A Prison Escape in Georgia

Arthur Lee Cofield Jr., imprisoned since a bank robbery attempt at age sixteen, stole at least fifteen million dollars using contraband cellphones found in his prison cells. He and outside accomplices impersonated billionaires to access bank accounts and laundered proceeds through purchases of gold coins. He created an entertainment company, married, and bought a multi-million-dollar home under an alias while serving time. In 2023, he received more than eleven years for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and identity theft. After sentencing, most stolen money remained unaccounted for. He later escaped from a low-security satellite camp near the Federal Correctional Institution Jesup in Georgia.

"Cofield stole those millions of dollars with the help of contraband cellphones, which were continually found in his prison cells over the years, including one hidden in the rolls of his stomach. He used them, and a few accomplices on the outside, to impersonate billionaires and gain access to their bank accounts. "Making millions from bed," Cofield posted on Instagram, before his novel scam was discovered."

"Now thirty-four, Cofield has been a prisoner ever since that botched theft, sometimes in maximum security, although that didn't stop him from creating an entertainment company, marrying a "pretty girl in a strip club," as she described herself to me, and purchasing, under an alias, a four-and-a-half-million-dollar home in an upscale North Atlanta neighborhood, which he was gutting and finishing based on his own very exacting vision."

"In 2023, he was sentenced to more than eleven years for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and identity theft. As I noted in my story, following his sentencing, the whereabouts of the vast majority of the money that Cofield had stolen-which he'd cleverly laundered through the purchase of gold coins-was not known. It apparently remains at large."

"Yesterday, Cofield escaped from a low-security satellite camp adjacent to the Federal Correctional Institution Jesup, in Georgia, as described in a Federal Bureau of Prisons report that w"

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