Steven Jay Russell

Infobox Person
name = Steven Jay Russell


caption = Steven in his high school's year book
birth_date = birth date and age|1957|09|14
birth_place = Virginia Beach
death_date =
death_place =
other_names = nicknamed "Houdini" and "King Con"
known_for = Famous for his many successful escapes from several prisons
occupation = con artist
nationality = USA

Steven Jay Russell (born September 14 1957) is a US con artist and impostor who has escaped from prison a number of times. He has been nicknamed "Houdini" and "King Con". His IQ was measured at 169.

Early life

Steven Jay Basham, was adopted at birth by a conservative family in Virginia Beach. In the 1970s Russell was a deputy police officer and family man in Virginia. He spent some of his time successfully looking for his birth mother using law enforcement databases the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications Service and the National Crime Information Center and learned to use them effectively. He conned his way into a sales manager job with White Swan Foodservice in Houston by convincing Ronald Elmquist, the CEO at the time, that he had advanced degrees in fresh foodservice management. When it was revealed that Russell was a homosexual, he lost his job at White Swan, and he managed to convince the CEOs of two other foodservice companies of his qualifications before finally being discovered as a fraud. He was subsequently arrested on lewd behavior charges at a Houston park known as a gathering place for homosexual men. That began his decline into criminal behavior.

Escaping from prisons

Over the years, Russell has had at least 14 known aliases. His every escape and escape attempt has happened on Friday 13 and during his escapes he has masqueraded as a judge, a physician and a handyman, to name only a few. Russell might have impersonated a Boca Raton, Florida police officer in 1980 and 1981.

On May 21 1993 Russell got out of Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas wearing civilian clothes he had obtained. Afterward he fabricated bogus credentials and got a job as CFO of North American Medical Management. He proceeded to embezzle thousands of dollars from the company. In 1995 he was caught and imprisoned for insurance fraud and again placed into Harris County Jail where he met Phillip Morris, who became his lover.

In 1996 Russell escaped from Harris County Jail; he impersonated a judge and ordered his own bond decreased from $900,000 to $45,000, which he easily met. He was arrested 10 days later in Florida and sent back to Texas. That same year he started taking art classes provided by the prison. Each time he attended each session, he snatched a green Magic Marker and hid it under his bed. Eventually, he had enough markers to dye his white prison uniform green. Because all the medical professionals in the prison wore green uniforms, Russell simply walked out the prison as a "doctor"

In 1998 he was again in the Harris County Jail, serving a 45-year sentence for stealing $800,000 from a Houston company that manages physicians' finances, plus 20 years for a previous escape. On February 24 he persuaded a prison doctor that he had AIDS and later got Phillip Morris transferred to the Dallas County Jail and tried to have him released - he even visited him masquerading as a lawyer.

On March 20, 1998, Russell posed as a Virginia millionaire and tried to take a $75,000 loan from NationsBank in Dallas. When bank officials got suspicious and alerted the police, Russell feigned a heart attack and was transported to a hospital. The FBI placed him under guard, but Russell managed to impersonate an FBI agent on his cellular phone and stated that he was no longer wanted. He disappeared, but was caught shortly thereafter.

After being sent to prison, Russell began to plot his most daring escape. Using his privileged access to the prison library, Russell began reading up on AIDS. He also began taking laxatives to make it look as if he had the symptoms of AIDS. Russell used a prison typewriter to forge a medical document stating that he suffered from the disease, and used it convince doctors of his "condition" on February 24. He also persuaded the prison doctor that special needs parole to Houston hospital had been authorized on March 13. While outside and free again, Russell posed as the doctor that put him in special care and told officials that Russell had died.

However, investigators found a fake lawyer ID card with Russell's picture. Therefore the hunt for Russell began all over again.

Russell was arrested again on April 7 1998 in Fort Lauderdale when he was walking to his car. He was again shipped back to Texas, receiving a 144 year jail sentence.

Russell in the media

Because of Russell's infamous escapes, Discovery Channel aired a one hour special on Russell.

A movie about his prison escapes was announced, called I Love You Phillip Morris, with actor Jim Carrey portraying Russell [JustPressPlay.net, [http://www.justpressplay.net/movies/i-love-you-phillip-morris/news/jim-carrey-loves-phillip-morris.html "Jim Carrey Loves Phillip Morris"] ] and Ewan McGregor playing Phillip Morris. [ [http://www.themovieblog.com/2007/12/ewan-mcgregor-cast-in-i-love-you-phillip-morris Ewan McGregor Cast In I Love You Phillip Morris |The Movie Blog] ]

ources

*
* cite news
first = James
last = McWilliams
title = The Master Manipulator
url = http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=1394
publisher = The Texas Observer
date = July 4 2003
accessdate = 2006-09-19

References