An Irishman on the run from prison here has been jailed in the US for four years over a $1 million “travelling conman fraud”.
Elijah Gavin (29) had admitted to swindling homeowners in Rhode Island and other states, including $850,000 from an elderly woman, in a home repair scam.
Prosecutors said Gavin was part of what the FBI had dubbed the “travelling conman fraud”
The scam involved Irish or UK nationals who offered to fix foundations or roofs for unsuspecting homeowners before dramatically inflating the cost of labour
In a plea agreement, Gavin admitted to defrauding property owners of nearly $1 million from October 2022 to January 2025.
News in 90 Seconds – Wednesday November 19
He was ordered to forfeit $1 million and pay more than $1 million in restitution.
The judge sentenced him to 48 months in prison, but his attorney asked for a lesser term, due to his troubled past.
Documents indicate Gavin who had left school at 8-years-of-age and his family had fled an abusive father.
Gavin and his brother were then recruited by several militant groups, including the IRA before he distancing himself from those groups and married his wife at 18.
The couple had three children but as Gavin’s mental health declined he embarked on committed crimes in the UK
He entered the United States illegally to avoid jail time but later told the court in a letter that he did so in a bid to give his family a better life.
“When I cheated these people, I told myself that I needed to do it to support my family. I was lying to myself,” he wrote.
Elijah Gavin fled to America while on release from prison in the North
He also expressed remorse to his victims.
“I abused their trust and did the wrong thing to benefit myself. I am truly sorry,” he said. “I know this sounds funny, but I would like to thank the government for catching me so these victims can have some justice.”
Gavin admitted in one case to participating in a multi-state construction and money laundering fraud scheme that netted more than a million dollars, and in a separate case to using false information to enter the United States.
Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said Gavin pleaded guilty on June 12, 2025, to charges of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and false statement in a document used to gain entry into the United States.
Gavin used various names when he approached and defrauded property owners in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
Gavin and his co-conspirators formed multiple construction businesses and falsely represented their status, experience, and quality of work.
They falsely represented their identities and skills to homeowners and made false claims regarding the condition of their properties, work they would perform, and the machinery, materials, and equipment needed to perform work.
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Between October 2022 and January 2025, Gavin and his co-conspirators defrauded property owners of over one million dollars, including a Rhode Island widow who was defrauded of $850,000, as well as other elderly victims in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and a church in New York.
Gavin sent cheques to money launderers in New York and California representing funds that were fraudulently obtained from his victims.
Also known as Timothy O’Reilly, he was part of a gang that defrauded homeowners of over $1m in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
Details of the organised crime gang and their activities were described in an affidavit by a Homeland Security special agent filed with the court.
Gavin flew to the United States from Dublin in October 2022, when he was unlawfully at large from prison in Northern Ireland.
At the time he was facing charges over an attempt to trick an elderly woman out of £40,000.
Gavin has convictions for assault, burglary and theft, which led to his visa being cancelled in May 2023, according to the court document.
One of the victims was a 78-year-old woman who handed over $850,000 for unnecessary repairs to her foundation basement.
After one member of the gang talked her into paying a deposit, the costs began to escalate and there were requests for more cash to pay for specialist machinery.
The woman identified one of the ‘supervisors’ as Timothy Kelly from a photograph of Gavin first published by the Belfast Newsletter in an article about him being at large from Magilligan Prison.
The men disappeared after a neighbour came in to inspect the work, but another attempt was made by the gang to defraud the woman.
Police image of Gavin’s ID cards
Investigators later linked the phone number being used by the caller to locations where Gavin had stayed in various hotels.
They also used footage from an ATM machine to link Gavin to a bank account, opened with his UK passport, they say was used in the alleged scam.
A total of six victims were able identify Gavin to investigators, who also described the organised crime gang of which they allege Gavin is a member.
In his affidavit the special agent said: “I am aware that the traveling conman fraud group has been recognised by the Federal Bureau of Investigations terrorist screening centre as a transnational organized crime group.
“While not a centrally organized group, the travellers are groups of Irish or UK nationals who entered the United States on pleasure or tourist visas and overstay their visits or more commonly entered the United States illegally.
“Once in the United States travellers go to different cities and states soliciting construction work.”
He added that small jobs can then escalate into major repairs and gang members overcharged homeowners and sometimes intimidate people into paying them upfront for work that isn’t finished.
Gavin has been detained in federal custody since his arrest in New Jersey on January 29, 2025.