Fugitive Who Stole Dead Man’s Identity for 40 Years Pleads Guilty
A New Mexico man pleaded guilty to numerous charges for stealing the identity of a dead man in Arkansas, and assuming it as his own for over 40 years.
Prosecutors say 73-year-old Stephen Craig Campbell assumed the identity of Walter Lee Coffman in 1982. Coffman died in a car accident in 1975 at the age of 22, and investigators believe Coffman and Campbell attended the University of Arkansas at the same time.
Campbell had been on the U.S. Marshals most wanted list since 1983, when he was wanted on a warrant for attempted murder in Wyoming.
“I’m assuming at some point he probably started forgetting that he was who he was, and he did what he did,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Albuquerque Office Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda.
Obtained a Passport, Bought Land
According to prosecutors. Campbell applied for and renewed a U.S. passport multiple times under Coffman’s name but using his own address and photograph. He also received a replacement Social Security card and bought property in New Mexico using Coffman’s name.
The scheme started to unravel after Campbell went to the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department in 2019. Through facial recognition technology, law enforcement was able to tie Campbell to his real identity and the outstanding warrant.
“The reality is that you’re not going to get away with a crime, especially of this nature, even if it is 40 years later, we will find you,” said Bujanda.
Upon his arrest in 2025, law enforcement found dozens of firearms and large quantities of ammunition. He ultimately surrendered.
Campbell pleaded guilty to federal identity theft, passport fraud, and firearms offenses. He faces 12 years in prison at sentencing.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General with assistance from Customs and Border Protection. It was originally initiated by the Diplomatic Security’s El Paso Resident Office and the National Passport Center’s Fraud Prevention Unit.
