Maryland Man Sentenced for Wire Fraud and Theft of Government Property

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced William Rich, age 44, of Windsor Mill, Maryland, to one year of home confinement, followed by two years of 
supervised release, for wire fraud and theft of government property.

The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, and Kim R. Lampkins, Special Agent in Charge, Mid Atlantic Field Office, United States Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”).

In June 2024, at the conclusion of a four-day trial, a federal jury returned a guilty verdict 
convicting Rich of wire fraud and theft of government property.   He was charged with 
fraudulently obtaining more than $750,000 in veteran disability benefits by falsely claiming that he was paralyzed.  

Evidence at trial established Rich intentionally misrepresented his physical condition during VA disability compensation and pension exams and in other communications with the VA in 
pursuit of VA disability benefits.  Rich claimed that he was paralyzed and unable to walk.  As a result, Rich received more than $750,000 in VA benefits that he was not entitled to including special monthly compensation, caregiver-assistance compensation, and medical equipment.

Rich served in the United States Army from September 1998 to February 2007, after sustaining injuries on August 23, 2005, during a bombing in Baqubah, Iraq.  Rich’s injuries included 
temporary paralysis. Rich then applied to the VA’s disability compensation program, and according to the evidence presented at trial, approximately six weeks after Rich’s injuries, he made substantial progress toward recovery and was no longer paralyzed.  A subsequent medical report, indicated that Rich was able to perform certain essential daily activities with 
“complete independence” or “modified independence.” However, Rich was granted permanent disability from VA largely based on an exam conducted on October 11, 2007, where he 
reported paralysis in his lower extremities and that he was confined to a wheelchair.

In 2018, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) launched a proactive investigation of 
disabled veteran files and learned that Rich’s conduct was inconsistent with his purported physical condition.  For more than two years, VA OIG Special Agents (SAs) investigated Rich, including conducting video surveillance.  Footage presented at trial showed Rich walking, 
going up and down stairs, entering and exiting vehicles, lifting, bending, and carrying items—all without visible limitation or assistance of a medical device, including a wheelchair.

Throughout the course of their surveillance, the only time agents observed Rich using a 
wheelchair was when he attended VA medical appointments.  Between March 2019 and February 2021, VA OIG investigators observed Rich standing and loading his wheelchair into the trunk of his car before VA medical appointments, using a wheelchair at VA appointments, wheeling himself from a VA medical appointment to his car, and then standing to load his wheelchair back into his car.  A review of Rich’s publicly available social media accounts 
revealed multiple images of Rich standing, with no indication that he was wheelchair bound, including an image Rich took of himself standing in front of a mirror at a gym, as well as videos of Rich lifting weights.

In addition to receiving more than $8,000 in monthly disability benefits from the VA, Rich also received grants from the VA for “Automobile and Adaptive Equipment,” and “Specially Adapted Housing.” Rich used funds intended for the purchase of a specially adapted vehicle to buy a BMW 645ci luxury sports coupe.

U.S. Attorney Barron thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kertisha Dixon and Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen McGuinn, who prosecuted the case.  Mr. Barron also thanked former lead Special Agent Brian Maddox, currently a Special Agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Patrick Prewitt, Senior Special Agent and National Fleet Manager, with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources 
available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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