73-Year-Old Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Identity Theft After Living 40 Years Under Stolen Identity

U.S. Attorney's Office for New Mexico. Campbell stole the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, who graduated from the University of Arkansas with an engineering degree and died in a car accident in 1975 at age 22.

He lived under the stolen identity for more than 40 years while evading an attempted murder charge from Wyoming in the early 1980s. Campbell was arrested February 19, 2025, during a raid on his residence in Weed, New Mexico. He confronted officers with a loaded rifle but set it down after repeated commands.

Investigators recovered 57 firearms and a large quantity of ammunition from the home. An outstanding 1983 warrant had been issued in Wyoming for failing to appear in court on the attempted murder charge.

U.S. Passport under Coffman's name in 1984 and renewed it multiple times using his own address and photograph through at least 2015. He obtained a Social Security card under Coffman's name in 1995 after contacting the Social Security Administration to remove records of Coffman's death, using an Oklahoma driver's license.

Investigators believe Campbell received roughly $140,000 in government funds using the fraudulent Social Security card.

He applied for retirement insurance benefits under Coffman's identity starting in 2015 and used the fraudulent passport to renew a New Mexico driver's license in Coffman's name as recently as 2019. Campbell also purchased property in Weed, New Mexico, in Coffman's name.

Campbell is originally from Stockton, California, and attended the University of Arkansas at the same time as Coffman, CBS Sacramento reported.

U.S. Marshals' Most Wanted list for four decades. Campbell is expected to face 12 years in prison once sentenced. Federal authorities said Campbell allegedly planted an explosive device at the residence of his estranged wife's boyfriend in 1982.

The device detonated when the wife opened it, causing her to lose a finger and suffer additional injuries. The explosion also caused a fire that damaged the homes of the boyfriend and a neighbor. Raul Bujanda, special agent in charge of the FBI Albuquerque office, said the lack of technology at the time helped Campbell maintain the scheme.

"If this were to happen today, the likelihood of someone being able to go 40 years from today to evade law enforcement, I say that opportunity or that chance is slim to none," Bujanda told CBS affiliate KRQE.