JAILED VETERAN GETS NEW VA BENEFITS, WANTS SENTENCE REDUCEDRandall Moneymaker was convicted of Stolen Valor and VA benefits theft. Now he has been awarded new VA benefits and he wants out of prison.
NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... The saga of Randall Moneymaker continues. Here are the background stories:
VETERAN CHARGED WITH FRAUD FOR CONCOCTING MILITARY CAREER TO GET VA BENEFITS -- Not only did he lie about his military service, federal prosecutors say, but he also claimed to have received medals and decorations that were never awarded to him.
MAN WHO LIED ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON -- Randall Moneymaker goes to prison for embellishing a brief military career into that of a decorated combat veteran.
Randall Moneymaker, who talked his way into a job as an Army recruiter in Roanoke and Christiansburg, then landed in federal prison when his false stories of wartime trauma caught up with him, said he has again qualified for veterans disability benefits.
In documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Moneymaker cited a new Department of Veterans Affairs decision that he should have a 40 percent disability rating due to service-related injuries. The 46-year-old wrote that the disability determination could bring him hundreds of thousands of dollars during the next several decades.
Besides the monetary payments, Moneymaker hopes the Department of Veterans Affairs decision will bring him freedom.
Because he was "indeed entitled" to some of the benefits he had been convicted of stealing, his three-year prison sentence should be reduced, Moneymaker argued in a motion he filed without an attorney.
"I'm absolutely stupefied," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig "Jake" Jacobsen, who prosecuted Moneymaker in 2008.
After a three-day jury trial ended with convictions on six charges tied to false benefits claims and theft, Jacobsen -- an Iraq combat veteran with the Army Reserves -- called Moneymaker's bogus claims "despicable" and an insult to veterans, especially those who'd been injured.
Jacobsen said he would soon file a response to Moneymaker's motion. It will be up to a judge to decide whether to change Moneymaker's sentence.
The exposing of Moneymaker's many falsehoods -- among them his portrayal of liposuction scars as shrapnel wounds -- brought him a certain notoriety in military circles. After his conviction, the Army Times newspaper ran a front-page story that said an "impressive list of achievements spanning a 20-plus-year Army career was not worth the paper on which it was printed."
Moneymaker's deceit lasted decades and took many forms, Jacobsen said during his trial.
The prosecutor said Moneymaker's actual military experience was in the Army Reserves in 1981 and 1982, then in the Army from 1983 to 1985. Misconduct prompted an "under honorable conditions (general)" discharge, less than a standard honorable discharge, Jacobsen said.
But later, in applications for benefits, Moneymaker spun tales of taking part in military campaigns from Grenada to Iraq, of being an airborne Ranger, and earning a Purple Heart, all later found to be false. In 2004, saying he'd been on active duty since the early '80s, he was able to join the Active Guard Reserve and garner a recruiting job.
Moneymaker also claimed to have suffered an array of service-related injuries that included post-traumatic stress disorder, ringing in the ears and chronic fatigue syndrome.
He eventually collected more than $18,000 that Jacobsen said he did not deserve.
Moneymaker's prison sentence was based partly on the amount of money he would have wrongly received if he lived to age 77, a total the court set at $610, 319.
But from prison, Moneymaker reapplied for disability benefits for spine and knee injuries he said he sustained during his real 1980s stint in the Army. The VA, which had denied similar claims from Moneymaker in 1997, approved them in 2005, then apparently dropped them after his conviction.
The VA approved Moneymaker's new application March 8. The agency noted Moneymaker's old claims were now disqualified because of fraud, but the new application warranted a disability rating. The VA document Moneymaker filed with his motion didn't explain the decision.
Ramona Joyce, a Veterans Affairs spokeswoman in Washington, said Tuesday she would look into the specifics of Moneymaker's case. She had no immediate comment beyond noting that incarcerated veterans may qualify for reduced disability payments while they're behind bars.
Moneymaker said the VA's latest determination means he deserves to be paid more than $400,000 in benefits by the time he reaches 77. It also means his prison sentence should be cut, because his fraud didn't amount to the total the government calculated.
Moneymaker is serving his sentence at a facility in Petersburg with a scheduled release date of May 24, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons online inmate locator.
