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A Port Richey man who received nearly $200,000 in veterans benefits will be sentenced next month on federal charges.
By TAMARA LUSH
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2001
PORT RICHEY -- Stanley Fernald says a fall while he was in the Army in 1972 and two failed back operations left him permanently disabled, and in need of veterans benefits and a wheelchair to get around.
Last July, federal agents watched as Fernald walked out of his Port Richey home and loaded his wheelchair into the back of his truck. They followed him to a Veterans Administration hospital and saw him climb into his wheelchair and wheel himself through the front doors of the facility, court documents show.
Fernald, who received nearly $200,000 in veterans benefits, was charged in December in U.S. District Court in Tampa with making false and fraudulent statements. Fernald entered into a plea agreement with federal authorities. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 23.
According to Ron Wilson, a special agent for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Southeast Field Office, Fernald submitted claims in 1997 that said he was unable to work because of the physical injuries he received while in the military.
Fernald told authorities that he injured his back in 1972 when he fell to the ground after a helicopter he was in was hit by a weapon, court records show.
But Fernald told a Times reporter on Tuesday that he was injured in 1969, when he fell down a flight of stairs at an Army barracks.
Fernald, who was interviewed as he lay in bed, said he can walk a little but is prone to falling because his legs go numb and he is in excruciating pain.
Fernald said that he should have never pleaded guilty to the charge and that he would have fought the charge if he had more money. He also said that a psychiatrist put him on anti-depressants, and that impaired his judgment at the time of the plea agreement.
Fernald said that his soon-to-be ex-wife gave federal authorities false information about his disability and that is how the investigation started.
"She told me that when I left her, she wanted to see me on the side of the road with a tin cup," said Fernald. "It's like in the Twilight Zone."
According to authorities, Fernald faces a maximum prison sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine.