added four more for running. Now he will plead guilty to the charges involving conspiring to defraud the government, retaliation against a witness, and escaping under the prospective plea deal.

Do you think 23 years is enough time or should Conn be serving more? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To learn more about the case, read these articles:

• “Mr. Social Security” Eric C. Conn Indicted for Disability Fraud Charges
• FBI Offering $20,000 For Info That Leads to Arrest of Social Security Lawyer Eric Conn
• Eric Conn Will Plead to Guilty for Escaping to Central America

Photo: dailymail.co.uk