Man accused in 1987 Canada abduction pleads guilty in U.S.

Hartford (AP) — A Canadian man who authorities say abducted his toddler son in Toronto in 1987 and lived on the lam for 31 years pleaded guilty Thursday to a U.S. charge in Connecticut.

Allan Mann Jr. admitted to a federal judge in New Haven that he provided false information about his identity to get federally subsidized housing in Connecticut. Prosecutors also alleged Mann gave bogus personal information to obtain Medicaid services.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14. Mann, who has been detained since his arrest in October in Vernon, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement, which carries up to five years in prison.

Mann, however, is hoping for a sentence of time served so he can return to Toronto, where he faces an abduction charge, said his lawyer, David Ring.

“He’s eager to go back to Canada and fight the case against him there,” Ring said after the court hearing.

Mann agreed to pay restitution of about $34,700 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing subsidies he received and another $18,500 to the U.S. Medicaid program for medical services provided to him.

Neither Mann nor Ring on Thursday commented on the allegations that Mann kidnapped his 21-month-old son during a court-ordered visitation in Toronto and disappeared for three decades before being found in Vernon, about 12 miles east of Hartford, living in HUD housing under an alias, Hailee DeSouza.