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Steven Jay Russell | |
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| Born | December 31, 1957 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Con artist |
| Known for | Multiple successful escapes from several prisons |
Steven Jay Russell (born December 31, 1957) is an American con artist, known for escaping from prison multiple times.
I Love You Phillip Morris , a film about his life and crimes, was produced in 2009.
Russell was adopted in 1957 after his birth parents divorced [1] by Georgia and David Russell, whose family owned a produce business. [2] At the age of 18, he began working for the family business, and he also volunteered as a reserve sheriff's deputy and played organ for his church. [1] [2] In 1976, he married Debbie Davis, daughter of the police chief's secretary, and their daughter, Stephanie, was born two years later. [3] Russell and his wife divorced after he revealed to her that he was gay. [2]
Russell began to support himself through a variety of scams including faking slip and fall accidents and selling counterfeit Rolex watches, leading him to be arrested for fraud. [3] In 1995 he began a relationship with fellow inmate Phillip Morris. [4]
On March 20, 1998, Russell posed as a millionaire from Virginia in an attempt to legitimise a $75,000 loan from NationsBank in Dallas; when bank officials became suspicious and alerted the police, Russell feigned a heart attack and was transported to the hospital. Russell was placed on security watch, but he impersonated an FBI agent and called the hospital on his mobile telephone to tell them he could be released. [5]
U.S. Marshals later tracked Russell to Florida, where they arrested him on April 5, 1998, when he went to retrieve a fax. Russell was sentenced to a total of 144 years in prison (99 years for the escapes and 45 years for subsequent scams).
As of 2010, Russell is in the Allan B. Polunsky Unit [6] [7] on a 23-hour lockup, only having one free hour a day to shower and exercise. He was previously held in the Mark W. Michael Unit and the W.J. Estelle Unit. [8] [9] His maximum sentence date is March 13, 2113, and he became eligible for parole on December 15, 2020. [6]
On February 7, 2023, Russell was granted parole. His release date is still pending. [10]
A film about his life and crimes was produced in 2009, named I Love You Phillip Morris , starring Jim Carrey as Russell [11] and Ewan McGregor as his boyfriend Phillip Morris. [12]
Since the movie went into production and Russell's story became more popular, several articles appeared in print and online uncovering lesser known details of his exploits. Esquire magazine interviewed both Russell and Morris for its feature, "The Great Escapee", [3] while The Guardian published "I Love You, Phillip Morris: A Conman's Story". [1]
In 2011, his crimes were featured on the television series I Almost Got Away with It , in the episode "Got A Boyfriend to Support". He was also the subject of "On The Run", a 2005 episode of The Discovery Channel series King of Cons.
Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to:
Frank William Abagnale Jr. is an American security consultant, author, and convicted felon who committed frauds that mainly targeted individuals and small businesses. He later gained notoriety in the late 1970s by claiming a diverse range of workplace frauds, many of which have since been placed in doubt. In 1980, Abagnale co-wrote his autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, which built a narrative around these claimed frauds. The book inspired the film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002, in which Abagnale was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. He has also written four other books. Abagnale runs Abagnale and Associates, a consulting firm.
The Texas 7 were a group of prisoners who escaped from the John B. Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas, on December 13, 2000. Six of the seven were apprehended over a month later, between January 22–24, 2001, as a direct result of the television show America's Most Wanted. The seventh committed suicide before he could be arrested. The surviving members were all convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Irving, Texas, police officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins, who was shot and killed when responding to a robbery perpetrated by the Texas Seven. Four of the six sentenced have since been executed.
Escape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American prison action thriller film directed and co-produced by Don Siegel, written by Richard Tuggle, and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau, and Larry Hankin with Danny Glover appearing in his film debut.
Brenden James Abbott is a convicted Australian bank robber. He is reported to have stolen and hidden millions of dollars, and was dubbed "the postcard bandit" by police seeking media coverage.
Charles Omer Makley, also known as Charles McGray and Fat Charles, was an American criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger.
Ralph Fults was a Depression-era outlaw and escape artist associated with Raymond Hamilton, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow of the Barrow Gang.
John Requa is an American screenwriter of Cats & Dogs, Bad Santa and the 2005 remake Bad News Bears.
Bruno Choël is a French actor who specializes in dubbing. He is the French voice of Ewan McGregor and Johnny Depp.
I Love You Phillip Morris is a 2009 English-language French black comedy film based on a 1980s and 1990s real-life story of con artist, impostor and multiple prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, as played by Jim Carrey. While incarcerated, Russell falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris. After Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes from prison four times to be reunited with Morris. The film was adapted from the 2003 book I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks by Steve McVicker. The film is the directorial debut of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. It grossed $20 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics. For their writing, Requa and Ficarra received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison in West Livingston, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, United States, located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Livingston along Farm to Market Road 350. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the facility. The unit houses the State of Texas death row for men, and it has a maximum capacity of 2,900. Livingston Municipal Airport is located on the other side of FM 350. The unit, along the Big Thicket, is 60 miles (97 km) east of Huntsville.
This is a list of fictional portrayals of confidence tricks found in television and the movies.
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and charity.
In June 1962, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California, United States. Late on the night of June 11 or early morning of June 12, the three men tucked papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and an unused utility corridor, and departed the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate. A fourth conspirator, Allen West, failed in his escape attempt and remained on the island.
W. J. "Jim" Estelle Unit also known as the Estelle Supermax Penitentiary, is a prison located on Farm to Market Road 3478 in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, United States, 10 miles (16 km) north of central Huntsville. The prison, with about 5,459 acres (2,209 ha) of space, is operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The unit, which opened in June 1984, was named after Ward James "Jim" Estelle, a former prison director of Texas.
The Mark W. Michael Unit (MI) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The unit is along Farm to Market Road 2054, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Tennessee Colony. The unit, on 20,518 acres (8,303 ha) of land, is co-located with the Beto, Coffield, and Powledge prison units and the Gurney Transfer Unit. The unit is in proximity to Palestine and the Rusk ironworks, and it is in about a one-hour driving distance from Dallas.
Lucy Dudko is a Russian-Australian woman convicted of hijacking a helicopter in 1999, which she used in the escape from Silverwater Correctional Complex of convicted armed robber John Killick. Dudko served time in the Mulawa Women's Prison from 1999 to 2006 before being released on parole.
Simon Leviev is an Israeli con man convicted of theft, forgery and fraud. According to The Times of Israel, between 2017 and 2019 he allegedly conned an estimated $100 million from people in a Ponzi scheme. His criminal activity became widely known in 2019 after the publication of an article titled "The Tinder Swindler" by investigative journalists from the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang, with the support of Israeli journalist Uri Blau, and later with the release of the 2022 Netflix documentary of the same name.
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