A man who hid under a dead classmate’s identity for more than four decades was sentenced to 81 months for identity theft, passport fraud and weapons violations.
Federal prosecutors say Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, lived for over 40 years as Walter Lee Coffman, a University of Arkansas graduate who died in 1975 at age 22. Campbell’s deception included bogus passports, a replacement Social Security card, state IDs and property purchases under Coffman’s name. Authorities say the long-running fraud finally unraveled after a routine driver’s license renewal exposed Coffman’s death certificate.
The case has roots in an alleged violent crime from the early 1980s. Court documents report that in 1982 Campbell was accused of planting a homemade explosive intended for his estranged wife’s boyfriend. The device detonated when the woman opened the package, causing severe lacerations, the loss of one finger and a fire that spread to another apartment unit.
A 1983 warrant for Attempted First-Degree Murder remains outstanding in Wyoming after Campbell failed to appear, a fact that helped categorize him as a fugitive when federal investigators later uncovered his true identity. The federal system has no parole, and investigators describe Campbell as having taken extensive steps to hide his past. He applied for a passport in Coffman’s name in 1984 using his own photo and continued to use that identity in New Mexico and elsewhere.
Using the stolen identity, Campbell is accused of collecting more than $138,000 in Social Security Retirement Insurance Benefits beginning in 2015. Officials say he presented fraudulent documents to renew a New Mexico driver’s license in Cloudcroft in September 2019, and that action triggered a deeper probe. The National Passport Center’s Fraud Prevention Unit discovered Coffman’s 1975 death and notified federal partners.
That notification set off a joint investigation by the FBI and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and other agencies. The inquiry traced decades of fabricated records, including passport applications, a replacement Social Security card and state identification obtained in Coffman’s name. Investigators say the paper trail exposed Campbell as a long-time fugitive and a violent offender.
On February 19, 2025, FBI SWAT teams from Albuquerque and El Paso, supported by aerial assets, moved in to execute arrest and search warrants at Campbell’s property. Surveillance reportedly observed him leaving the back of his home and entering nearby woods while wearing camouflage. After agents used flash bangs and issued repeated commands, Campbell surrendered and a loaded rifle with a scope and a 20-round magazine was recovered from the woodline.
A subsequent search of the property turned up 57 firearms along with large quantities of ammunition and firearm magazines, according to the case file. Campbell later pleaded guilty to misuse of a passport, possession of false papers to defraud the United States, aggravated identity theft and being a fugitive from justice in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He admitted to using the Coffman identity for years to conceal his past and access benefits and identification.
At sentencing, Campbell received 81 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. He will face three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term. Prosecutors and investigators announced the outcome, naming First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office and Acting Special Agent in Charge of the SSA OIG Corwin Rattler in connection with the case.
The investigation was handled by the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, and was originally initiated by the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service’s El Paso Resident Office and the National Passport Center’s Fraud Prevention Unit. Enforcement help came from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations and the Otero County Sheriff’s Office, and the prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Nevarez Cobos.
