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Lexington Park resident Angela Marie Farr, 36, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release after admitting to her role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain disability benefits from the VA and Social Security Administration.
Additionally, a judge ordered Farr to pay nearly $1.5 million in fines and restitution for the government’s losses.
According to prosecutors, Farr organized a conspiracy in which she submitted false and fraudulent documents to the VA in support of her disability compensation claims, as well as for the disability claims for her then-husband, Michael Vincent Pace, and for her father.
The fraudulent documents stated that Farr, Pace, and her father were homebound and required full-time assistance for basic tasks such as eating, bathing, and dressing, officials said, though all three lived active lives and did not require such assistance.
Officials noted that Farr served in the US Navy from 2005 to 2007 before she was administratively discharged.
In 2009, prosecutors said that she filed a claim to the VA for disability compensation stating that she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being sexually assaulted while on duty three years earlier.
At the same time, Farr also falsely claimed to the VA that she was seriously injured in a traffic accident when she was struck by a drunk driver while driving on duty in 2006, they continued. Farr claimed that she suffered from chronic neck and back pain as a result of the accident.
To further her allegation, Farr filed “an entirely fabricated medical record allegedly from the Navy consisting of over 70 pages of documents purportedly authored by criminal investigators, psychologists, and physical therapists.”
Based on the injuries claimed and the forged supporting medical documentation, on Oct. 6, 2007, the VA rated Farr 70 percent disabled.
Farr later sought additional compensation in 2015, claiming that she suffered a traumatic brain injury and other grave health consequences as a result of the 2007 crash, again submitting dozens of fraudulent documents in support of her claim in the name of both real and fictitious doctors.
“The documents claimed that Farr was paralyzed from the waist down, suffered multiple seizures daily, required round-the-clock care for basic functions such as toileting and showering, and claimed that she also suffered from an aneurysm, heart attack, and leukemia,” according to the Department of Justice.
“Based on the fraudulent documentation, VA increased Farr’s disability rating to 100 percent, and awarded Special Monthly Compensation for her in-home nursing care requirements.”
The scheme continued a year later in April 2016, when Farr applied online for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits based on the faux disabilities she previously claimed.
In that application, she stated she could not work due to her disabilities, when in fact she was working for the Department of Defense.
Officials say that Farr also conspired with and assisted Pace, a former member of the United States military, to exaggerate his existing condition using forged and fraudulent documents, resulting in an increased rating of 100 percent.
Pace received the highest amount of disability compensation and Special Monthy Compensation paid by the VA, in addition to a Caregiver Stipend he received in the amount exceeding $2,500 monthly, for purportedly serving as Farr’s caregiver, despite claiming to be completely disabled himself.
To further the conspiracy, Farr also conspired with her mother, Mary Francis Biggs, 65, to exaggerate her father’s claims with more fraudulent documents, leading to him also being labeled as 100 percent disabled, though he was still actively employed.
In total, prosecutors said that Farr received approximately $440,085 in VA benefits and approximately $35,666 in Social Security benefit payments, resulting in a loss to the United States of $475,751 on Farr’s claims alone.
Pace received $370,912 in VA benefits to which he was not entitled. Biggs and her husband received more than $168,000 in VA benefits to which they were not entitled.
Pace previously pleaded guilty and Biggs was convicted in August.
Biggs faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for theft of government property.
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