SPOKANE, WA — A former Idaho sheriff's deputy who falsely claimed he was paraplegic has pleaded guilty in a $1.5 million disability fraud case that a U.S. attorney said is the largest in Veterans Affairs Department history.
James M. Sebero accepted an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty Monday to charges of wire fraud and making a false statement.
Sebero, a former Bonner County, Idaho, sheriff's marine deputy, agreed to forfeit personal assets and to pay $950,000 in restitution, and could face 20 years and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced July 10.
U.S. Attorney James A. McDevitt said it was the largest disability compensation fraud case in VA history.
"By his actions, Mr. Sebero disgraced the system that compensates all those veterans who are truly disabled and who are fairly compensated for their injuries sustained in service to their country," McDevitt said.
Sebero, 59, of Laclede, ID, served in the Air Force from 1969 to 1975, when he told military personnel he was injured in an accident. He later claimed he had lost the use of his legs.
He retired in 1976 and began receiving disability compensation.
In September 2007, he was using a wheelchair when he went to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Spokane for a checkup and told a doctor he had been unable to work or walk since he left the Air Force.
According to court documents, investigators used a hidden video camera to record Sebero's visit to the doctor. He was arrested after investigators watched him walk into court without assistance the next day in an unrelated case.
Federal investigators said that after Sebero retired he started an excavation company and operated it until 1992, and since 1992 he has owned and operated Custom Aviation, an aircraft maintenance operation for small planes at Felts Field in Spokane.
He obtained a pilot's license after denying any medical problem or disability on his application to the Federal Aviation Administration, government lawyers wrote.
He came under scrutiny after authorities accused him of operating the aircraft maintenance business without FAA certification.
