CLEVELAND — The United States Marshals Service has announced the arrest of 46-year-old Stephan A. Pittman, who has been wanted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office since 2015 for failure to appear on prior sex offender registration violations.
Pittman, who was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Maryland on Thursday, has a criminal record dating back more than 15 years.
The Background
According to a release from the U.S. Marshals, Pittman was convicted of sexual assault in Texas in 2009. He was given "deferred adjudication," a form of probation, and was required to register as a sex offender under the Adam Walsh Act.
In addition to being a convicted sex offender, Pittman also has been busted for impersonating athletes.
3News TEGNA sister station WFAA reported that he once posed as a professional athlete in Austin. According to affidavits and an indictment from Travis County, Pittman told two women in 2008 that he used to play for the Houston Rockets, and said he co-owned three bars in the state capital.
Pittman was charged with felony theft in Austin for swindling more than a $1,000 from one woman, whom he convinced he would take to Las Vegas if she would front some of the money. He later served six months in jail for that crime.
In 2011, Pittman began to draw attention for allegedly impersonating former NFL quarterback Vince Young in the Washington D.C. area and conning people into giving him thousands of dollars.
"Watch out for this guy, because he's not me and he's out there perpetrating as me," Young told 3News' TEGNA sister station WUSA. "I heard he's been taking money, taking pictures of little kids at hospitals. It's been real sick."
Pittman was arrested in September 2011 in Maryland on a charge of fraud. He was also wanted in Texas at that time for posing as Young and conning a woman into investing $25,000 to buy a spa.
Sometime around then, Pittman made his way to Cleveland.
Cleveland charges
Cuyahoga County court records show that Pittman was indicted in 2012 on charges including theft, aggravated theft and fraud. He pled guilty and was sentenced to three years of probation in 2014.
Marshals reported that despite the guilty plea, Pittman continued to pose as Young at bars throughout Northeast Ohio over the next year or more.
However, Pittman got in trouble with the law in Cuyahoga County again in late 2014 by failing to verify his address, violating his registration requirements. The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office took out a warrant for Pittman's arrest.
But by then, he was gone.
The arrest
U.S. Marshals say Pittman left Cleveland and the United States and was found in Germany. However, he was not subject to extradition under German law, meaning the case would turn cold.
But while he lived in Germany, investigators say Pittman was convicted of the forcible rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Pittman returned to the United States last year and was arrested on his outstanding warrant. Marshals report that Pittman was released on bond, but again failed to appear for a hearing and a new warrant was issued.
"During this time, the U.S. Marshals also investigated Pittman for alleged violations of federal sex offender registration laws, and a federal arrest warrant was issued in March following indictment," the USMS wrote in its release.
Following Thursday's arrest, Pittman remains in custody in Maryland, pending hearings in Cleveland and Maryland.
“This investigation spanned nearly a decade and involved law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. Even some abroad. This type of cooperation is paramount to protect our communities and takes a habitual predator off the streets," said U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott in a statement.
