An Alabama man admitted in federal court to faking his own death to escape sexual abuse charges in Mississippi.
According to court documents, Jacob Blair Scott has pled guilty to charges of making a false distress call that prompted a Coast Guard search, illegally transporting guns across state lines, and providing false information.
In 2018, the military veteran was facing charges of assaulting and impregnating a 14-year-old girl in Mississippi when he faked his death.
He was set to accept a plea bargain, but ran off and set up a plot to make it seem like he committed suicide.
According to CBS News:
The Orange Beach Police Department responded to a call for assistance and found a small boat in the Gulf of Mexico, about a mile away from shore, with a gun tied to it. The dinghy was empty except for a suicide note.
Authorities searched for a body for more than a week in the Gulf of Mexico.
Eventually, Scott was captured in early 2020 at an RV park on Oklahoma and later that year was convicted of multiple sexual battery and child abuse charges.
A federal judge will sentence Scott in November on his latest charges.