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pacmanx1
JAILED VETERAN GETS NEW VA BENEFITS, WANTS SENTENCE REDUCED Randall Moneymaker was convicted of Stolen Valor and VA benefits theft. Now he has been awarded new VA benefits and he wants out of prison.
NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... The saga of Randall Moneymaker continues. Here are the background stories:
Now, Moneymaker gets our Whiskey Tango Foxtrot award. He has new VA benefits and wants out of prison. WTF, over?
-------------------------
Jailed veteran claims new benefits
Randall Moneymaker lied about military service, but now says the VA has decided in his favor.
By Mike Gangloff
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/250441
Randall Moneymaker, who talked his way into a job as an Army recruiter in Roanoke and Christiansburg, then landed in federal prison when his false stories of wartime trauma caught up with him, said he has again qualified for veterans disability benefits.
In documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Moneymaker cited a new Department of Veterans Affairs decision that he should have a 40 percent disability rating due to service-related injuries. The 46-year-old wrote that the disability determination could bring him hundreds of thousands of dollars during the next several decades.
Besides the monetary payments, Moneymaker hopes the Department of Veterans Affairs decision will bring him freedom.
Because he was "indeed entitled" to some of the benefits he had been convicted of stealing, his three-year prison sentence should be reduced, Moneymaker argued in a motion he filed without an attorney.
"I'm absolutely stupefied," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig "Jake" Jacobsen, who prosecuted Moneymaker in 2008.
After a three-day jury trial ended with convictions on six charges tied to false benefits claims and theft, Jacobsen -- an Iraq combat veteran with the Army Reserves -- called Moneymaker's bogus claims "despicable" and an insult to veterans, especially those who'd been injured.
Jacobsen said he would soon file a response to Moneymaker's motion. It will be up to a judge to decide whether to change Moneymaker's sentence.
The exposing of Moneymaker's many falsehoods -- among them his portrayal of liposuction scars as shrapnel wounds -- brought him a certain notoriety in military circles. After his conviction, the Army Times newspaper ran a front-page story that said an "impressive list of achievements spanning a 20-plus-year Army career was not worth the paper on which it was printed."
Moneymaker's deceit lasted decades and took many forms, Jacobsen said during his trial.
The prosecutor said Moneymaker's actual military experience was in the Army Reserves in 1981 and 1982, then in the Army from 1983 to 1985. Misconduct prompted an "under honorable conditions (general)" discharge, less than a standard honorable discharge, Jacobsen said.
But later, in applications for benefits, Moneymaker spun tales of taking part in military campaigns from Grenada to Iraq, of being an airborne Ranger, and earning a Purple Heart, all later found to be false. In 2004, saying he'd been on active duty since the early '80s, he was able to join the Active Guard Reserve and garner a recruiting job.
Moneymaker also claimed to have suffered an array of service-related injuries that included post-traumatic stress disorder, ringing in the ears and chronic fatigue syndrome.
He eventually collected more than $18,000 that Jacobsen said he did not deserve.
Moneymaker's prison sentence was based partly on the amount of money he would have wrongly received if he lived to age 77, a total the court set at $610, 319.
But from prison, Moneymaker reapplied for disability benefits for spine and knee injuries he said he sustained during his real 1980s stint in the Army. The VA, which had denied similar claims from Moneymaker in 1997, approved them in 2005, then apparently dropped them after his conviction.
The VA approved Moneymaker's new application March 8. The agency noted Moneymaker's old claims were now disqualified because of fraud, but the new application warranted a disability rating. The VA document Moneymaker filed with his motion didn't explain the decision.
Ramona Joyce, a Veterans Affairs spokeswoman in Washington, said Tuesday she would look into the specifics of Moneymaker's case. She had no immediate comment beyond noting that incarcerated veterans may qualify for reduced disability payments while they're behind bars.
Moneymaker said the VA's latest determination means he deserves to be paid more than $400,000 in benefits by the time he reaches 77. It also means his prison sentence should be cut, because his fraud didn't amount to the total the government calculated.
Moneymaker is serving his sentence at a facility in Petersburg with a scheduled release date of May 24, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons online inmate locator.
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