A monthlong manhunt for a former Georgia senator charged with theft stretched across two states and three countries before ending with his arrest in the Bahamas.
Former state Sen. Roy Allen, 52, was handed over to Georgia custody at about 3 p.m. Friday at Hartsfield International Airport, said John Bankhead, spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Allen, charged with promising early releases for prisoners in exchange for money, had been on the run since his arrest warrant was issued in early March. He initially fled the state by driving to Orlando, then flew to Nassau in the Bahamas and then to Cuba, where people there were helping him evade capture, said Bankhead.
Authorities were close to catching the former six-term representative and senator from Savannah when he was staying in Cuba, but he hopscotched back to the Bahamas a few days ago, Bankhead said.
“He made a concerted effort to avoid capture,” said Bankhead, noting that Allen’s movements were tracked by the Metro Fugitive Squad, with assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, U.S. Diplomatic Security and the United States Marshals Office.
On Thursday, Allen was running out of money and hiding in a Bahamas hotel when authorities there, acting on a request from Georgia officials, apprehended him at 6:45 p.m. without incident. By Friday evening, Allen was sitting in the Clayton County Jail.
Allen is charged with theft by deception for allegedly taking two payments of $1,470 from an inmate’s family, promising them he could speed up an inmate’s parole request. He did not accomplish that, said Bankhead, nor did he have the right to accept the money.
State law says only licensed attorneys can receive payment for appearing or practicing before the state Parole Board, and Allen had been disbarred. In addition, Allen had served more than three years in prison for stealing from his legal clients, and was wanted for failing to report to his parole officer and not paying $468,000 in restitution.
A dramatic twist in the manhunt occurred in mid-March when an e-mail apparently written by Allen was sent to The Atlanta Journal- Constitution.
“I know that the present charges are frivolous and that my only crime is my failure to report for the month of March,” he said in the e-mail.
Allen is currently charged with theft by deception and violating his parole, but the investigation continues. Bankhead said about a half dozen families of prisoners have recently come forward asserting that Allen also bilked them out of money.
By Craig Schneider, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
