The Associated Press
OWENSBORO, Ky.- A Western Kentucky couple were arrested Friday after avoiding federal imprisonment on fraud convictions for eight years, authorities said.
Christopher Dwayne Smith and Helen Kay Smith, both 46, were arrested by Owensboro police.
The Smiths, who had been living as Barry and Jamie Dixon, were indicted in 1997 on mail and wire fraud charges. In 1998, Christopher Smith was sentenced to 34 months in prison and Helen Smith was sentenced to 18 months. Each was ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.
The Smiths were co-conspirators in a scheme to defraud insurance companies, according to court documents. During a three-year period they staged about 30 accidents and fictitious slip-and-fall episodes.
They filed about 65 insurance claims and collected $500,000.
They were released on bail, but instead of reporting to jail, they moved with their two children to Owensboro in August 1998.
For the past three years they’ve lived in Owensboro and had become known for elaborate Halloween displays.
Owensboro police discovered them about 2:30 a.m. Friday, when a 26-year-old neighbor reported that Christopher Smith groped her as she toured his haunted house display.
Police officers went to the Smiths’ home to question them about the incident and the couple could not produce photo identification, and the Social Security numbers they gave police didn’t match the names they were using, said Owensboro police spokesman Jeff Arntz.
The Smiths were released to federal marshals Friday and were returned to Bowling Green, where they face additional charges. Deputy U.S. Marshal Chuck Gilbert said the Smiths will be charged with failing to report to jail in 1998. Additional charges are possible, he said. They are to appear in federal court at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Gilbert said.