Investigations

On August 6, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida sentenced fugitive Howard Farley to 48 months of incarceration, 1 year of supervised release, and a $300 special assessment. The court also ordered Farley to forfeit an aircraft to the Government. In April 2021, Farley pleaded guilty to passport fraud, aggravated identity theft, and operating an aircraft without a legitimate airman certificate. In 1985, Farley and 73 others were indicted in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska for a narcotics conspiracy. The indictment alleged that Farley was the drug kingpin of the Southern Line, a railroad line used by drug dealers to distribute narcotics throughout the United States. Records show that Farley was not apprehended, assumed the identity of a deceased individual, and remained a fugitive for 35 years.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Department of State-Diplomatic Security Service, Social Security Administration-OIG, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Sheriff’s Office of Marion County, Florida.