Noteboom The Law Firm

Veterans Who Defrauded Other Veterans Sentenced

April 23, 2010 - Ryan Parker, a former supervisor for the Disabled American Veterans and Jeffry McGill, a disability claims evaluator at the Louisville Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, received 68 months in prison and was ordered to pay almost $2 million in restitution.

These men were the ringleaders of a plot to steal veterans' benefits and were only 2 of 10 people sentenced for the same scheme of which 14 total people were involved. 4 defendants have yet to be sentenced. The other 8 people sentenced received anywhere from probation to 30 months in prison. The con continued for months and at sentencing the judge told the defendants they "betrayed their brothers in arms."

The defendants consisted of 13 veterans and represented all 4 branches of the military. Parker and McGill both received kickbacks of the amount of payment received from the other defendants. The defendants explained they processed either altered or counterfeited medical records claiming they were suffering from conditions to include:

• Lung cancer;
• Frostbite; and
• Depression.

 Coffman and McGill were held jointly liable for the $2 million in restitution and the other defendants were to pay their restitution at the same time. Every defendant pled guilty to Conspiracy to Steal Government Money while some of them were also charged with Bribing a Public Official. Every defendant's individual sentence depended on:

• The number of benefits they collected; and
• Whether they helped the prosecution against the other defendants.

 The idea that veterans could do this to other veterans is astonishing. This scam could have gone on for a very long time, possibly indefinitely, had it not been detected. Now that everyone is exposed, hopefully the VA will be able to quickly identify similar corruption should it appear again.