U.S. Marshals Capture Fugitive Escapee Wanted in Elaborate Oil Money Fraud Scheme

Denver, CO – After nearly five years on the run and a search that has spanned the country, a fugitive wanted on charges of fraud and escape since 2018 is back in custody.  

Allen Todd May, 58, was arrested at approximately 11 p.m. Tuesday by Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Southern District of Florida, along with Task Force Officers (TFOs) from the Florida-Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. May was located and positively identified at a residence near East Cypress Creek Road and NE 18th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, less than two miles from the ocean in an area where a large number of homes are valued above $1 million. Deputy U.S. Marshals and TFOs arrested May at the residence and confirmed his identity. 

On Feb. 10, 2012, May was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after being convicted of mail fraud in the Northern District of Texas. May was committed to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to serve his sentence. On Jan. 12, 2018, May was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institute in Englewood, Colorado. On Dec. 21, 2018, BOP conducted a prisoner count during which May was discovered to be missing and issued an escape notice. An escape warrant was subsequently obtained, and the U.S. Marshals have been actively searching for May since December 2018.  

On June 22, 2022, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court of Colorado returned an indictment charging May with 10 counts of wire fraud and seven counts of mail fraud. The indictment alleges that while May was in prison from at least mid-2016 to late 2018, May identified several business entities that were owed unclaimed oil and gas royalties and then filed fraudulent documents to act as the representative of those companies to claim the oil and gas royalties for himself. In total, May is believed to have obtained more than $700,000 in fraudulent claims during this time. In addition, May was indicted for the previous escape in 2018. Most recently on Sept. 29, 2022, the U.S. Marshals issued a statement asking for the public’s help to locate May, to include a potential reward of up $5,000 for any information that leads to his capture.

Since that release in September, the U.S. Marshals Service began receiving numerous tips about May which led investigators to pursue leads in California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, and Florida. One tipster, who chose to submit anonymously, began providing information to the U.S. Marshals in May about potential online profiles and websites which May was possibly using under the alias of “Cary Bailey.” Investigators aggressively followed up on the information provided but were never able to pin down a location for May. 

On July 25, the same tipster provided a new tip and a photo of who they believed to be May which had been published on the website of the Palm Beach Daily News. This new information, which included a new, previously unknown alias, allowed investigators to develop information about a possible location for May at a penthouse apartment in Palm Beach, Florida. 

On July 28, U.S. Marshals Service investigators in the Colorado Violent Offender Task Force sent a lead to the U.S. Marshals in the Southern District of Florida to follow up on the new information. On July 31, Deputy U.S. Marshals and TFOs in Florida set up surveillance on the apartment but saw no signs of May. On Aug. 1, May’s suspected partner was observed leaving the Palm Beach apartment in a U-Haul rental truck. U.S. Marshals and TFOs followed the partner in the U-Haul almost 50 miles from Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale to an address of a new house not previously known to investigators. The partner backed the U-Haul truck into the driveway of the home near East Cypress Creek Road and NE 18th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

After additional surveillance at the new residence, the Florida investigators finally observed a man come out of the residence who they believed to be May. While movers were unloading the truck, Deputies and TFOs approached the house where they contacted and placed May into custody. Investigators were then able to confirm his identity as Allen Todd May. May was transported and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. At his initial appearance on Aug 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, May was ordered detained and will be transported back to the District of Colorado to face charges.

“I’d like to recognize and thank the anonymous tipster for the information they provided that directly led to the arrest of this unorthodox fugitive,” said District of Colorado U.S. Marshal Kirk Taylor. “I would also like to thank and recognize the incredible tenacity of the Deputy U.S. Marshals who pursued every lead over the years in the District of Colorado, culminating in the arrest in the Southern District of Florida last night.  Their relentless pursuit of this fugitive and the coordination of the agencies involved is a true testament to the U.S. Marshals Service’s mission.”

The arrest of this fugitive represents a culmination of extensive cooperative investigative efforts between the U.S. Marshals Colorado Violent Offender Task Force, U.S. Marshals Southern District of Florida, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, West Palm Beach Police Department, Riviera Beach Police Department, and the Boynton Beach Police Department.

The charges in the indictments are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The Colorado Violent Offender Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional fugitive task force that targets the most violent offenders to include those wanted for murder, assault, sex offenses, and other serious offenses throughout the state and country. 

The USMS-led Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force is composed of officers representing the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, West Palm Beach Police Department, Riviera Beach Police Department, and Boynton Beach Police Department.

Nationally, the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, eight regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.