Joseph Keenan May, who authorities say fled to Alaska 23 years ago to hide from capital sexual battery charges in Florida -- and used his dead stepbrother's identity for more than two decades before he was arrested in Eagle River in June -- pleaded guilty in District Court Friday to multiple weapons and identity theft-related charges. May had initially entered pleas of not guilty on the seven charges he faced.
May was a deputy sheriff in Florida before officials say he fled to Alaska in the early '90s to evade the sexual battery charges.
May's teenage stepbrother Michael Camp died years ago, but when May arrived in Alaska, authorities claim he began using Camp's social security number, which he obtained before arriving. May used the number to apply for a driver's license and unemployment benefits and to license firearms.
Authorities in June also found multiple weapons and explosive devices at his Eagle River home, where he was arrested, according to court documents.
On Friday, May, 60, pleaded guilty to the unlawful use of a social security number, aggravated identity theft, making false statements in a firearms license application, being a fugitive in possession of firearms, and the unlawful possession of destructive devices, including "an explosive bomb, more particularly described as an arrow having an explosive and incendiary charge," according to court records.
May will be sentenced on the Alaska charges in November. Alaska Dispatch News previously reported following conclusion of the Alaska case, May will have to be transferred to Florida to face the charges of sexual battery, a crime that is punishable by death in that state.