Texas Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison for Kidnapping an Adult Victim and Transportation of a Minor Across State Lines

Louisville, KY - A Texas man was sentenced today to 35 years in federal prison for 14 criminal offenses, including, among others, kidnapping an adult victim and transportation of a minor across state lines.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Stansbury of the FBI Louisville Field Office made the announcement.

"I commend the excellent work of the trial team and that of our law enforcement partners, the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Brentwood Tennessee Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, for their combined investigative effort in bringing the defendant to justice," stated U.S. Attorney Bennett. "The lengthy sentence imposed by the Court reflects the outrageousness of the defendant's criminal conduct toward the victims in this case and ensures he will not reoffend for decades to come."

"The victims in this case never thought using an online dating service would subject them to the type of horrendous actions that this defendant inflicted upon them," said Special Agent in Charge Stansbury. "Today's sentence affirms the FBI's steadfast commitment to protecting our community from acts of violence and intimidation and is an important reminder to remain vigilant and cautious as we use the internet in our everyday lives to avoid predators, like this defendant, who wish to harm us all."

According to court documents, Bryan Douglas Conley, age 42, was sentenced to 35 years in prison, followed by a 25-year period of supervised release, for 14 criminal offenses to include transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity, and inveigle and decoy kidnapping. To "inveigle" a person means to lure, or entice, or lead the person to do something by making false representations or promises or using other deceitful means. "Decoy" means enticement or luring by means of some fraud, trick, or temptation. He was also convicted of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and interstate threats to ransom.

The defendant was convicted of these counts following a jury trial in December of 2023. At trial evidence was presented that in November of 2018, Conley, used an online dating website to lure and entice a minor from Ohio to travel to Tennessee to meet with him. Conley created and used a false online profile named "Bryant" and offers of money and property to lure the minor across state lines. Conley and the false profile "Bryant" offered the minor money for sexual activity in Kentucky and Tennessee. Conley ultimately abandoned the minor several days later in Texas and stole her purse and phone.

In January of 2019, Conley used an online date website to inveigle and decoy an adult victim. Conley created the online profile "Lance Debeers" and falsely claimed to be a modeling agent. Both Conley and "Lance" engaged the victim in discussions about modeling. On January 29, 2019, Conley met the victim in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. He took the victim's phone and provided her an unknown substance to drink as part of the modeling contract. He bound the victim and drove around Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee issuing ransom demands to the victims' parents in Tennessee. The ransom demands included threats to harm the victim if his demands were not met physically and sexually.

On January 30, 2019, Conley retrieved a ransom placed by the FBI in Oak Grove, Kentucky. He was arrested shortly after retrieving the ransom. The victim was located in the car. Prior to the kidnapping, Conley met the victim and took her credit card and attempted to make purchases at a retail store in Oak Grove, Kentucky. He also attempted to access her credit card customer profile using the victim's social security number.

In June of 2019, after Conley had been arrested and released from custody and ordered to wear an ankle monitoring device, he removed the device and fled to Ohio. He was subsequently arrested and detained.

There is no parole in the federal system.

The FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Brentwood Tennessee Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Judd and Joel King prosecuted the case with assistance from paralegal James Aaron Cooper.

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