Fugitive Who Stole Dead Man’s Identity Sentenced

ALBUQUERQUE - A fugitive who lived for more than 40 years under the stolen identity of a deceased Arkansas man was sentenced to 81 months in prison for federal identity theft, passport fraud, and firearms offenses.

There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, became a fugitive after being accused in 1982 of attempting to murder his estranged wife's boyfriend by planting a homemade explosive device at his home. The device detonated when Campbell's estranged wife opened the package, causing severe lacerations and the loss of one of her fingers. The explosion also started a fire that spread to a second apartment unit. A 1983 warrant remains outstanding in Wyoming for Campbell's failure to appear on the original charge of Attempted First-Degree Murder.

After becoming a fugitive, Campbell went to lengths to conceal his true identity. He stole and assumed the identity of his deceased former classmate, Walter Lee Coffman, who died in 1975 at the age of 22, just months after graduating from the University of Arkansas with an engineering degree. Campbell first applied for a U.S. passport in Coffman's name in 1984, submitting his own photograph and current address. He later used the stolen identity to obtain a replacement Social Security card, multiple passports and a New Mexico driver's license, and to purchase property in Weed, New Mexico. Campbell continued using Coffman's identity for decades, including presenting a fraudulent passport to a New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division employee in 2019 to renew a driver's license in Coffman's name.

Using Coffman's identity, Campbell also fraudulently obtained over $138,000 in Social Security Retirement Insurance Benefits beginning in 2015.

The decades-long scheme finally unraveled after Campbell presented fraudulent documents to renew his driver's license at a New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department in Cloudcroft in September 2019. Following the renewal, agents from the National Passport Center's Fraud Prevention Unit discovered Coffman's 1975 death and alerted federal authorities to the ongoing identity fraud, sparking the joint FBI and Social Security Administration OIG investigation that uncovered Campbell's true identity as a long-time violent fugitive.

On February 19, 2025, FBI SWAT teams from Albuquerque and El Paso, supported by aerial assets, approached Campbell's property to execute an arrest warrant and search warrant. Air surveillance observed Campbell leave the back of his home and enter the wood line. Wearing camouflage, Campbell remained in the wooded area despite commands from agents. After flash bangs were deployed and agents issued additional commands, Campbell emerged and surrendered. A loaded rifle equipped with a scope and a 20-round magazine was recovered from the wood line. A search of the property recovered a total of 57 firearms, along with large quantities of ammunition and firearm magazines.

Campbell pleaded guilty to misuse of a passport, possession of false papers to defraud U.S., aggravated identity theft, and being a fugitive from justice in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Upon his release from prison, Campbell will be subject to three years of supervised release. Campbell was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office and Acting Special Agent in Charge of the SSA OIG Corwin Rattler made the announcement today.

This case was co-investigated by the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office and the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General. It was originally initiated by the United States State Department Diplomatic Security Service's El Paso Resident Office and the National Passport Center's Fraud Prevention Unit. Enforcement assistance was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, as well as the Otero County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Nevarez Cobos.