United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

MAN WHO ESCAPED FROM WATERBURY HALFWAY HOUSE PLEADS GUILTY

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that STEVEN SMITH, 50, formerly of Bristol, pleaded guilty today before Senior United States District Judge Warren W. Eginton in Bridgeport to one count of escape from the custody of the Attorney General.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 1, 2004, SMITH was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for orchestrating a nationwide Internet fraud scheme that victimized older, homosexual men.  During the scheme, SMITH, posing as an inmate, represented that he was a 21-year-old homosexual male in need of money to secure his release.  At least 18 victims residing in 18 different states, and at least one Canadian resident, fell prey to SMITH’s scheme and mailed him a total of $64,585.

In June 2007, while on federal supervised release, SMITH was arrested in Massachusetts on a larceny charge.  In September 2007, Judge Burns sentenced SMITH to an additional 21 months of imprisonment for violating his supervised release.

In December 2009, SMITH was transferred to Chase Center, a halfway house in Waterbury, where SMITH was permitted to work at a restaurant in the evenings.  On April 21, 2010, with approximately two months remaining on his sentence, SMITH never returned from work.

On July 16, 2010, SMITH was arrested by the United States Marshals Service in Rhode Island.  He has been detained since his arrest.

Judge Eginton has scheduled sentencing for March 10, 2011, at which time SMITH faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Waterbury Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ray Miller.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov