TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Man Who Stole From Elderly Back Behind Bars

ADVERTISEMENT

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

TAMPA - In 1994, the son of a traveling faith healer pleaded guilty to bilking more than three dozen elderly victims out of jewelry and valuables by posing as a dealer in fine art and commodities.

After serving his 15-year prison sentence, David L. Jenkins fled his probation and sent letters to the investigator who nailed him in the 1990s, taunting her about his lavish lifestyle, according to a statement from the Florida Attorney General's Office.

Then the convicted con man was caught in 2003 perpetrating an identity theft, and now he's back behind bars for another 30 years, the statement says.

The 15 years he received in prison for the 1990s scam was followed by 25 years of probation. About a year after he was released, he took off, the statement says.

While a fugitive, he often called or wrote letters to the special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who was responsible for his arrest for the 1994 case, the statement says.

Eventually, Jenkins landed in St. Louis, Mo., and begun an identity theft scam that was noticed by the Social Security Administration, authorities said. When agents tried to arrest him, he assaulted them and attempted to hide in an occupied vehicle, authorities said. Jenkins was taken into federal custody and later sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison.

After Jenkins was returned to Hillsborough County from federal prison he pleaded guilty to violation of probation. He was sentenced to 30 years in state prison to be followed by a new ten-year period of probation.

Jenkins, 30, pleaded guilty in 1994 to conning victims out of jewelry and valuables through Estate Liquidators, which brokered estate goods for a commission.

As part of Jenkins' plea deal in 1994, he agreed to testify against four co-defendants, including his father, televangelist Leroy Jenkins. But the other cases never went to trial because prosecutors were unable to corroborate David Jenkins' claims after witnesses died, became ill or recanted part of their testimony.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT