Guiding Eyes con man wanted
in two states
by Martin Wilbur
The con artist who fooled Guiding Eyes for the Blind into giving him
a guide dog nearly a decade ago despite being able to see is wanted
by law enforcement authorities in two states.
Clyde Lee, who graduated from the renowned Granite Springs Road school
in April 1997, is the subject of ongoing investigations in Florida
and Mississippi for offenses he allegedly committed within the past
year.
Southaven, Mississippi police have a warrant out for Lee's arrest
in connection with writing bad checks during visits to that state
in 2005.
Police in Panama City, Florida also have issued a warrant for petty
theft and dealing in stolen property.
The elusive and smooth talking Lee, 43, a Dickson, Tennessee native,
has preyed upon women from Florida to Indiana for more than 20 years.
He wins over their affections often by fabricating tragic stories
to gain a foothold in their lives.
Lee has married five times, and has plunged his last two wives into
bankruptcy. He takes their money and moves on to his next mark.
In addition to his ex-wives, who contend that he gravitates to his
hometown after he is done with each victim where he is probably in
cahoots with his parents, Lee has also fleeced numerous others in
Georgia, Mississippi and Florida.
Panama City Police Detective Jeff Becker said yesterday (Tuesday)
Lee moved in with a local woman last year after they became acquainted
with each other on the Internet. Shortly after they starting living
together, Lee stole jewelry from the woman's 19-year-old daughter
and sold the items to a pawn shop, Becker said.
However, because the items, which included a 14-carrot gold band and
a bracelet, were estimated to be worth about $275, the charges levied
against Lee were misdemeanors, Becker said.
"He quickly fled the area because he found out that this woman
really didn't have much and took what he could get while the gettin'
was good," said Becker.
Sergeant Wes Fulliove of the Southaven Police Department, a community
of about 30,000 in northern Mississippi, just south of Memphis, said
there were complaints lodged against Lee by three women last year.
Lee is suspected of passing bad checks, an offense for which he served
about a year-and-a-half in jail in Tennessee in the 1980s.
"Whatever he does, he does well," Fulliove said of the con
man.
Lee's last wife, Paula Terry-Locke of Westerville, Ohio, who was plunged
into bankruptcy less than a year after her 2001 marriage to the professional
scam artist was annulled by an Ohio court, said it makes sense that
Lee would be in hot water in Southaven.
She had received a brochure last year from Hollywood Casino in Tunica,
Mississippi, thanking him for becoming a Players Club member.
Terry-Locke said her ex-husband loved to gamble and had bought excessive
amounts of lottery tickets while they were married.
Despite having authorities on his tail, Lee has proved as elusive
as ever.
Becker said while there are warrants out for his arrest, Lee's record
does not produce red flags for authorities because his offenses are
generally deemed minor.
Becker said Panama City police take all crimes seriously and while
he sympathizes with his traumatized victims, the department isn't
likely to expend resources chasing after a suspect who is little more
than a petty thief.
"The problem is we can't find this man and they won't because
it's a misdemeanor," he said.
Both police officials agreed Lee, who graduated from Guiding Eyes
with a yellow Labrador named Epic, has his vision.
Last year Terry-Locke had provided North County News with
a copy of Lee's eyeglass prescription from a Columbus, Ohio optician,
which showed he was ordinarily nearsighted.
Lee's fourth wife, Lenore Favenesi of Birmingham, Alabama, furnished
North County News with Lee's Guiding Eyes graduation certificate.
At no point did the witnesses who came forward in Mississippi or Florida
say that he was sight impaired, police said.
In fact, Fulliove noted that he was given photographs of Lee driving,
while Becker mentioned Lee drove a Harley Davidson motorcycle before
it was repossessed.
"He's not blind," Becker confidently stated. "He owned
that motorcycle. He drove that motorcycle from Tennessee."
While Lee continuously eludes police, the ongoing saga has left Terry-Locke,
who has about $10,000 remaining in payments to the bankruptcy court
as a result of her marriage, angered and frustrated.
She has become increasingly impatient as law enforcement agencies
have been unable to capture the man who has caused her and others
so much pain.
What irks Terry-Locke more than the failure of local police agencies
to apprehend Lee is both the Social Security Administration and Guiding
Eyes for the Blind have failed to prosecute him for fraud.
Lee has been collecting Social Security benefits for about nine years,
originally collecting between $475 and $480 a month, before increasing
to about $600 a month.
He had originally filed for the benefit after he was injured in a
mishap at a Nashville sheet metal company that he worked for in the
mid 1990s but did not experience permanent health problems.
Lee settled with the company for $16,000 but then began posing as
a blind person.
Since he claimed to be disabled he also receives health benefits,
Terry-Locke said.
The fraud has occurred at taxpayers' expense, she said.
"I just don't understand how for years I've tried to get Social
Security to investigate him and they've done nothing," said Terry-Locke.
About a month ago she received a letter from Social Security addressed
to Lee stating he had been overpaid by $915.24 and the agency was
trying to recoup the funds.
The letter warned Lee they had attempted to contact him several times
and they were prepared to take action to recover the money.
A spokesperson for the Social Security Administration, Dorothy Clark,
said due to confidentiality agreements, she could not discuss any
individual's case.
However, Clark said a person may still qualify for benefits even if
they are not legally blind. Vision problems alone or combined with
other health issues that prevent a person from working can also make
an individual eligible for benefits, she said.
Terry-Locke has repeatedly tried to inform the Social Security Administration
that Lee has committed fraud.
However, just like with various police departments, little headway
has been made. She calls it "a disgrace" that Lee has been
able to fool the government and take taxpayer money.
"He's not blind," said Terry-Locke. "He's not even
visually impaired."
