Disability attorney who bilked $600M from gov't disappears

By ADAM BEAM, ASSOCIATED PRESS FRANKFORT, Ky. — Jun 3, 2017, 7:56 PM ET

An eastern Kentucky disability lawyer scheduled to be sentenced next month for defrauding the government of nearly $600 million has disappeared, the FBI said.

Eric Conn pleaded guilty in March to stealing from the federal government and bribing a judge. He was scheduled to be sentenced next month and had been ordered to pay the government tens of millions of dollars.

But Saturday, the FBI said Conn removed his electronic monitoring device, violating the conditions of his bond and prompting the U.S. District Court to issue a warrant for his arrest. David Habich, general counsel for the FBI's Louisville office, said Conn's "whereabouts are currently unknown."

A call to Conn's lawyer was not returned.

Conn started his law practice in a trailer in 1993 and built it into one of the most lucrative disability law firms in the country. He created a persona for himself as "Mr. Social Security," fueled by outlandish TV commercials and small-scale replicas of the Statute of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial at his office in rural eastern Kentucky.

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