by NEW YORK, NY — In a shocking turn of events, authorities have captured a convicted Oklahoma sex offender who vanished over a decade ago after faking his own abduction. The fugitive, who had been living under an alias, was discovered attending college in upstate New York — 13 years after disappearing.
Oklahoma fugitive faked his own disappearance
Officials confirmed that 44-year-old Anthony Lennon, one of Oklahoma’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives, was arrested last week after spending 13 years evading law enforcement. Lennon, who had been using the name Justin Phillips, was enrolled at the State University of New York at Canton (SUNY Canton) when federal agents tracked him down.
Lennon first came under investigation in 2008, when authorities found 50 gigabytes of child sexual abuse material on his computer. He pleaded guilty in 2010 and received a suspended sentence. However, in March 2012, new charges were filed against him for possession of additional child pornography.
Just before his arrest, Lennon reportedly staged his own kidnapping to avoid prosecution.
An elaborate fake abduction scene
According to a federal complaint, Lennon’s employer, a hotel owner in Oklahoma, reported him missing between March 11 and March 12, 2012. Police responding to the scene discovered what appeared to be a violent abduction: a pool of blood, Lennon’s shoe, shirt buttons, bloody shoe prints, and money missing from the hotel’s drawer.
However, investigators soon determined that the scene was staged. Lennon had emptied his bank accounts the day before and vanished. The U.S. Marshals Service later described the setup as “an elaborate and bloody abduction and robbery scene.”
Despite extensive efforts, Lennon remained untraceable for years.
Life under a new identity
Investigators eventually discovered that Lennon had obtained a fake birth certificate and state ID, which he used to create his alias — Justin Phillips. Under this false identity, he enrolled in SUNY Canton’s engineering science program in 2024, living quietly off-campus.
The university confirmed his enrollment and subsequent arrest in a public statement:
“The student was only known to the college as Justin Phillips and none of our records indicate that he had a prior identity.”
Federal documents also allege that Lennon tried multiple times to obtain a passport under his false name.
How investigators tracked him down
Authorities continued to follow digital traces for years. Investigators found activity on Lennon’s Amazon account in 2020 linked to North Carolina and received a possible sighting in Texas in 2022.
Ultimately, the breakthrough came when Lennon was arrested in New York and fingerprinted — revealing his true identity.
Facing justice after 13 years
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond thanked law enforcement agencies for their persistence.
“He evaded justice for far too long but will now face the consequences of his actions,” Drummond said.
Lennon is now facing federal charges for failure to register as a sex offender, along with his pending Oklahoma state charges from 2012.
As of this week, it remains unclear where Lennon is being held, and he does not appear to have retained legal counsel. No extradition requests have yet been filed to return him to Oklahoma.
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