Stephen Craig Campbell, 73, a fugitive who lived for over 40 years under the stolen identity of a deceased Arkansas man, pleaded guilty to federal identity theft, passport fraud, and firearms offenses in Albuquerque. Campbell assumed the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, who died in 1975.
Campbell first obtained a U.S. passport in Coffman’s name in 1984, renewing it multiple times with his own photograph. He also secured a replacement Social Security card in Coffman’s name in 1995 and used this identity to purchase property in Weed, New Mexico, around 2003. In 2019, he used a fraudulent passport to renew a New Mexico driver’s license.
He admitted to possessing a Social Security card not lawfully issued to him, attempting to remove Coffman’s death record in 1992. From 2015, Campbell fraudulently received approximately $140,000 in Social Security Title II Retirement Insurance Benefits. During his February 19, 2025, arrest at his Weed residence, Campbell was found with a loaded rifle and a total of 57 firearms and ammunition, despite being a fugitive prohibited from owning weapons.
Campbell had an outstanding 1983 Wyoming warrant for Attempted First-Degree Murder, stemming from a 1982 incident where he allegedly planted an explosive device that injured his estranged wife. He had been on the U.S. Marshals Most Wanted List for over four decades.
Campbell pleaded guilty to misuse of a passport, possession of false papers to defraud the U.S., aggravated identity theft, and being a fugitive in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He faces 12 years in prison. The announcement was made by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Emma Boston of the SSA OIG.