Ky. lawyer on FBI's Most Wanted list captured in Honduras

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS 11) – Eric Conn, one of Kentucky's most wanted FBI fugitives was arrested this week in Honduras, federal investigators announced Tuesday.

On a Honduran news outlet website, the El Heraldo reported Conn had been under surveillance for several days and was taken into custody after being seen leaving a restaurant at a shopping center in La Ceiba.

The report said the nation's Technical Agency for Criminal Investigation (ATIC) had been following Conn for several weeks. A photo showing what appeared to be two armed and masked ATIC agents standing over a man reported to be Conn.

Conn's reported capture could not be immediately confirmed by WHAS 11 News.

In an emailed statement to The Courier-Journal, a news partner for WHAS 11, Conn's Lexington lawyer, Scott White, said, "It does appear from reporting that Eric was taken into custody by some uninformed group in Honduras. But, given the security situation in Honduras and the dangerous gangs operating there as has been reported as recently as the last few weeks in relation to its election, then who knows who these asked folks are, for whom they work, or if Eric has even been lawfully seized."

White's message went on to say it may not be issues for United States courts or Honduran Courts but said, "If in fact Eric has been lawfully captured and is legally returned, then, as I told you in June, this comes as no surprise … the FBI usually gets their man."

Conn was convicted on federal charges of stealing more than $500,000 in social security funds. Before he could be sentenced, FBI officials said Conn, after months of planning with one of his former employees, executed a scheme to cut off Conn's electronic ankle monitor and make his way across the country.

According to a September indictment related to the escape, Conn, Curtis Lee Wyatt and an unindicted co-conspirator were accused of helping Conn opened a bank account which he sent money outside the United States.

The indictment did not specify where the money was sent.

Investigators also said in the indictment, Wyatt, on two occasions, crossed the Mexico border on foot to test security measures on the border.

Feds also allege Wyatt paid $3,425 cash to buy a pickup truck under a dummy company name and drove the vehicle to eastern Kentucky to help Conn escape.

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El Heraldo also said in its report Conn was scheduled to be deported to the United States on Tuesday.

David Habich, a spokesperson for Louisville's FBI Field Office, would not confirm to the Courier-Journal the authenticity of the El Heraldo's reporting on Conn's capture or deportation.

Despite the reporting from Honduras, Conn was still listed on the FBI Louisville Field Office's website as a most wanted fugitive. Officials were offering a $20,000 reward for Conn's capture.

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