A federal grand jury Tuesday indicted three people—including a former judge and a lawyer who billed himself as “Mr. Social Security”—over a multiyear scheme that won millions of dollars in disability benefits for people by allegedly cheating rules and procedures.
The arrangement helped make the attorney, Eric Conn of Stanville, Ky., one of the highest-grossing disability attorneys in the country. The former judge, David Daugherty, at one point awarded benefits in 1,280 of the 1,284 cases that he had decided.
Mr. Conn, Mr. Daugherty and psychologist Alfred Adkins were indicted by a federal grand jury in Lexington, Ky., on charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The defendants submitted “false and fraudulent medical documentation’’ to the Social Security Administration to get disability benefits for Mr. Conn’s clients, the indictment said.
Mr. Conn and Mr. Adkins appeared briefly in court Tuesday, where they entered pleas of not guilty. Mr. Conn’s lawyer declined to comment. Mr. Adkins’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The fraudulent conduct caused the Social Security Administration to disburse retroactive and proactive disability benefits in excess of $600 million “irrespective of the claimants’ actual entitlement to benefits,’’ the indictment said.
The arrangement helped make the attorney, Eric Conn of Stanville, Ky., one of the highest-grossing disability attorneys in the country. The former judge, David Daugherty, at one point awarded benefits in 1,280 of the 1,284 cases that he had decided.
Mr. Conn, Mr. Daugherty and psychologist Alfred Adkins were indicted by a federal grand jury in Lexington, Ky., on charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The defendants submitted “false and fraudulent medical documentation’’ to the Social Security Administration to get disability benefits for Mr. Conn’s clients, the indictment said.
Mr. Conn and Mr. Adkins appeared briefly in court Tuesday, where they entered pleas of not guilty. Mr. Conn’s lawyer declined to comment. Mr. Adkins’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The fraudulent conduct caused the Social Security Administration to disburse retroactive and proactive disability benefits in excess of $600 million “irrespective of the claimants’ actual entitlement to benefits,’’ the indictment said.
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