Eric Conn - Mr. Social Security

A Social Security disability lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court Friday, March 24, 2017, for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $550 million in federal disability payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for thousands of claimants. Eric Christopher Conn, 56, of Pikeville, Kentucky, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky to one count of theft of government money and one count of payment of gratuities.  Sentencing is set for July 14, 2017.

According to the plea, from October 2004 to April 6, 2016, Conn participated in a scheme with former SSA administrative law judge David B. Daugherty and multiple doctors that involved the submission of thousands of falsified medical documents to the SSA.  As a result of the scheme, Conn and his co-conspirators obligated the SSA to pay more than $550 million in lifetime benefits to claimants for these fraudulent submissions.

According to the plea, Conn is an attorney whose firm in Floyd County, Kentucky, focused for more than 20 years primarily on representing individuals seeking Social Security disability benefits throughout Kentucky and elsewhere. According to documents filed in connection with the guilty plea, Conn admitted that from December 2004 through April 2011, he paid Daugherty approximately $10,000 a month to award disability benefits to claimants for whom Conn submitted falsified medical documents.

As part of his plea, Conn admitted that he submitted the falsified medical documents, and Daugherty authored decisions granting disability benefits, in well over 1,700 claimants’ cases.  Conn admitted that he paid medical professionals to sign medical forms that he fabricated before evaluations of claimants took place. According to the plea, Conn routinely prepared and medical professionals, such as clinical psychologist Alfred Bradley Adkins, signed evaluation reports indicating that claimants had limitations considered disabling by the SSA, irrespective of the claimants’ actual physical or mental conditions. Conn admitted that he received more than $5.7 million in representative fees from the SSA based upon these fraudulent claims.

SSA Judge David B. Daugherty

David B. Daugherty was found sitting unconscious in his car in a Barboursville church parking lot about 3:20 p.m. Monday, October 14, 2013.  Barboursville Police Chief Mike Coffey said on Friday.  Coffey said a church worker found Daugherty and called the police.  When officers arrived at the lot, investigators found a garden hose duct-taped to the exhaust pipe of the car and leading into the passenger compartment through a rear side window.  The garden hose was pinched on one end and melted on the other end by the exhaust pipe.

Conn was indicted last year, along with Daugherty and Adkins.  They were charged with conspiracy, fraud, false statements, money laundering and other related offenses in connection with the scheme.

Press Release from The DOJ

This clip is from April 8, 2016, of the indictment which led to Conn's guilty plea.

WKYT

       

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division;
Special Agent in Charge Michael McGill of the Social Security Administration-Office of Inspector General’s (SSA-OIG) Philadelphia Field Division;
Special Agent in Charge Amy S. Hess of the FBI’s Louisville, Kentucky, Field Division;
Special Agent in Charge Tracey D. Montaño of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Nashville, Tennessee, Field Office;
Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Atlanta Regional Office made the announcement.

Great work Team, hope to see more of this fraud, treason and corruption locked up from stem to stern, that's bleeding this country and deteriorating the legitimacy of our moral morale.

Thank You