Drug Kingpin From Nebraska Escaped the Law for Over 3 Decades Using a Dead Baby's Identity

An alleged Nebraska drug kingpin hid out for 30 years under the identity of a dead baby, the New York Postreports.

According to authorities, 72-year-old Howard Farley has spent the last 35 years living under an assumed identity in Florida, taking on the name and social security number of an infant who passed away in 1955.

Prior to his life on the lam, Farley was accused of running a drug-running operation in Nebraska using the Southern Line railroad. He was charged with leading a drug ring that brought cocaine, LSD, and other drugs from Florida and shipped them north out of Nebraska. The ring was busted and the people suspected to be involved were indicted back in 1985, when Farley was 37. He was the only alleged member of the ring, 73 in total, not to be taken into custody. Articles from several years after the fact noted that Farley was believed to have fled the country.

Instead, Farley was found in Florida after attempting to renew a passport under the infant's identity. Investigators noticed something off about Farley's information, namely that the social security number was registered in 1983. The baby's name has not been released but authorities say the boy was born in 1954 in Lake Worth and died three months later. Farley was able to get a passport under the name three times, as well as a pilot's license and a driver's license.

Farley was arrested while trying to board his personal plane in a hangar at his home. He's being charged with passport fraud and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.