12 Insane Real-Life Prison Breaks You Won't Believe

3. Steven Jay Russell - Faked Contracting AIDS

Steven Jay Russell's story was transformed into the movie I Love You Phillip Morris starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, but the true story goes as follows. Russell, a con-man, faked a slip-and-fall insurance claim and was jailed in 1992 for six months. Ludicrously, wearing civilian clothes and a mysteriously acquired walkie talkie, Russell simply walked out of jail. After being sentenced to 45 years for mass embezzlement, Russell would remarkably stroll right out of prison again, this time after collecting green marker pens, he made a dye from the ink and walked out in a 'doctor uniform' before being caught gambling soon after. The stage was now set for his biggest move. He typed up fake medical records to convince the guards that he was dying of AIDS, and used laxatives to mimic symptoms. He was released from prison to die in a nursing home, though of course that never happened, and he sent the prison a fake death certificate. He was recaptured and is currently serving a 144-year sentence, though he could've disappeared completely had he not hung around near the Texas prison to be near the man he loved who was still behind bars.