You would think breaking out of prison would be
difficult, but a man named Steven Jay Russell made it look easy. He escaped from prison not
just once, but four different times. How did he do it? You’re probably thinking that Russell
couldn’t have just walked out, but that is exactly what he did on two different occasions. And you
won’t believe how he escaped the other two times! Steven Russell started his criminal career as a
con artist. As the police would find out later, he was really good at what he did. Russell’s
first major con was something simple, but would end up evolving into a
lifetime of making the authrorties look incompetent. It would also result
in him getting 144 years in jail. In the 1990’s Russell faked a slip and fall to
collect on insurance money for a big pay day. However, upon investigation, his con was
uncovered and he was convicted for fraud. Russell was sentenced to six months
in prison, but he had no intention of staying incarcerated for that long. This
would be the first time he would use his con artist abilities to get out of jail early. In a
way, his first escape was a tragic love story. Steven Russell was in love with a man named
Jimmy Cambell who was dying from AIDS. They had been together when he was caught for
fraud, and Russell had no desire to let the man he loved go through the terrible
disease alone. So, Russell did the only thing he could. He escaped from prison so that
he could be by Cambell’s side until the end. Russell had been in jail for only four weeks,
but he was so in love with Jimmy Cambell that he couldn’t wait any longer. The conman
concocted a scheme that would allow him to walk right out of the prison without a single person
noticing he was missing, until he was long gone. While in jail Russell had stolen street clothes
that had been discarded. He then confiscated a walkie talkie to complete his escape disguise.
He hid the items away until the time was right. When no one was looking, and the guards
were preoccupied, Russell donned the civilian clothing he had stashed away,
clipped the walkie talkie to his side, and made his way through the prison as if
he was an undercover cop. Clearly no one was worried that a man in regular clothes was walking
around the prison without proper identification, since Russell made his way to
the exit and walked right out. He then proceeded to locate Jimmy Cambell and
stay by his side until his lover eventually passed away from the virus. Russell mourned, but
continued to do what he was good at: being a con artist. However, something unexpected happened
as Russell flew under the police’s radar: he fell in love again. The name of Russell’s second
love interest may sound familiar to you, Phillip Morris. The reason you may have heard his name
before is because of the movie “I Love You Phillip Morris” starring Jim Carrey. The movie is based
off of the next part of Steven Russell’s life. After the death of his former lover,
Steven Russell conned his way into a CFO job at a medical management firm. He had
no experience as a chief financial officer, or in the medical field. He also had a fraud
conviction, but to a conman like Russell that was all easily hidden or covered up. Russell knew he
was wildly unqualified for the job, but he wasn’t there to move up the corporate ladder; instead
he planned to steal money from the company. He persuaded Phillip Morris to join in
on his scheme. They managed to embezzle $800,000 from the company before it all came
to an end. The authorities discovered what Steven Russell was doing and who he was.
They immediately put him under arrest and set his bond at $950,000. This was an
excessively high bail for embezzlement, but the police knew Russell was a flight
risk and didn’t want him skipping town. However, Russell has no desire to spend
more time in jail. He had gotten out once, and he wasn’t about to let the authorities cage
him up again. The first hurdle he had to overcome was lowering the incredibly high bail that the
court set for his release. While in prison, he called the county clerk claiming to be the
judge of his own case. He told the clerk's office that there had been a mistake, and
Steven Russell’s bail should be lowered to $45,000. Russel called the clerk, impersonated
the judge who was in charge of his case, lowered his own bail, and did it all
from within the walls of the prison. The clerk changed the bail to the much
more manageable amount of $45,000, which allowed Russsell to pay it—with the help
of friends. He made bail, left the prison, and before anyone could figure out that they’d
been conned, Russell fled to Florida. His reasoning for pulling off this escape was so that
he could spend time with the new love of his life, Phillip Morris. There were a couple patterns
that defined Steven Russell during this time of his life. The first was that he was really good
at getting out of jail. The second was that he was a hopeless romantic. His escapes seemed to
all center around being with the man he loved. Eventually the authorities tracked down
Russell in Florida. When he was arrested, his sentence was much longer than the
previous one. This time he got 45 years in prison. Phillip Morris also received
jail time for aiding and abetting Russell, but his sentence was for a much shorter period
of time. If Morris was going to be out of jail, Russell wanted to be by his side. You can
probably guess what Steven Russell did next. In order to rejoin the man he loved in the
outside world, Russell needed to get out of jail, and he certainly was not going to wait 45
years to do so. Once again Russell would walk right out the front door of the prison
without so much as a minor conflict. And this wasn’t just any prison, Russell was being
held at the Maximum Security Estelle Unit to make sure he wouldn’t escape again. You
won’t believe how he pulled this one off. Russell discreetly started to collect green
markers from around the prison. He would hide them on his person and bring them back to his cell.
