Three Plead Guilty to Participating in Conspiracy to Receive Fraudulent VA Disability Benefits

LOUISVILLE, KY—James Darrell Grimes, age 61, of Scottsville, Kentucky, and Joe Davis Snooks, Jr., age 61, of Roundhill, Kentucky, pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States of money and bribing a public official, and Randell Lee Adkins, age 62, of Logan, West Virginia, pled guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States of money, Acting U.S. Attorney Candace G. Hill of the Western District of Kentucky announced today.

Grimes, Snooks, and Adkins admitted that between November 2003 and November 2008, they participated in a conspiracy to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through the submission of fraudulent military related disability claims.  Grimes, Snooks and Adkins all admitted that they conspired with co-defendants Daniel Ryan Parker, a former National Service Office Supervisor for the Disabled American Veterans Service Organization (DAV), and Jeffrey Allan McGill, a former Veteran Service Representative with the VA regional office in Louisville,  to submit fraudulent claims for military related disabilities, and to have Parker and McGill falsify documents to ensure that those claims were approved.  Specifically, Grimes falsely claimed to suffer from lung cancer and malignant brain metastastis, while Snooks and Adkins falsely claimed to suffer from hearing loss and tinnitus.  Grimes and Snooks further admitted that they paid McGill bribes to ensure that their fraudulent claims were approved.  The loss associated with Grimes, Snooks, and Adkins is over $235,000. 

Grimes, Snooks and Adkins are among fourteen defendants named in a November 2008 indictment.  Co-defendants Susan Diane Smith, of Hurricane, West Virginia, and Guy Allen Condon, of Mount Prospect, Illinois, have already plead guilty.  The remaining defendants, including Parker and McGill, are scheduled for trial beginning September 22, 2009, in Louisville, Kentucky.

The maximum potential penalties for Grimes and Snooks are 20 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of 3 years; and for Adkins 5 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of 3 years.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser, and it was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The pleas were entered before Jennifer B. Coffman, Judge, United States District Court, Louisville, Kentucky.

Press Releases | Louisville Home