He also managed to steal an extra generic prison uniform. The guards of the prison wouldn’t just
let someone in a prison uniform walk out, but they would let someone wearing medical scrubs leave the
prison unquestioned. It seems that the guards and the medical staff at prisons don’t always know one
another, so when Russell used the green markers to dye the prison uniform, it looked just like a pair
of scrubs that the medical staff were wearing. Perhaps the most surprising part of this escape
was that Russell was being held at a maximum security prison, and yet, he was still able to
walk right out the front gate. After his escape, Russell had one thing on his mind: to find
Phillip Morris and be with him again. Once Russell tracked down his lover they ran away to Biloxi,
Mississippi where they hoped to live peacefully away from the Texan authorities that were now
scouring the country for the escaped conman. Unfortunately for Russell and Morris, they
were eventually caught and returned to prison. This time Steven Russell was tried for
unlawful escape, which added another 45 years to his sentence. Once again Russell found
himself separated from the man he loved. At this point Russell must have been tired
of tricking the authorities and having them chase him all around the country, so his
final escape would need to be conducted in a way that ensured the police wouldn’t come
after him. Steven Russell knew just what to do. Russell figured that the only way the
police would ever leave him alone was if he was dead. So, he planned his own
death. This way he could live a long, happy, life with Phillip Morris without
worrying about the bothersome authorities. Russell did not waste any time once
he was recaptured. He must have known Phillip Morris would be released long
before he was, so he set his plan in motion almost immediately. He needed to make
his fake death as convincing as possible, so every day he took laxatives to cause
his body weight to drop and make himself seem ill. He also managed to do something
that has not been explained to this day. Russell somehow got a hold of his medical
records, and was able to change them to indicate that he had HIV. Steven Russell did
not have HIV, nor should he have had access to his own official medical records, this
may have been one of his greatest cons yet. At this point Steven Russell looked almost like a
corpse. His skeleton was showing under his skin, and he was at an unhealthy weight. Not
only did he physically not look well, but his medical records now falsely backed
up that Russell was very sick. In March of 1998 Steven Russell was sent to hospice where the
authorities figured he would live out the rest of his short life, and they would finally be rid of
the conman who embarrassed them once and for all. In a hospice facility, even one that contains
prisoners, the security is relatively relaxed. No one expects emaciated, dying, inmates to
make an escape. But, Russell was not dying, in fact, he wasn’t even sick. Russell
waited for the ideal moment, and then walked out of the hospital to freedom. To
ensure that the Texas authorities wouldn’t bother him again he even forged his own death
certificate and sent it to the Texas courts. Unfortunately for Steven Russell, he
had embarrassed the Texas authorities one to many times. Not everyone believed he was
dead. The authorities had been tricked before, and they were not about to let this con
man trick them again. They dug deep to make sure that Russell was in fact
dead, and this was not just another one of his cons. They soon discovered that
Steven Russell had once again duped them. Understandably upset, the Texas authorities
launched a manhunt to track down Steven Russell. They found Russell down in Florida where
he was captured in Fort Lauderdale. This time when they arrested him, the police made
sure he would never escape and embarrass them again. Steven Russell was sentenced
to 144 years in prison. 45 years for the original embezzlement charges, and 99
additional years for his escapes. That is a long time to put someone in jail when
the crimes committed were non-violent. But the authorities were not satisfied yet.
Steven Russell now spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement at the Polunsky Unit in
Texas. He only gets an hour for recreation and shower time, where he is carefully watched
to make sure he doesn’t escape again. Does this punishment fit the crime? Probably not,
but it would seem the Texas authorities were so embarrassed by Russell’s escapes that
they needed to make an example out of him. In interviews Steven Russell recounted his final
intake process. He was stripped completely naked where he was thoroughly examined for
anything that was hidden on his body, including in uncomfortably personal places. He
then was told to put his boxers back on and sit in a chair so his head could be shaved.
After the physically invasive process, he was sent to the prison psychiatrist for
a mentally invasive interview. Some of the questions asked of Russell were: “Where have you
been since you left our custody? What were you doing? Were you in contact with Phillip Morris?
Did you do drugs? Are you still a homosexual?” Then, before he was transported to solitary
confinement where he would spend the rest of his life, he was stripped naked and searched once more
to make sure he did not steal anything while being interviewed. Steven Russell is still in solitary
confinement with limited visitor privileges, and only one hour of recreation a day. “I Love
You Phillip Morris” is based off of his escapes and love for a man he will most likely never see
again. Russell says that he only has himself to blame for his sentence, and that he understands
why Phillip Morris has not come to visit him since his final arrest. Some activist groups question
whether the sentence of 144 years in solitary confinement fits the crimes that Steven Russell
committed. It would seem that embarrassing the Texas authorities over and over again is one
way to get a lifetime sentence in prison. Now check out “The Most Insane Ways
Men Escaped from Prison.” Or watch “Man Escapes Prison Four Times - The
Japanese Houdini (Yoshie Shiratori).”
